Iraq's parliament started its extraordinary session on Sunday with Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi in attendance, where they are expected to vote on ousting thousands of US troops from military bases.
Right now in Iraq, their parliament is meeting to discuss a very important topic, whether or not to vote to remove all US military presence from their country. This comes in the aftermath of a precision drone strike that
killed Iran's top general Qassem Soleimani. For President Trump, this comes as an unforeseen but very welcome political gift, and one that will certainly advance his prospects of winning reelection later this year.
Should the Iraqi parliament indeed vote to remove all US forces from Iraq, President Trump will immediate announce that he has kept yet another one of his campaign promises, that being to end US involvement with foreign wars
in the Middle East. In the meantime over in Iran today, a series a strikes is being planned as revenge for Soleimani. In accordance with Muslim law, they won't do anything until the 3-day mourning period has passed, and that puts us right at Tuesday morning. Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
Iraqi parliament meets to discuss withdrawal of US troops
FROM THE NATIONAL: The outgoing Mr Abdul Mahdi, who resigned following months of protests but is in office until a replacement has been decided on, told parliament it must “take careful consideration” whether to “take urgent measures to end the presence of US troops” or limit their remit.
In the event that they are limited, they may allowed to conduct training missions and be banned from mounting any military operations in the country.
The bases are threatened by pro-Tehran factions after an American strike killed commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force Gen Qassem Suleimani and Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis.
Late on Saturday, missiles hit the Baghdad enclave where the US embassy is located and an airbase north of the capital housing American troops, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten strikes on 52 sites in Iran.
The near-simultaneous attacks seemed to be the first phase of promised retaliation for the US precision drone strike that killed Suleimani and Al Muhandis. The US-led coalition against ISIS on Sunday announced it was "pausing" its fight against ISIS in Iraq, where US troops training local forces have faced a spate of rocket attacks.
"This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh (the Arabic name for ISIS) and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review," the coalition said in a statement.
Iraqi politicians said they would use the special session to push for a vote on a resolution requiring the government to tell Washington to withdraw US troops from the country.
The Iraqi foreign ministry also said on Sunday that it has summoned US ambassador Matthew Tueller to condemn US strikes on Iraq that killed a top Iranian general, an Iraqi commander and other local fighters.
"They were a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty," the ministry said in a statement, and "contradict the agreed-upon missions of the international coalition."
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