Iraq ready for foreigners to leave, 8/5 US military bases are now targets…

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Iraq plans to 'end presence' of US-led coalition forces, PM says​

Mohammed Shia Al Sudani’s announcement comes during clashes between Iran-backed militias and American military​

Sinan MahmoudDec 28, 2023

The Iraqi government is working to end the presence of foreign troops from the US-led coalition against ISIS, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani said on Thursday.

Mr Al Sudani's announcement followed an escalation in attacks between the US military and Iran-backed Shiite militias,including air strikes on three militia bases in central Iraq this week that killed one fighter and wounded 18 other people.

The militias have been launching almost daily drone and missile attacks against US troops in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, to which the US military has retaliated with air strikes that have so far killed 16 militiamen.

The Iraqi government has denounced the attacks by the militias as “terrorist acts” and the US strikes as an “infringement to Iraqi sovereignty”.

American troops make up the largest contingent of foreign forces based in Iraq as part of the international coalition formed to defeat ISIS. They stayed on after ISIS was defeated to help Iraqi forces mop up sleeper cells and prevent the group's resurgence.

“We are in the process of reorganising this relationship,” Mr Al Sudani said at a press conference in Baghdad with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain, which also has troops in Iraq.

“With the presence of capable Iraqi forces, the Iraqi government is heading towards ending the presence of the international coalition forces."

Iraq says these are not combat troops but security advisers supporting Iraqi security forces with training, consultancy and intelligence gathering.

“We have stressed the commitment to the legal authorisation granted by previous governments for this presence,” Mr Al Sudani said.

This mandate “must be within the framework of supporting security forces in areas of training and advice without exceeding the limits to engage in military operations as it constitutes a violation to the Iraqi sovereignty, and that is something rejected”, he said.

The US says it is responding in self defence.

“I directed the strikes in order to protect and defend our personnel who are in Iraq conducting military operations pursuant to the 2001 Authorisation for Use of Military Force,” President Joe Biden said in a letter to Congress about the latest US air strikes.

He said Monday's strikes “were taken to deter future attacks and were conducted in a manner designed to limit the risk of escalation and minimise civilian casualties".

In 2003, the US led an international coalition to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein’s regime, claiming it was developing and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.

No such weapons were found and the invasion plunged Iraq into chaos.

The US withdrew from Iraq, leaving behind a small number of troops to protect its embassy and to train and assist Iraqi forces. At its peak in 2007, the US military presence included 170,000 soldiers.

Foreign combat troops returned in 2014, when ISIS seized about a third of the country as the US-trained Iraqi security forces melted away.

After the defeat of ISIS in Iraq by the end of 2017, the US started to reduce the number of its troops – from about 5,000 to 2,500 – along with other countries from the international coalition.

Since then, Iran-backed Shiite militias and Tehran have called for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani welcomes Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Baghdad. Photo: Iraqi Prime Minister's Press Office

Iraq-Spain relations​

Spain's Prime Minister landed in Baghdad late on Wednesday with a delegation including representatives of major Spanish companies.

"My country, always at the request of the Iraqi authorities, will support the unity, sovereignty and stability of Iraq," said Mr Sanchez during a press conference with Mr Al Sudani on Thursday.

Mr Al Sudani said both sides agreed on preparing a one-year agenda to promote a strategic partnership.

Mr Sanchez said their countries would issue a joint declaration outlining areas for co-operation.

An Iraq-Spain Joint Committee meeting in mid 2024 will be "an important station to push the relations forward", he said.

Mr Sanchez visited Spanish troops at a military base located in Baghdad's high security Green Zone, where he thanked them on behalf of Spanish society for their "efforts and sacrifices in favour of international security and stability".

"In Iraq, Spain has demonstrated for many years now our solid commitment to something that seems to have been questioned in recent years: multilateralism," he said.

Iraq endured decades of war, UN-imposed economic sanctions under Saddam, and political and security instability after the 2003 invasion. The war with ISIS left large areas of the north and west in ruins, and millions of Iraqis are still without access to clean water, adequate electricity supply and proper health care.

Iraq appealed for about $88 billion for reconstruction at an international donor summit in Kuwait in 2018, but received pledges of only $30 billion in loans and investment.

Updated: December 28, 2023, 11:00 AM

 

[RoomService]

Good luck.

