US troops must leave Iraq

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WASHINGTON, Jan 8, (Agencies): Iraq’s outgoing prime minister said Tuesday that the United States has no alternative and must pull its troops out of the country, or else face an impending crisis. But Trump countered that it’s not the right time for a pullout and that it would be the worst thing that could happen to Iraq. Trump said a US pullout would allow Iran to gain a stronger foothold in Iraq. “The people of Iraq do not want to see Iran running the country, that I can tell you,” Trump said from the White House.

Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned in November amid mass anti-government protests, said Iraq wants a US troop withdrawal to avoid further escalation as tensions soar between American and Iran. His comments came just days after a US airstrike killed Iran’s top general at Baghdad’s international airport.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, senior Iraqi commander of an Iran-backed militia, was also killed in Friday’s strike. His remains were brought back to Iraq from Iran to be buried in the holy southern city of Najaf. “We have no exit but this, otherwise we are speeding toward confrontation,” Abdul-Mahdi said in a prerecorded televised speech following a weekly Cabinet meeting. He said the “historic decision” was necessary, “otherwise we will not be taken seriously.”

US troops are present in Iraq based on a request by the government in 2014, when vast swathes of the country were being overrun by the Islamic State group. But now that IS has been largely defeated, Abdul-Mahdi said, the mission has devolved into a USIran proxy war.

Trump said he wants US troops out of Iraq — eventually. “At some point we want to get out, but this isn’t the right point,” Trump said. Trump also reiterated that he still expects the United States to be reimbursed for some of its expenses, though he didn’t specify a price tag.

“We’ve spent a tremendous amount of money on building airports and building one of the largest embassies we have in the world. And we want to be reimbursed to the various costs that we have had.

They’re very signifi- cant,” Trump said. Iraqi President Barham Saleh called anew Wednesday for ridding the region from military confrontations and to keep the Iraqis away from any new confl icts. Saleh, in a statement, condemned the Iranian missile attack on military bases in Anbar and Irbil, and rejected the repeated violations of Iraq’s sovereignty as well as transforming Iraq into a battle zone.

Iraq, he said, has announced rejection to being a launch-pad for attacks on any country or to pose a threat to its neighbors. Saleh said Iraq’s security and sovereignty should be preserved in line with international and bilateral agreements. Deployment of coalition forces in Iraq is in accordance with agreements between Baghdad and countries making this coalition, he said, and their presence was an internal matter. Saleh called on all parties to exercise restraint and to work towards dialogue.

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