{"id":32278,"date":"2019-02-08T02:23:38","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T02:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=32278"},"modified":"2019-02-08T02:23:38","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T02:23:38","slug":"iraqs-shiite-militants-vow-to-oust-us-troops-by-law-or-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=32278","title":{"rendered":"Iraq\u2019s Shiite militants vow to oust US troops \u2014 by law or force"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBAGHDAD: Ousting US troops from Iraq despite President Donald Trump\u2019s vow to stay is now the top goal of pro-Iranian Shiite armed groups. And their leaders say there are only two ways \u2014 by passing a new law, or by force.<\/p>\n

\nUS-Iraq relations have grown tense once again, after a series of ups and downs over the years, from the 1990 Gulf war though crippling sanctions to the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and the fight against Daesh.<\/p>\n

\nBut a year after Iraq declared victory over Daesh following a three-year war against the militants in which it was also backed by Iran, the Americans are seen by some as an unwanted \u201coccupying force.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nAnd if they do stay, \u201cevery Iraqi will have the legitimate right to confront them by any means,\u201d warned Mohammed Mohie, spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq, a force close to Iran that has also fought on the side of President Bashar Assad in Syria.<\/p>\n

\nThe powerful leader of the Asaib Ahel Al-Haq armed group, Qais Al-Khazali, echoed the warning.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf we are ever needed, we are ready,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\nThere were nearly 4,500 US troops killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, including in fighting with Shiite armed groups. But before any decision to take up arms again and spill more blood, Mohie said he wants to give lawmakers a chance to set a time frame for the departure of US troops from Iraq.<\/p>\n

\nA bill has been tabled in Parliament, and there could be a rare show of unanimity in support of it between its two biggest factions: Populist cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr\u2019s alliance, which champions Iraq\u2019s independence, and the pro-Iranian bloc of former anti-Daesh fighters.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFor three years, the main rivalry in Parliament has been among Shiite factions,\u201d said Renad Mansour, a researcher at the Chatham House think-tank.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThey cannot agree on the choice of a minister, but they do on one point: That the experience of having America in Iraq has been bad.\u201d Ironically, the person who has given new impetus to the proposed timetable for American troops to leave Iraq is the US president himself.<\/p>\n

\nAt the weekend, Trump provoked indignation even among Washington\u2019s allies in Baghdad when he said he plans to keep American forces in Iraq to keep an eye on Iran.<\/p>\n

\nAs a result, US diplomats and military officials in Baghdad were \u201cvery worried\u201d and doing everything to \u201cminimize\u201d the impact of the remarks, said Mansour.<\/p>\n

\nTrump had already irritated the Iraqis by not meeting any of the country\u2019s officials during a surprise Christmas visit to US troops stationed less than 200 km from Baghdad.<\/p>\n

\nUS forces left Iraq in 2011, only to return in 2014, at the head of the coalition against Daesh in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n

\nBut the US is now seeking to use Iraq as \u201ca base for attacking neighboring countries,\u201d Khazali told AFP.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cTrump does not understand that Iraq is now a strong country. But he can be sure that if he persists, he will pay very dearly,\u201d said the Asaib leader wearing a Shiite white turban.<\/p>\n

\nMohie said adoption of the bill on a US withdrawal would be the \u201cfirst step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nBut he swiftly added that \u201cwe think the United States will again challenge the popular will\u201d by trying to stay in Iraq.<\/p>\n

\nIn that case, Mohie said his forces and others like it would move to the \u201csecond step\u201d and take up arms against \u201can occupying force.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe resistance factions have gained capabilities and expertise in the fight against\u201d Daesh, he said.<\/p>\n

\nThe experience they gained \u201cwill serve to confront any army that threatens Iraq and its sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nHe said that above all any confrontation would allow Shiite factions \u201cto find an external threat on which to focus attention rather than their internal problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BAGHDAD: Ousting US troops from Iraq despite President Donald Trump\u2019s vow to stay is now the top goal of pro-Iranian Shiite armed groups. And their leaders say there are only two ways \u2014 by passing a new law, or by force. US-Iraq relations have grown tense once again, after a series of ups and downs…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":32279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}