AP Interview: Iraq Premier Nixes US Ground Troops

Posted: Sep 18, 2014

Oh, look. The new leader of Iraq does not want and will not allow ground troops from other countries in Iraq. How can we continue to blame Obama for this the same way he is blamed for Bush's Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to remove all ground troops from Iraq by 12/31/2011? According to the SOFA signed by Bush in 2008, a system had to be established for Iraqi approval of every single US mission. Every single time that US troops leave their bases, it has to be cleared by the Iraqis. According to Bush's SOFA, Iraqi military tribunals reserve the right to prosecute our service people and they no longer have immunity for accidental incidents or collateral damage. While "off duty," US troops after Bush's signing of the SOFA are now subject to the Iraqi criminal justice system. So now Obama will not put our troops in Iraq, and Iraq's PM does not want and will not allow them either. It's getting harder to appear credible blaming Obama for removal of US ground troops when you consider the terms Bush agreed to in the SOFA and when Iraq has again reiterated that they still want our ground troops out, period, full stop. BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's new prime minister ruled out stationing U.S. ground troops in his country, chiding the international community Wednesday for inaction in Syria and lamenting the "puzzling" exclusion of neighboring Iran from the coalition being assembled to fight the Islamic State group. Haider al-Abadi has been embraced by the West as a more inclusive leader who might heal the internal rifts that have dismembered Iraq. But his forthrightness in an interview with The Associated Press - his first with international media - suggested a man capable of parting ways on vision and holding his ground. Al-Abadi praised the U.S. aerial campaign targeting the militants who have overrun much of northern and western Iraq and carved out a proto-state spanning the Syria-Iraq border, saying it has helped efforts to roll back the Sunni extremists. But he stressed that he sees no need for the U.S. or other nations to send troops into Iraq to help fight the Islamic State. "Not only is it not necessary," he said, "We don't want them. We won't allow them. Full stop.";