“WE’VE GOT TO GET IN TO GET
OUT”
Map showing
6 of the 8 US military bases in Iraq.
Yesterday, the Pentagon announced the US Army
withdrawal from 3 of the 8 US military bases in Iraq. There are three
fundamental reasons for enacting this decision>
1- The US need to maintain a significant military
footprint in Iraq has been gradually diminishing since the 2017 Islamic State
(IS) collapse.* The IS has not been terminated, but its ability to wreak havoc across the Middle East has been
quashed in the short/medium term.
2- The increasing hostility and threats to the
American military presence, substantiated by missile and rocket attacks by Iran
and her Iraqi minions. The American casualties have been diminutive, but sooner
or later they will be very damaging. Once it gets to that, the United States
retaliation would have to be devastating, thus opening the way for a full scale
war.
3- President Donald Trump has consistently and
strongly advocated for a reduced American military footprint in the Middle East
and beyond, especially in conflict theatres. The withdrawal from Syria started
in 2019 and the one from Afghanistan is starting to roll. Iraq is the remaining
goal.
Of course, there will be those, namely in Iran
and Iraq, who will gloat that they kicked the US out of Iraq. I do not
subscribe to that point of view<. Although there are several variables, the
main issue is that the United States wants to get out and it is important for
Trump to be able to show significant reductions in troop deployments overseas.
And the reason lies more in Washington than in Baghdad or Tehran.
The
United States has got into the Middle East in 2003 and got out in 2011, only to
get back in in 2014. As the Genesis famously put in “Carpet Crawlers”, “We’ve
got to get in to get out”! **
*
The actual state, not the militant organisation.
**
As a bonus to our readers, here’s the “Carpet Crawlers”:
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