On Thursday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the U.S. would begin discussions “in the coming days” about the future of American forces and Coalition forces within the troubled country.
While an anonymous U.S. official told CNN that the timing of these discussions was “not related” to the recent attacks by Iran on U.S. forces, it’s difficult to ignore the link between Iraqi security deteriorating and America’s willingness to remain and allow Iranian missiles to be fired at American troops.
SecDef Austin stated that the discussions to establish a U.S./Iraq Higher Military Commission started in August of last year. The goal was to “find the best evolution for the D-ISIS Coalition mission to ensure ISIS can’t resurge.” ”
According to a statement issued earlier this month by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani the goal of these talks was “to end permanently the presence” of international coalition forces.
Translation of the phrase: “It’s time to leave”
Around 2,500 American soldiers have been deployed to Iraq. Since the end of the year 2021, they have been fighting against ISIS. It is not much less than the number of people in Afghanistan when President Joe Biden ordered the maliciously botched bugout. The White House is unlikely to try to prevent this.
Here is another unintentionally funny bit that was included by CNN in their article:
Jonathan Lord is the director of the Middle East Security Program for the Center for New American Security. He told CNN the US must shift its support for Iraq to build “a sustainable and long-lasting military capability within [Iraqi Security Forces]”, to avoid a repeat of 2014. No.
We’ve been trying to help Iraq “develop a sustainable and long-lasting military capability” for almost 20 years. “It’s unlikely to happen in the next twenty years, given the many internal and external threats Baghdad faces.
ISIS and Iran are the winners of Biden’s Next Big Bug-Out. ISIS can dig in anywhere that there is instability. But, as President Donald Trump showed, a MOAB placed well will keep ISIS terrorists at bay. Of course, they won’t be blown apart. Iran’s ambitions are to recreate the Persian Empire of 2,500 years ago. This includes Iran, Iraq, Syria Lebanon, and Israel
The U.S. is not the only one who has won in this two-decade-old mess. Iraq might not have survived without U.S. aid, but it didn’t fare well against Iran even with U.S. help.
Israel is the biggest loser. But I think that the announcement today will bring Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other Arab nations together to achieve recognition and cooperation. It would not be necessary for the United States to participate directly.
Trump worked to achieve this goal through the Abraham Accords. The region is even more divided now that Biden has abandoned the Abraham Accords.
