Iraqi Lawmakers Vote to Expel U.S. Troops as Iran Mourns a Slain General

[erpowers]

Source: New York Times

Lawmakers in Iraq heeded the demands of angry citizens and voted on Sunday to expel United States troops from the country after the United States ordered the killing of the Iranian leader of the elite Quds Force, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, on Iraqi soil.

The decision came as hundreds of thousands of mourners poured into the streets of Iran to pay their respects to General Suleimani, the most powerful figure in the country after the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The vote is not final until Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi of Iraq signs the draft bill. Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Mahdi indicated that he would do so, having urged lawmakers to oust the United States-led coalition after President Trump ordered a fatal drone strike against General Suleimani in the Baghdad airport.

Members of Iraq’s Parliament were divided on the demands to expel American troops. While factions that grew out of Shiite militia organizations have pushed hard for the expulsion, Sunni Muslim factions and the Kurds wanted the United States to stay.


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/world/middleeast/iran-general-soleimani-iraq.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[NickB79]

1. Giving Iran exactly what they wanted

A power vacuum to capitalize on in Iraq, and a blow to US efforts to fight ISIS.

We have the worst possible leader at the worst possible time.

[walkingman]

4. We definitely have the worst possible leader but I think what Iraq wants is to shed themselves of

the US and the destruction we have forced on them for almost 2 decades. The ONLY reason that it is not unanimous is because they also like our $$$$. The greedy in Iraq will do anything to keep the $$$$ flowing much like we do in America. I personally am sick of these meaningless and unnecessary wars - any problems we have in the Middle East we caused by our own action in the past.

[yaesu]

14. We haven't had a leader since 2016. nt

[BlueMTexpat]

16. This is true.

But now Dotard has provided them with the justification they need to force us out.

[dalton99a]

6. +1

[cstanleytech]

2. Well Trump can actually claim he got us out of Iraq now.

Of course he did it in such a stupid manner that he crippled our relationship with an ally in the region.

[Aristus]

3. Dealing a blow to the hideous fiction that we came as 'liberators'.

We can pretend we blitzkrieged their country to free them from Saddam Hussein. All the staged, victory, statue-topplings in the world can't make it so; but we can pretend.

But if we refuse to leave after the Iraqi people order us out, then we're fascistic imperialist occupiers; we've been that all along, but this will make it explicit.

[Igel]

11. You miss the split in the vote.

It wasn't unanimous, and could have been done at any time.

It's what the more militant Shi'ites wanted all along.

(Let's avoid dealing with the chasm in the logic between perception and intent or goals and outcome. We've had troubles with that for upwards of 40 years in the US and we're not going to even get to the idea that there's a distinction between them probably in my lifetime. For many, the outcome must be their goals, and what people think you mean is what you necessarily meant. No option for "No, you misunderstand"--if you think I meant something and I think I meant something else, obviously I'm just horribly wrong.)

[abqtommy]

5. I remember when Iraq and Iran were bitter enemies and fighting each other. Now after years of

U.S. diplomacy/meddling in that region the Iraqis and Iranians are allies. My head is spinning from
so much "winning"!

[christx30]

7. The US... Bringing peace to bitter enemies

by giving them a bigger enemy to unite against! <waves tiny flag> Yay us!

[ripcord]

8. Something good did come out of this

We can take our troops and our aid money and just leave that quagmire

[dalton99a]

9. Pompeo: We're not leaving!

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said the US strike was “a political assassination” and told parliament that the government must establish a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops “for the sake of our national sovereignty.”

The US has some 5,000 military personnel in Iraq, mainly as advisers, while the UK has at least 1,400 military and UK government civilian personnel in Iraq as part of Operation Shader, the ongoing military intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

However Mr Pompeo, on today's US TV news shows, brushed aside the remarks, calling Mahdi “the resigned prime minister” and “the acting prime minister.”

“He’s under enormous threats from the very Iranian leadership that it is that we are pushing back against,” Mr Pompeo said. “We are confident that the Iraqi people want the United States to continue to be there to fight the counter-terror campaign. And we’ll continue to do all the things we need to do to keep America safe.”

[lark]

10. Big fat grotesque lie!

They do everything illegal to protect the most criminal and treasonous and profiteering person to ever have squatted in the stolen WH. They don't care about our country, only protecting him and themselves because they know he'll take them down too. Plus now Bolton has been possibly silenced, and brought back into the fold so might lie for him in the impeachment trial.

[David__77]

12. It's imperialist disregard for national sovereignty.

...

[Evolve Dammit]

13. Totally.

[yaesu]

15. So, the tRump admin is the de facto government of iraq, just like the putin admin is the de facto

government of the US.

[Sapient Donkey]

17. It's not just the PM, though. Didn't the Iraqi parliament vote for this?

Even if divided on the vote, the vote to expel still passed.

Trump is such a good strategist, aye? He managed to get Iran everything they wanted with much less effort than they probably thought.

[dalton99a]

18. The official vote in their parliament was 170-0

[Sapient Donkey]

19. Ahh yeah, my bad. I should have said even if opinion was divided

Although, I guess if the Sunni and Kurds didn't show up then they must not be too adamant about keeping the US around. Unless this was a "this is too ridiculous to vote on" sort of thing, but I'm guessing that's not the case. Either way, the US was asked to leave and it needs to do what is requested. I'm sure the majority of Americans won't have issues with that.

[murielm99]

20. It is my understanding that

this vote is nonbinding. I don't think the troops are going away any time soon.