Vehement opposition to USA withdrawal from Iraq

Last September President Obama announced the formal end of the combat mission in Iraq. He said, as a candidate to this office I pledged I would end this war and as a president I am doing this now. He emphasised, this war is ending and by the end of next year all our troops will be back home.

This apparently will not be the case if Gates, US secretary of defence, has his way. Gates, a republican, who is very close to the Saudi regime, denied giving the green light to the Saudi forces to invade Bahrain. This is inconceivable since Bahrain is the home of the US fifth fleet and because he was there forty eight hours before the invasion. Gates met the king of Saudi Arabia en route to Iraq, where he announced that Iraqi forces are not ready to take over the formidable task of maintaining security and the presence of US boots on the ground is absolutely vital. He ratcheted up the pressure on the Iraqi government stressing that it had very limited time to request extending US troops stay in Iraq. Admiral Mullen followed in Gates footsteps piling the pressure further.

In 1991 Saudi Arabia fiercely resisted the toppling of Saddam’s regime and played a major role in pressurising the USA to turn its back on the popular uprising against Saddam, fearing that a democratic Iraq would pave the way for the Shiite majority to gain power. In 2003 Saudi Arabia’s immense influence in the USA was dramatically weakened due to the decisive role played by Saudi nationals in the 9-11 atrocities in the heart of the USA. 15 out the 19 suicide bombers, as well as, Bin Laden, the chief architect, were from Saudi Arabia and to add insult to injury the Saudi regime denied any Saudi involvement. The Saudi regime obtains its religious legitimacy and backing from the religious institutions which in turn relies on the regime for funding to propagate and export its uncompromising and extremist Wahhabi Salafi ideology.

Ever since the ousting of Saddam’s regime in 2003 the Saudi regime has been adamant not to recognise the new democratic system and not to have any diplomatic representation in Iraq. But, most damaging, is its unshakable determination to bring the Iraqi economy to its knees by demanding the full repayment of billions of dollars it happily paid to finance Saddam’s war on Iran. According to a memo revealed by WikiLeaks, Mrs Clinton declared that Saudi Arabia is the single biggest source of funding for Sunni terrorist groups worldwide and Saudi Arabia remained a critical financial support base for Al-Qaeda, Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Taiba. She also complained of Saudi regime’s refusal to treat the terrorist funding as a strategic priority. According to a communiqué revealed by WikiLeaks, Christopher Hill, the USA previous ambassador to Iraq stated that senior Iraqi government officials see Saudi Arabia as the biggest threat to its fledgling democracy. They view the Saudi threat as existential aimed at instigating and fomenting terrorism that would destabilise the government. According to the NBC Saudis make up 55% of foreign fighters in Iraq, and 50% of the foreign fighters held in camp Cropper. All the fatwa’s giving religious legitimacy and justification to the suicide bombings and atrocities emanate from Saudi Arabia. The overwhelming majority are issued by clerics who are influential government employees. In 2005 the chief of the Saudi judiciary instructed Saudis to support the Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq al-Zarqawi by sending men and money. Saudi Arabia has funded and created the Madrasas, which are the birth place of Al-Qaeda and Taliban. The Madrasas guarantee an endless flow of suicide bombers and serve as crucial radicalisation centres.

Saudi Arabia, Al-Qaeda and the Baathist are united in their vehement opposition to the USA withdrawal from Iraq because they are acutely aware that this would constitute an emphatic success by the democratic system in restoring the sovereignty and independence of Iraq. They are also fully aware that the failure of the USA to withdraw by the end of 2011 would prove beyond a shadow of doubt that the democratic system is completely dependent for its survival on the USA. That is why every stage of the USA withdrawal has been preceded by a dramatic surge in violence.

The Saudi regime is fiercely against USA withdrawal from Iraq because it wants to continue to call the Iraqi democracy an occupier imposed and protected democracy. It is also desperate to prove to its population, which is similar to Iraq in terms of the wide variety of its ethnic and sectarian composition that democracy would ultimately lead to insecurity, instability and bloodshed. Saudi Arabia’s Whole hearted support to dictatorships in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and using brutal disproportionate force against the peaceful protesters in Bahrain and inside Saudi Arabia have categorically proved that it is the bastion of dictatorship in the region. It has also exposed the Saudi regime’s striking resemblance to Saddam’s toppled dictatorship in terms of its heavy reliance on minority rule and instigating sectarian strife to exploit it as a pretext to crush any dissent. In addition, the continued presence of the USA on Iraqi soil provides the Saudi regime with a golden opportunity to get rid of a limitless flow of home grown suicide bombers by actively encouraging them to go to Iraq to fight the occupiers and restore minority rule. Furthermore, the Saudi regime wants the USA forces in Iraq to act, not only as a protective shield, but also use Iraq as a launch pad to strike Iran.

Al-Qaeda is strenuously against USA withdrawal from Iraq because this would enable the USA to move extra forces to Afghanistan, therefore, dramatically stepping up the pressure on the Al-Qaeda and Taliban there. In Al-Qaeda’s eyes this would not only be a huge morale boost, but would definitely tip the balance of power in favour of the USA. The presence of USA forces in Iraq is undoubtedly a major recruitment sergeant to Al-Qaeda which allows it to exploit the escalating anti-USA sentiment. The remarkable triumph of President Obama in killing Bin Laden will dramatically intensify Al-Qaeda’s resistance to a USA withdrawal from Iraq since it does not want to offer him a second monumental victory of fulfilling his central pledge of bringing US forces back home.

The Baathist are sturdily against a USA withdrawal because according to Saleh Al Saidi, senior Baathist leader in the sixties, we came to power by a USA train. Now the Baathist are desperately waiting for a new USA train to return them back to power. Tareq Aziz, one of Saddam’s staunch allies, has pleaded with USA to rectify its mistakes and not leave Iraq to the wolves. A USA withdrawal would be the final nail in the Baathist coffin in Iraq.

ENDS

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