 

[THREAD_CRITIC]

The nerve

 

[Mask]

The nerve

Lmao


“Coalition forces led by the United States of America must leave Iraq, said Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the Prime Minister of Iraq.”

 

[Cannibal]

I'm getting a sneaky suspicion that the non-white countries of the world are quietly going to shutdown the western world by just not dealing with them. By simply saying "get out", it can have disastrous consequences. Anyway...thats my wish.

 

[Lexx Diamond]

I'm getting a sneaky suspicion that the non-white countries of the world are quietly going to shutdown the western world by just not dealing with them. By simply saying "get out", it can have disastrous consequences. Anyway...thats my wish.

Don't get it fuzzy. Those cunts are white Arabs on their birth certificate.

 

[God-Of-War-420]

Should have never been there in the first place

 

[jack walsh13]

Don't get it fuzzy. Those cunts are white Arabs on their birth certificate.

Word.

 

[Mask]

Word.

Hey number 7

 

[Mask]

Should have never been there in the first place

Im
Not sure if we should be or not….. I think saying we shouldn’t be there would cause folks pussies to start leaking but whatever



Look at this numbers


“12 US military bases in Iraq”

 

[34real]

Once them people did this to my homie,I been left...got my homie over there pretending to be Messican cartel,cha chaing his ass off.RIP

 

[World B Free]

Iraqi people to the United States, as the old saying goes:

"You Ain't Gotta Go Home But You Gotta Get The Hell Out Of Here..."

 

[jack walsh13]

Hey number 7

 

[Mask]

“CNN report: US and Iraq will soon begin talks to explore the future of the US military mission in Iraq and try to determine a date when the Americans could leave the country”

 

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Iraq: We have received an important message from America

The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the American ambassador had conveyed an "important message" from Washington to the Iraqi government.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq has announced that the Prime Minister and relevant authorities of this country will review the message and take the necessary steps soon.

In this statement, there is no mention of the content of this message.”

 

[Mask]

“ Harakat Hezbollah Al-Nujaba-owned outlet shares a statement confirming the group will continue to target U.S. installations until the last soldier leaves Iraq and threatening people who work with the U.S”

 

[Mask]

“The Biden administration is discussing stopping or slowing arms shipments to Israel to pressure it with the aim of reducing the military operation in the Gaza Strip.”

I know Blinken ass wasn’t in on this discussion. His ass was the fucker behind this madness.

Biden administration bypasses Congress on weapons sales to Israel​

For the second time in a month, the US approves munitions for Israel while calling for an end to mass civilian deaths.​

President Joe Biden's administration has continued weapons sales to Israel despite international criticism of the continuing carnage in Gaza [File: Evan Vucci/AP Photo]
The administration of United States President Joe Biden has once again bypassed Congress to greenlight an emergency weapons sale to Israel, which has only intensified and broadened its attacks on the Gaza Strip despite growing international outrage.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress that he had made a second emergency determination in less than a month, covering a $147.5m sale of equipment to Israel, the State Department said on Friday.

“Given the urgency of Israel’s defensive needs, the secretary notified Congress that he had exercised his delegated authority to determine an emergency existed necessitating the immediate approval of the transfer,” it said.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to ensure Israel is able to defend itself against the threats it faces.”

The package includes ancillary items, including fuses, charges and primers that Israel would require to make the 155mm shells that it had previously purchased, function.

Friday’s emergency determination, which is rare but has been used by at least four previous US administrations, means that a requirement for a potentially lengthy congressional review for foreign military sales will be bypassed.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane said it was important to point out the broader context of the messaging.

“We’ve been hearing from all the top Biden administration officials for weeks that it is time for Israel to move to a lower-intensity conflict. In essence, stop the mass bombing. Stop the mass deaths of civilians,” she said.

“So, in that context – knowing that is what they say they want – they are now selling to Israel the exaction munitions they need to continue a high-intensity campaign.”

‘Morally scandalous’​

Israel will also be purchasing 155mm M107 projectiles, which are artillery shells that will cause widespread destruction in a densely populated area such as Gaza, Culhane reported.

“They didn’t say exactly how many [shells] were going to be in this $147.5m package. But, in previous packages, it really does mean that thousands and thousands of bombs will be going to Israel.”






Ensuring Israel gets weapons to continue its intense phase of the war, while also urging it to lower the intensity of fighting, is “strategically self-defeating” for Washington, according to Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara, who called Friday’s decision “astounding”.

