{"id":3902,"date":"2020-01-10T17:21:15","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T21:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=3902"},"modified":"2020-01-10T17:21:15","modified_gmt":"2020-01-10T21:21:15","slug":"american-exceptionalism-and-hubris-has-no-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=3902","title":{"rendered":"American Exceptionalism and Hubris Has No Limits"},"content":{"rendered":"

US Rebuffs Iraq PM Request To Talk Troop Exit: It’s “Our Right” As A “Force For Good” To Stay<\/h1>\n

ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n

Perhaps entirely to be expected, the US administration has\u00a0unambiguously rejected Iraqi Prime Minister\u00a0Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s urgent call for Washington to enact a US troop ‘withdrawal mechanism’ in Iraq<\/strong>. In a Thursday phone call to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Iraqi leader\u00a0urged\u00a0the administration to<\/a>\u00a0\u201csend delegates to Iraq to prepare a mechanism to carry out the parliament\u2019s resolution regarding the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.\u201d<\/p>\n

Echoing prior statements of Mark Esper, the State Department underscored Friday that it’s\u00a0“our right” as a\u00a0“force for good” in the region to maintain “appropriate force posture in the Middle East”<\/strong>\u00a0in a statement<\/a>\u00a0by spokesperson\u00a0Morgan Ortagus. She stated the US considers that a troop pullout is not on the table for discussion with Baghdad officials.<\/p>\n

“At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership \u2014\u00a0not to discuss troop withdrawal<\/strong>, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East,” Ortagus said. The words also appear aimed at\u00a0Abdul-Mahdi’s assertion that US forces were operating “without permission”.<\/p>\n

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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a prior Middle East tour in early 2019, via the AP.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“America is a force for good in the Middle East,”<\/strong>\u00a0she added. “Our military presence in Iraq is to continue the fight against ISIS and as the Secretary has said, we are committed to protecting Americans, Iraqis, and our coalition partners.”<\/p>\n

And yet President Trump has previously declared the total demise of the Islamic State’s “territorial caliphate”\u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/em>which has long been the main rationale for the Pentagon being there.<\/p>\n

According to most estimates the US troop\u00a0presence\u00a0numbers around 5,000, which the\u00a0Iraqi PM would like to see exit following a vote in Iraqi parliament early this week pushing through an initial non-binding resolution. Abdul-Mahdi requested that a US delegation be sent to Baghdad work out\u00a0a precise plan for major US pullout.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe prime minister said American forces had entered Iraq and drones are flying in its airspace\u00a0without permission from Iraqi authorities and this was a violation of the bilateral agreements<\/strong>,\u201d the Iraqi leader’s statement said.<\/p>\n

According to\u00a0Axios<\/a>, US officials\u00a0attempted to halt the weekend Iraq parliament vote to expel American forces.\u00a0“It’s our concern that Iraq would take a short-term decision that would have catastrophic long-term implications for the country and its security,” one unnamed Trump administration official was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n