Resistance group urges removal of all US air bases from Iraq

The Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq Movement, a subdivision of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashd al-Sha’abi, has called for the removal of all American air bases from the Arab country, after Baghdad and Washington agreed to rename the role of the US military on Iraqi soil.

Asa’ib Secretary General Qais Khazali criticized on Wednesday the agreement reached two days earlier between US President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on ending the US combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021, but still keeping US troops there with what is called a training and advisory role.

Under the agreement, which was announced at the end of the fourth round of US-Iraq strategic talks, there would be no change to the number of US troops in Iraq, now about 2,500, reports say.

Khazali warned about the harmful presence of the US military in the country and said, “We need the prime minister’s unequivocal confirmation that no US air base will remain in Iraq.”

He said the government should set up a parliamentary committee to pursue the non-violation of Iraqi sovereignty by the United States and introduce the bases hosting American military personnel, and that the committee must have the right to enter the Ain al-Assad Airbase without prior notice.

He also said that the US drones are actually spying on and monitoring resistance factions and Hashd al-Sha’abi in Iraq’s southern and central provinces.

“The US government has no real intention to leave Iraq. The strategic dialog between Washington and Baghdad is a deceptive move that will not lead to the pullout of US troops from Iraq, and any agreement [in this regard] is only a play of words,” he said.

“The United States has occupied Iraq and will not leave easily and without strong resistance. The cost of keeping US troops in Iraq will be high,” Khazali said.

The Iraqi politician said, “The resistance movements will not be deceived unless practical steps are taken to oust the Americans.”

ME