“One really has to look deep to see if there is any meaningful explanation for why the Biden administration wants to bypass Congress in order to expedite weapons to a country that is involved in war crimes,” he said on Saturday.

The move was “morally scandalous” given that the war has caused record damage and killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians, Bishara said, but it is also “politically suspect in the sense that why would you want to bypass Congress twice in the same month? What is the urgency to bypass your own guidelines?”

On December 9, the Biden administration made another emergency determination to approve the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth more than $106m.

Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official, criticised the US’s role in the war, saying: “While these crimes have been committed with Israeli hands, they were sponsored and backed up by the US administration.”

In a televised statement on Saturday, he added that the group holds the Biden administration “accountable for their direct role in sponsoring and orchestrating this ongoing genocide against our people”.

‘Record’ devastation​

The move to expedite more weapons comes as Biden’s request for an enormous $106bn package that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and other perceived national security needs has yet to pass Congress, as it is entangled in a debate over US immigration and border security policies.

The Biden administration has tried to counter criticism over the mounting death toll in Gaza and continued US arms sales to Israel by saying it constantly maintains contact with Israel to stress the importance of minimising civilian casualties.

However, Luciana Zaccara, an associate professor in Gulf politics at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera it was pursuing a “dual-track” approach when it comes to the war.

“On the one hand they are trying to convince the public opinion that the US is really concerned about civilian casualties but also they keep sustaining Israel (militarily),” he said. “It is totally contradicting … it is hard to understand how this is in the national interest.”

The policy was especially perplexing in light of “mounting pressure” in the US, including among Democrats, against the war as civilian casualties in Gaza continue to rise, Zaccara said.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that the war “is generating destruction comparable in scale to the most devastating warfare in the modern record”.

By mid-December, Israel had dropped 29,000 bombs, munitions and shells on Gaza, destroying or damaging nearly 70 percent of homes, the report said.

Some Democratic lawmakers have suggested further significant aid to Israel should be contingent on concrete promises by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to curb civilian casualties in Gaza.

More than 21,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the besieged enclave since October 7, most of them children and women, in what has been widely described as collective punishment. Thousands more are missing.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said on Saturday that Israeli authorities continue to impose “severe restrictions” on humanitarian access despite deliveries of aid from Egypt and through the Rafah crossing.

He also said they are “creating a stream of baseless misinformation” to accuse aid agencies over gaps in deliveries.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned again that the conflict could spread to the wider region if not halted immediately.

 

[Mask]

So it was agreed that we would remove all personnel by 2021 and it’s 2024. This what made the governing body of Iraq make that statement

 

[Mask]

Guess the Iraqi government got a call from Washington. Probably safe to assume they was asked, to call the militants. Some kinda way them attacks against our bases had to stop.

 

[illdog]

Ever...had a guest come visit uninvited and..then completely fuck yur world up..?

 

[Mask]

Ever...had a guest come visit uninvited and..then completely fuck yur world up..?

This what happened over there?

 

[Mask]

 

[Mask]

Resistance Forces bomb US military base in Koniko Gas Field - Syria

This is the second attack in 24 hours after yesterday's strikes against the illegal US base in the northeastern Der Ezzor region's countryside, which serves as a response to many things:

- The US's refusal to leave Iraq even after the ultimatum was given by both the resistance factions and government, and continuous theft of oil and gas from the Levant

- The constant manufacturing of armed terrorist militias into Syrian and Iraqi territory, most recently 1200-1400 ISIS terrorists who were released by NATO-backed Kurdish SDF

- The continuous US military and political support of the genocide in Palestine

- The constant aerial assaults against Syria, Lebanon and Iraq by the Zionist army


The Axis of Resistance made a firm decision at the beginning of the war, which was stated in a speech by Sayyed Nasrallah: The military presence of the US in the Levant will be brought to an end!

 

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[850credit]

Sounds like a job for Texas.

 

[Mask]

Sounds like a job for Texas.

Lmao,

 

[Mask]

Two soldiers killed a couple days ago…
(Washington haven’t said anything about the deaths, maybe this report ain’t true)

 

[Mask]

 

[Mask]

For the first time in months, the US occupation Kharab Al-Jir base in Hasakah, northeastern Syria, was targeted by drones, despite increased reinforcement at the base in recent days. Local sources report smoke rising from the base and preliminary reports of vehicles burning and wounded US soldiers.

