This morning the US State Department issued this release, in response to the demand of the Iraq government that all US military leave the country. Please have a close read.
America is a force for good in the Middle East. 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. We have been unambiguous regarding how crucial our D-ISIS mission is in Iraq. At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership—not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East. Today, a NATO delegation is at the State Department to discuss increasing NATO’s role in Iraq, in line with the President’s desire for burden sharing in all of our collective defense efforts. There does, however, need to be a conversation between the U.S. and Iraqi governments not just regarding security, but about our financial, economic, and diplomatic partnership. We want to be a friend and partner to a sovereign, prosperous, and stable Iraq.
That first sentence should scare the hell out of any sentient reader. "America is a force for good in the Middle East."
Truly!
I guess it all comes down to how you define "good." If you think destroyed societies, tens of millions displaced, and millions dead and maimed are all symptoms of something good, you won't have any problem with following the NATO herd as Trump and Pompeo arm-twist the NATO me-too states into the quagmire the US has created.
Bringing freedom, human rights, and democracy to Iraq and the rest of the ME ingrates is quite burdensome, and Messers Trump and Pompeo would like to see a little more burden sharing among the allies.
By the way, whenever you see politicians, or learned persons from the Munk School of Global Affairs or the Balsillie School of International Affairs talking about "standing with our allies" in the pages of the Globe and Mail or on the CBC, what they're actually signalling is that they're comfortable having the Trump/Pompeo combine determine Canada's foreign policy.
At least so long as we're part of "our allies," ie NATO.
That strikes me as a very compelling reason for getting out of NATO.
Now!
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