[Midden-Oosten] Iraqis want US military out following drone assassination

[Jeff]

Aljazeera

Iraqi parliament calls for expulsion of foreign troops troops from Iraq.
by Arwa Ibrahim   5 January 2020

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/iraqi-parliament-calls-expulsion-foreign-troops-200105150709628.html


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New York Times

Iraqi Lawmakers Urge End to U.S. Troop Presence as Iran Mourns a Slain 
General

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/05/world/middleeast/iran-general-soleimani-iraq.html

By Alissa J. Rubin, Steven Erlanger and Farnaz Fassihi

     Jan. 5, 2020
     Updated 12:21 p.m. ET

BAGHDAD — Lawmakers in Iraq voted on Sunday to require the government to 
end the presence of American troops in 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 to heed the demands of angry Shiite factions and 
politicians 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 bill. But since he drafted the language and submitted the bill 
to Parliament, there was little doubt he would sign it.

Although the vote was 170-0 in Parliament, many of its 328 members, 
primarily Kurds and Sunnis, did not attend the session and did not vote, 
showing the division in Parliament on the demands to oust American 
troops. While groups 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.

The legislation threads a fine needle: While using strong language 
demanding that the government “end any foreign presence on Iraqi soil 
and prevent the use of Iraqi airspace, soil and water for any reason” by 
foreign forces, it gives no timetable for doing so.

It would end the mission approved in 2014 that gave the United States 
the explicit task of helping the Iraqi forces to fight the Islamic 
State. That agreement gave the Americans substantial latitude to launch 
attacks and use Iraqi airspace. But the measure would leave in place the 
Strategic Framework Agreement, which allows an American troop presence 
in Iraq in some form.

On Sunday, the American-led coalition in Iraq and Syria announced that 
it would pause its yearslong mission of fighting the Islamic State and 
training local forces in both countries. A pullout of the estimated 
5,200 American troops could cripple the fight against the Islamic State, 
or ISIS, and could allow its resurgence.

On Sunday, Mr. Abdul Mahdi urged lawmakers to act after President Trump 
ordered a drone strike that killed General Suleimani in the Baghdad 
airport on Friday.

The body of General Suleimani was brought back early Sunday from Iraq. 
Among the others killed in the attack was Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the 
deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, which includes at 
least half a dozen pro-Iranian militias.

The general’s killing unleashed calls for vengeance in both Iraq and 
Iran, and reinforced a general solidarity among hard-liners and 
moderates in Iran against the United States. After the vote in Iraq 
calling on the government to expel American troops, Iranian officials 
reacted with congratulatory messages.

Hesameddin Ashena, a top adviser to President Hassan Rouhani, wrote on 
Twitter, “Expanding friendship with our neighbors and domestic unity are 
the best gifts for protecting our national security.”

In Iraq, the attack was seen as a violation of the nation’s sovereignty. 
On Sunday, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said it had summoned the American 
ambassador in Baghdad. In Iran, it was viewed as tantamount to an act of 
war. Hossein Dehghan, a military adviser to Mr. Khamenei, told CNN that 
Iran’s response would include an attack on “U.S. military targets.”

As the Middle East braced for Iranian retaliation, which analysts said 
was all but inevitable and American officials said they expected within 
weeks, Tehran and Washington ratcheted up the rhetoric.

Members of Iran’s Parliament chanted, “Death to America!” en masse in 
the chamber on Sunday in protest over General Suleimani’s killing, 
television footage showed.

The chants came as Mr. Trump fired off a series of Twitter ripostes to 
the growing anger, including that the United States had pinpointed 52 
targets in Iran, including cultural sites, if there were any retaliation 
for the killing. He said the sites represented the 52 American hostages 
“taken by Iran many years ago” at the United States Embassy.

That led Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to respond on 
Twitter that “targeting cultural sites is a war crime.” He said that the 
“end of U.S. malign presence in West Asia has begun.”

Iran summoned the Swiss envoy representing American interests in Tehran 
on Sunday to protest Mr. Trump’s threat that Washington would target 
Iranian sites. And Mr. Trump’s tweet became a rallying cry among 
Iranians sharing it widely on social media and phone applications with 
the message, “Attend the funeral for our cultural heritage.”

Iran’s information and telecommunications minister, Mohammad Javad 
Azari-Jahromi, tweeted on Sunday that Mr. Trump was “a terrorist in a 
suit.”

“Like ISIS, Like Hitler, Like Genghis! They all hate cultures. Trump is 
a terrorist in a suit. He will learn history very soon that NOBODY can 
defeat ‘the Great Iranian Nation & Culture,’” Mr. Jahromi wrote.

The drone attack left America’s European allies scrambling to address 
the safety of their troops in the Middle East and complaining that they 
had been given no warning about the strike. But European leaders also 
called for de-escalation between Iran and the United States.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, invited Mr. 
Zarif to Brussels for talks. Mr. Borrell said in a statement that he had 
spoken to Iran’s foreign minister, urging “Iran to exercise restraint 
and carefully consider any reaction to avoid further escalation, which 
harms the entire region and its people.”

Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said he would seek direct talks 
with Iran after the American killing of General Suleimani. Europe wants 
to continue the fight against the Islamic State, Mr. Maas said, and 
Germany is anxious about the safety of its troops training Iraqi 
fighters against the Islamic State militants.