Yesterday, Iraqi sources reported that the US military "Abu Hujaira" base on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Iraqi border was targeted with a drone.


Sources claim that the targeting of the American base in Al-Jir, northeast of Syria, coincided with the landing of a military cargo plane for the Americans from Iraq, which landed in the base loaded with military and logistical equipment, ammunition and American soldiers.

- Helicopter activity over the base was noticed.


CONFIRMED: Strong explosions due to a drone strike on the American occupation base in 'Kharab al-Jir' in Syria's North Eastern province of al-Hasakah, by the Islamic Resistance of Iraq

 

[Mask]

 

[Mask]

BREAKING: Initial reports of a rocket or drone attack on the U.S. occupation base in Conoco oilfield in Syria

 

[Mask]

Exclusive: US-Iraq deal would see hundreds of troops withdraw in first year, sources say​

Timour AzhariSeptember 6, 202410:41 AM CDTUpdated an hour ago

BAGHDAD, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The United States and Iraq have reached an understanding on plans for the withdrawal of U.S.-led coalition forces from Iraq, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The plan, which has been broadly agreed but requires a final go-ahead from both capitals and an announcement date, would see hundreds of troops leave by September 2025, with the remainder departing by the end of 2026, the sources said.

"We have an agreement, its now just a question of when to announce it," a senior U.S. official said.

The U.S. and Iraq are also seeking to establish a new advisory relationship that could see some U.S. troops remain in Iraq after the drawdown.
An official announcement was initially scheduled for weeks ago but was postponed due to regional escalation related to Israel's war in Gaza and to iron out some remaining details, the sources said.
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The sources include five U.S. officials, two officials from other coalition nations, and three Iraqi officials, all speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Several sources said the deal could be announced this month.

Farhad Alaaldin, foreign affairs adviser to the Iraqi prime minister, said technical talks with Washington on the coalition drawdown had concluded.

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"We are now on the brink of transitioning the relationship between Iraq and members of the international coalition to a new level, focusing on bilateral relations in military, security, economic, and cultural areas," he said.

He did not comment on details of the plan and the U.S.-led coalition did not respond to emailed questions.

The agreement follows more than six months of talks between Baghdad and Washington, initiated by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in January amid attacks by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups on U.S. forces stationed at Iraqi bases.

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The rocket and drone attacks have killed three American troops and wounded dozens more, resulting in several rounds of deadly U.S. retaliation that threatened government efforts to stabilize Iraq after decades of conflict.

The U.S. has approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in neighbouring Syria as part of the coalition formed in 2014 to combat Islamic State as it rampaged through the two countries.

The group once held roughly a third of Iraq and Syria but was territorially defeated in Iraq at the end of 2017 and in Syria in 2019. Iraq had demonstrated its ability to handle any remaining threat, Alaaldin said.

The U.S. initially invaded Iraq in 2003, toppling dictator Saddam Hussein before withdrawing in 2011, but returned in 2014 at the head of the coalition to fight Islamic State.

Other nations, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, also contribute hundreds of troops to the coalition.

Under the plan, all coalition forces would leave the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Anbar province and significantly reduce their presence in Baghdad by September 2025.

U.S. and other coalition troops are expected to remain in Erbil, in the semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region, for approximately one additional year, until around the end of 2026, to facilitate ongoing operations against Islamic State in Syria.

Exact details of troop movements are being kept secret due to their military sensitivity.

The drawdown would mark a notable shift in Washington's military posture in the region.

While primarily focused on countering Islamic State, U.S. officials acknowledge their presence also serves as a strategic position against Iranian influence.

This position has grown more important as Israel and Iran escalate their regional confrontation, with U.S. forces in Iraq shooting down rockets and drones fired towards Israel in recent months, according to U.S. officials.

Prime Minister al-Sudani has stated that, while he appreciates their help, U.S. troops have become a magnet for instability, frequently targeted and responding with strikes often not coordinated with the Iraqi government.

The agreement, when announced, would likely present a political win for al-Sudani as he balances Iraq's position as an ally of both Washington and Tehran. The first phase of the drawdown would end one month before Iraqi parliamentary polls set for October 2025.

For the U.S., the two-year time frame provides "breathing room," allowing for potential adjustments if the regional situation changes, a U.S. official said.

The State Department and U.S. Embassy in Baghdad did not respond to requests for comment.