The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) announced in a statement on Friday that, according to the decision of the North Atlantic Council, the scope of the coalition's mission, as well as advisory and capacity-building missions to support the Ministry of Interior and the Federal Police, will be broadened.
“This additional activity will be conducted in complementarity with support offered by other nations and international organisations. All of NATO’s activities are carried out at Iraq’s request and in full respect of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement went on.
The NATO statement added that the mission also advises Iraq’s professional military education institutions in the greater Baghdad area.
NATO's claim about presence in Iraq is contrary to what the Iraqi authorities state. In a meeting with a group of commanders of the armed forces last week, Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani of Iraq emphasized that Iraq does not need the presence of foreign military forces. Stating that the Iraqis are having advanced talks to determine the shape of future relations and cooperation with the Western military bloc, al-Sudani said that Iraqis are more united than ever after liberating the country from terrorists and eliminating sectarian conflicts and divisions.
According to past agreements between the Iraqi government and NATO, foreign forces were supposed to train Iraqis, but no effective measures have been taken in this regard. This is while the Iraqi military forces, especially the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have proven that they are so capable in confronting the ISIS terrorist group that they do not need foreign presence to protect security in their country.
Washington’s new tactic to continue occupation
Aware of the Iraqis’ sensitivity to the presence of its forces, the US has embarked on a new tactic to continue occupation of Iraq. On Friday, some Iraqi security sources announced the replacement of part of the American-led coalition forces in the two bases of Ain al-Asad in Al Anbar and Harir in Erbil. These sources claimed that the military arrangements that were observed in recent days were part of the replacement operation of the units of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition and not of the American forces that entered Iraq. The sources further said that these forces left Iraqi territory through the Jarishan border crossing with Kuwait as part of periodic replacement operations.
Some bloggers also published information about presence of the US military forces in Iraq on social media. Sadequn parliamentary coalition, the political branch of Asaib Ahl Al-Haq reported that about 2,500 American troops along with military vehicles and fighter jets arrived in Iraq and were stationed in Ain Al-Asad base.
Given the new US movements, it seems the White House leaders intend to guarantee their presence in Iraq by replacing a number of their forces with the so-called NATO forces. This new policy is more like changing the color and uniforms that have the NATO signs emblazoned on them instead of the US’s. Besides, these NATO forces are actually American nationals themselves, whose mission is operating overseas.
At present, all the soldiers who operate in Iraq under the name of NATO are Americans, and the NATO label is only to fool the public opinion in order to ease Iraqis pressure. But these deceptive measures come while for Iraqis there is no difference between American and NATO forces and any foreign force on their soil is considered as an occupying force that must leave Iraq as soon as possible. Therefore, Washington's new show will make no difference to Iraqi demand for foreign forces to pull out.
Public and law demand for foreign forces withdrawal
The US is pushing for stay in Iraq while the resistance forces, parliament, government officials, and people insist on the end of the US military presence in their country and want Washington to fully respect their sovereignty and independence. In January 2020 and after the US assassination of two anti-terror commanders, Iran's General Qassem Soleimani and Iraq's Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Iraqi parliament passed a bill demanding expulsion of the American forces from Iraq, but since then, not only no single troop was withdrawn, but also the Americans reinforced their military infrastructure in Iraq.
The resistance groups, as guarantors of Iraq's security, have warned many times about the consequences of the continuation of the US occupation, and given the actions of the American ambassador in Baghdad to inflame insecurity in this country, the escalation of tension between the resistance groups and Washington is not unlikely. The leaders of the resistance believe that as long as the Americans are present in Iraq, this country will not enjoy peace. They have warned that they are ready to resort to force to expel the foreign forces.
Reacting to the new American measures, a member of Fatah parliamentary bloc Hamed al-Mousawi said that all political and resistance forces support Iraq's national sovereignty and demand the government to finalize expulsion of the foreign forces from the country.
“Whereas the Iraqi government opposes these decisions, the US insists on backing the international coalition's advisors and experts,” al-Mousawi added, pointing to the parliamentary bloc’s push to expel the American forces.
Washington officials always claim that the presence of their forces is to defend American facilities and forces in Iraq, which they say are threatened by resistance groups, and for this reason, they bend over the backwards to weaken the resistance groups and implement their evil plans in Iraq.
In recent days, some Iraqi news outlets stated that American officials in recent negotiations with the Iraqi side demanded the dissolution of PMF, called Hashd al-Shaabi locally, in exchange for delivery of advanced weapons to the Iraqi army, but Baghdad turned down the offer. White House officials believe that as long as the Iran-aligned resistance groups are in power in Iraq, the interests of the US and its allies are at stake. The US State Department’s spokesperson recently said openly that their goal in Iraq is to counter Iran's influence.
American activity buildup on Iraqi-Syrian border
A close watch of the US moves in the region in recent weeks reveals that new steps are being taken. In this regard, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, citing three Iraqi figures, reported on Friday that the Americans are redeploying in the region. These are preludes for military operations that would not be in Iraq, the said. Armed militias believe that the strategic goal of these moves is to change the rules of engagement with the Russians in Syria.
They added that what they now have are just analyses based on trivial data since the Americans barely talk to Baghdad about their operations. They continued that the second aim of these military activities is Iran as Washington tries to cut off the route of the Iranian aids to Syria and Lebanon through Iraq and “this is all we currently know.”
These remarks come as General Matthew McFarlane, the commander of the US-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, claimed on Thursday that the bloc is monitoring the threats by Iraqi groups against the military bases of the international coalition forces on social media.
The recent moves by the American forces on Iraq-Syria borders come as information talk about possibility of clashes in this area. According to Shafaq News, over the past few days, the Americans have provided reinforcements, including vehicles and combat troops, to their forces on the Syrian border. Also the coalition forces conducted war games involving fighter jets at Conoco support base in northern suburbs of Deir ez-Zor.
In recent weeks, tensions between Russia and the US have heightened in Syria’s east, with the Pentagon officials claiming that Iran and Russia intend to expel the American forces from this region, and for this reason, its forces have taken tactical formation to counter possible attacks.
Deployment of 3,500 forces in the Red Sea and replacing Iraq-based forces with fresh ones, and suspicious moves on the Iraqi borders with Syria all reveal a new Washington scheme for the region. The Americans are deeply worried about the strengthening of Iraq and Syria as Iran's allies in the region and are trying to, as much as they can, prevent such a triangle from gaining power. They know very well that further power gain of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance beside burgeoning Iranian-Arab convergence marks the end of the American military presence in the region which is, in turn, risky to the US strategic interests.
All in all, given the firm resolve of the Iraqi resistance forces to
expel the Americans from Iraq and the American push for stay under NATO
cover, tensions are slated to escalate and yield insecurity in Iraq,
which provides a proper opportunity to the White House to exploit tense
atmosphere in this country to realize its evil plans.
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