The European outreach came as the United States and its NATO allies 
suspended training Iraqi forces for security reasons after the killing 
of General Suleimani.

Germany’s defense minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, said in a 
statement: “Iraq cannot be allowed to sink into chaos, and certainly not 
under the control of extremists. Therefore, it is important not to let 
up now in the fight against Islamic State.”

In general, the Europeans did not specifically criticize Mr. Trump for 
his decision, and generally share the American view that Iran has been a 
destabilizing force in the Middle East and a supporter of terrorism. At 
the same time, no European government praised the killing of General 
Suleimani, emphasizing instead the increased risks to their citizens, 
troops and interests.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain was reported to be angry with 
Mr. Trump for not informing him or other allies with troops in Iraq 
about the decision to kill General Suleimani. While carried out by the 
Americans, the killing is thought to have put all European citizens and 
troops in Iraq and the wider region at heightened risk.

Mr. Johnson, who was said to be returning early from a vacation in the 
Caribbean, is expected to discuss the issues with Chancellor Angela 
Merkel of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Mr. Trump in 
the next few days, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo complained that the response by European 
allies had not been “helpful.” He told Fox News in an interview: 
“Frankly, the Europeans haven’t been as helpful as I wish that they 
could be. The Brits, the French, the Germans all need to understand that 
what we did, what the Americans did, saved lives in Europe as well.”

Dominic Raab, Britain’s foreign minister, who is scheduled to travel to 
Washington this week to meet Mr. Pompeo, said any country had a right to 
defend itself.

Asked in an interview with the BBC whether the killing was legal, Mr. 
Raab said, “There is a right of self-defense.” He said he did not agree 
that the killing was an act of war, and described General Suleimani to 
Sky News, another British broadcaster, as a “regional menace.”

But Mr. Raab also said that he had spoken to Iraq’s prime minister and 
president to urge a de-escalation of tensions in the region, and that he 
planned to speak to Iran’s foreign minister.

In particular, the Europeans are trying to persuade Iran to keep to the 
2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, 
which Mr. Trump pulled the United States out of in May 2018, reimposing 
harsh economic sanctions on Tehran. Since then, Iran has slowly 
abandoned its adherence to parts of the deal.

On Sunday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Abbas Mousavi, said Iran was 
ready to decide its next step to further roll back its commitments to 
the deal. The National Security Council would hold an emergency meeting 
Sunday evening to make a final decision about the nuclear deal, he said.

“There will be an important meeting tonight about decreasing our 
commitments in J.C.P.O.A., taking the fifth step and making a final 
decision,” Mr. Mousavi said, according to the state news agency IRNA, 
using the acronym for the nuclear deal.

The Europeans are also working to keep the Strait of Hormuz open to 
shipping. About one-third of the world’s oil tankers use the waterway, 
which Iran has intermittently threatened to close. Last July, Iranian 
forces boarded and seized a British-flagged tanker in the Strait, trying 
to pressure the world to allow its oil exports despite American 
sanctions.

On Saturday, Britain’s defense minister, Ben Wallace, said he had 
ordered the country’s Navy to accompany all British-flagged ships 
through the Strait of Hormuz.

France has also stepped up diplomatic initiatives to ease tensions. Mr. 
Macron spoke to President Barham Salih of Iraq and the de facto ruler of 
the United Arab Emirates, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed of Abu Dhabi.

Even as the Europeans scrambled on several fronts, the coffin of General 
Suleimani arrived in Ahvaz, in southwestern Iran, which has a 
significant ethnic Arab population. The region has not always supported 
the government, and many citizens joined the recent protests against the 
regime. But they are united in their support for General Suleimani, a 
figure they viewed as larger than life.

Amir, a 35-year-old businessman and resident of Ahvaz who asked that his 
last name not be used for security reasons, attended the funeral and 
said that although he did not support Iran’s government, General 
Suleimani’s killing had touched a nationalist nerve.

“The attack really wounded and insulted the national pride of Iranians,” 
he said. “I went to show my solidarity and to say no to war with Iran.”

After Ahvaz, the general’s body will be flown to Mashhad, a major 
religious center for Shiites in northeastern Iran. It will then be taken 
to Tehran, where a highway was named after General Suleimani on Sunday. 
A state funeral will be held on Monday. He will be buried in his 
hometown, Kerman, on Tuesday.

The body of Mr. al-Muhandis is with the general’s, but it is not clear 
whether he will also be buried in Iran or if his body will return to 
Najaf, Iraq, where almost all Iraqi Shiites are buried. Mr. al-Muhandis 
married an Iranian and became an Iranian citizen.

Also Sunday, Kataib Hezbollah, the armed group arguably closest to Iran, 
warned Iraqi troops on bases that also house United States troops that 
they should stay at least 3,000 feet from American counterparts starting 
on Sunday evening, and not allow themselves to be used as human shields.


Alissa J. Rubin reported from Baghdad, Steven Erlanger from Brussels, 
and Farnaz Fassihi from New York.
Turmoil in Iran and Iraq


Alissa Johannsen Rubin is the Baghdad Bureau chief for The New York 
Times.  @Alissanyt

Steven Erlanger is the chief diplomatic correspondent in Europe, based 
in Brussels. He previously reported from London, Paris, Jerusalem, 
Berlin, Prague, Moscow and Bangkok. @StevenErlanger

     © 2020 The New York Times Company