Ahmed Rasheed reporting from Baghdad for Reuters
* * *
* *
Iraq's ruling alliance and powerful Shi'ite militias say
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi would be digging his own political grave and
undermining the fight against Islamic State if he permits the deployment of a
new U.S. special operations force in the country.
Washington said on Tuesday it would send troops, expected
to number around 200, to Iraq to conduct raids against the ultra-hardline Sunni
Muslim militants who have seized swathes of the country's north and west and
neighboring Syria.
Abadi said hours later that any such deployment would
require his government's consent, comments that may have been made for public
consumption at home.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry maintained on
Wednesday that the Iraqi government had been fully briefed on the plans and
said the two governments would consult closely on operational details.
* FOLKS... LET ME JUST GET TO THE HEART OF THE QUESTION:
DOESN'T IT SOUND LIKE THE "OBAMA DOCTRINE" IS SOMETHING ALONG THE
LINES OF "WE'LL DO WHAT WE WANT WHERE WE WANT WHEN WE WANT" AND TO
HELL WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW, NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY, OR INTERNATIONAL BORDERS?
* LEFTISTS...??? ANY THOUGHTS...???
Abadi's political partners told Reuters they would never
accept an expanded role for U.S. troops and insisted the premier would not dare
act alone after parliament withdrew support for his domestic reform agenda last
month over concerns he did not consult widely enough before making important
decisions.
"If Abadi makes a unilateral decision to approve the
deployment of American special forces, we will question him in parliament. He
is aware that a questioning could lead to a vote of no confidence," said
Mohammed Naji, a lawmaker from the Badr Organization and a local leader in the
Hashid Shaabi, which groups Shi'ite militia and other fighters against Islamic
State.
* SO... ANOTHER QUESTION: ALL YOU "DEMOCRACY
FANS"... ALL YOU "ANTI-IMPERIALISTS"... WHAT'S YOUR POSITION ON
THIS? WOULD YOU APPROVE OF ABADI VIOLATING IRAQ'S CONSTITUTION AND BASICALLY
ASSUMING DICTATORIAL POWERS AS LONG AS HE'S DOING IT ON BEHALF OF OBAMA'S
AGENDA?
* I TRY... I REALLY DO TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE LEFTIST
MINDSET. IS IT BLATANT HYPOCRISY ALL THE TIME... OR JUST MOST OF THE TIME?
(*SCRATCHING MY HEAD*)
* I MEAN... IT SURE DOES APPEAR THAT OBAMA PLANS ON USING
ABADI AS A PUPPET WHILE TREATING IRAQ AS... OUR PROPERTY... DOESN'T IT? (THIS
IS REUTERS REPORTING...)
(*SHRUGGING*)
"The government is not allowed to authorize a
deployment of American troops in Iraq even if it they are expeditionary or
intelligence gathering forces," said Hakim al-Zamili, a leading Shi'ite
politician from the Sadrists, a movement founded by anti-American cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr.
Ammar Tuma, leader of the Fadhila party in the Shi'ite
alliance, backed that position, arguing that only parliament, not Abadi, has
the authority to approve the presence of foreign combat forces.
Resistance to any expansion of the U.S. role in the
country, no matter how limited or gradual, stems in part from absolute mistrust
among Iraqis and their leaders of Washington's intentions.
Naji said he feared that once deployed, U.S. special
forces might eventually turn their attention to pursuing Hashid Shaabi
commanders and key Shi'ite politicians, some of whom are on the U.S. terrorism
watch list.
* NICE "ALLIES," HUH?
"For Abadi to give a green light for the American
troops to deploy in Iraq would not be a shot in the foot," said another
lawmaker from the Shi'ite alliance. "It would be a shot in the head."
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