{"id":201732,"date":"2020-01-31T09:26:38","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T09:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=201732"},"modified":"2020-02-04T08:20:43","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T08:20:43","slug":"us-announces-three-new-bases-in-iraq-after-iraqis-demand-full-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=201732","title":{"rendered":"US Announces Three New Bases in Iraq After Iraqis Demand Full Withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alan Macleod \u2013 Activist Post Jan 29, 2020<\/a><\/strong><\/h1>\n
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Iraqis march in Baghdad to protest the continued U.S. military oresence in their country. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Less than a week after millions of Iraqis<\/strong><\/span><\/a> took to the streets demanding the U.S. military leave for good, the United States announced that is planning to build three new military bases in Iraq, according to<\/a><\/strong><\/span> military news service Breaking Defense<\/em>. The three sites chosen \u2013 Erbin, Sulimania and Halabja \u2013 are all extremely close to Iran, with Halabja (the site of the 1988 chemical weapons attack<\/strong><\/span><\/a>) just eight miles from the border.<\/span><\/p>\n

The news will come as a shock to the Iraqi parliament, who earlier this month voted overwhelmingly (with some abstentions) to expel American forces from the country. But the U.S. government has flatly refused to leave. \u201cAt this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership \u2014 not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East,\u201d said<\/a><\/strong><\/span> State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus, adding<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, \u201cWe strongly urge Iraqi leaders to reconsider the importance of the ongoing economic and security relationship between the two countries\u2026 We believe it is in the shared interests of the United States and Iraq to continue fighting ISIS together.\u201d Earlier this month the U.S. decided to send an extra 3,000<\/a><\/strong><\/span> troops to the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Trump responded by threatening sweeping mass punishments against the Iraqi people. \u201cWe\u2019re not leaving unless they pay us back for it\u2026If they do ask us to leave, if we don\u2019t do it in a very friendly basis, we will charge them sanctions like they\u2019ve never seen before ever,\u201d he said<\/a><\/strong><\/span>. U.S.-led sanctions on Iraq in the 1990s are thought to have killed over one million people, including over half a million<\/a><\/strong><\/span> young children. Successive U.N. diplomats in charge of Iraq during the sanctions denounced<\/a><\/strong><\/span> them as genocide against its people. Trump said his sanctions would make the ones on Iran look tame by comparison.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s any hostility,\u201d he said<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, \u201cwe are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions.\u201d Trump also threatened<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to commit genocide against the people of Iran, destroying their cultural heritage sites in a move condemned<\/a> by<\/a> many<\/a><\/strong><\/span> and compared to the Taliban\u2019s destruction of the world-renowned Buddhas of Bamyan in Afghanistan. Despite the president\u2019s threats, enormous numbers<\/strong><\/span><\/a> of Iraqis heeded Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr\u2019s call for a \u201cmillion man march\u201d in Baghdad last week. While Time<\/em> magazine claimed<\/a> <\/strong><\/span>there were only \u201chundreds\u201d in attendance, drone footage told a very different story. Some estimates put the total at over 2.5 million<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. And despite Bloomberg Quick Take<\/em> originally claiming<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that they were \u201canti-government demonstrations,\u201d the huge banner on the main stage reading \u201cGET OUT AMERICA\u201d in uppercase English letters suggested otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sadr asked for it. Today's the day. Baghdad now#Iraqmillionmanmarch<\/a> #Iraq<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/9xPLS29U5q<\/a><\/p>\n

— Logiko Iko (@IkoAfortiori) January 24, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n