Iraqi Prime Minister Supports Indefinite U.S. Troop Presence

Wall Street Journal ^ | 01/15/2023 | David Cloud and Michael Amon

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BAGHDAD—Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani defended the presence of U.S. troops in his country and set no timetable for their withdrawal, signaling a less confrontational posture toward Washington early in his term than his Iran-backed political allies have taken.

“We think that we need the foreign forces,” Mr. Sudani said in his first U.S. interview since taking office in October, referring to the American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization troop contingents that train and assist Iraqi units in countering Islamic State but largely stay out of combat. “Elimination of ISIS needs some more time,” he added.

Until now, Mr. Sudani has been publicly silent about his views on keeping U.S. forces in Iraq, saying only that he would consult Iraqi commanders. Some pro-Iranian militia leaders and Mr. Sudani’s supporters in Parliament are pressing him to reconsider the U.S. presence.

That has left Biden administration officials unsure about the future of around 2,000 American troops in Iraq and a separate multinational training force under NATO command.

Mr. Sudani, who had little international experience and is mostly unknown in the West, is trying to broaden his outreach to the Biden administration and other Western governments in hopes of attracting investment and aid, as well as to counter criticism that his government is too closely aligned with Iran.

For Iraq, the second-largest crude-oil producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries after Saudi Arabia, such ambitions face enormous obstacles, including an economy and government plagued by corruption and well-armed militias, a continuing low-level security threat from Islamic State, and divisions among its Shia, Sunni and Kurd factions.

Twenty years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Washington and Baghdad have a wary but still intertwined relationship.

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Since November, Iraq’s dinar has dropped sharply against the dollar in unofficial currency markets in Iraq’s dollar-dependent economy, raising prices of food and other goods for ordinary Iraqis whose support Mr. Sudani has been courting.

But it is Baghdad’s relationship with Iran that is a particular barrier to Mr. Sudani’s goal of forging closer relations with Washington, analysts say.

[PghBaldy]

Thanks to G.W. Bush and Osama Obama, Iraq was wrecked. It is almost as if they wanted Iran to be stronger...

[proust]

What’s in it for us?

[Dr. Franklin]

Thanks to G.W. Bush and Osama Obama, Iraq was wrecked. It is almost as if they wanted Iran to be stronger...

The goal was to take the cheap Iraqi oil off the market so that the price of oil went up, and more expensive oil from other places, like UAE, Qatar, and Oman became profitable. This is why Russia didn't object much. People in the know invested in the right companies and made a killing.

[yuleeyahoo]

Higher taxes to cover the costs.

[lightman]

In a sane world run by grownups Sunni vs. Shitte would be textbook case of

Let's you and him fight.

Butt diaper-clad Bidenistan can hardly be considered "sane".

[SaveFerris]

Obama certainly did. His actions proved it.

GWB, well at one time daddy’s special project WAS Iraq.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

But don’t ask the Bush crew how to fix the disaster. They are too busy talking about what a threat Trump is to democracy and supporting Democrats.