Difficult American conditions in exchange for returning to the dialogue table with Baghdad

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[size=52]Difficult American conditions in exchange for returning to the dialogue table with Baghdad[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad expects Washington to return to the negotiating table after an agreement with the factions to stop the attacks in exchange for the United States refraining from responding.[/size]
[size=45]A week ago, the almost daily bombing operations, which were claimed by the group calling itself the “Islamic Resistance” against American forces inside Iraq and Syria, declined. Since the killing of 3 Americans by faction missiles on Tower 22 in Jordan last month, communication between Iraq and the United States has been cut off.[/size]
[size=45]Political sources told Al-Mada that the factions’ involvement in the recent Jordanian attack “complicated the scene and made the withdrawal of American forces difficult.”[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday, the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in a statement, that Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein stressed, in a telephone call with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, the necessity of returning to dialogue and the negotiating table to discuss the future of the international military coalition led by the United States in Iraq.[/size]
[size=45]Talks between the two countries began last January, but less than 24 hours later, three American soldiers were killed in an attack that the United States said was launched by factions allied with Iran in Syria and Iraq. The talks have since stopped.[/size]
[size=45]The Foreign Ministry stated that the call between Fouad Hussein and Blinken touched on “the attacks launched by the United States of America on military and civilian sites in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, which targeted Iraqi security forces and resulted in the martyrdom of a number of security forces and Iraqi civilians.”[/size]
[size=45]On Tuesday, Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani revealed a “equation” regarding mutual attacks between armed factions and American forces.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani said in statements to an Arab channel, “A formula has been reached: the factions stop their attacks in exchange for stopping the American response.”[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that “ending the mission of the international coalition to fight ISIS aims to remove all justifications for attacks on its advisors,” stressing that “any military attack on Iraqi territory is rejected by any party.”[/size]
[size=45]He also explained that the international coalition began with an Iraqi request “and will also end with an Iraqi request,” and added that “we do not have any contact with America after the recent attack,” explaining that “the Kurdistan region is part of the negotiation to remove the coalition forces.”[/size]
[size=45]Since the Hezbollah Brigades, one of the branches of the so-called “Iraqi resistance,” announced the suspension of attacks against American forces more than a week ago, the level of attacks in Iraq in particular has declined.[/size]
[size=45]But Harakat al-Nujaba, a partner of the Hezbollah Brigades, had refused to stop the attacks, which embarrassed the Iraqi government, according to a political source.[/size]
[size=45]The source close to American circles said, “Mediation to resume dialogue between Baghdad and Washington has become very difficult after the Jordan attack.”[/size]
[size=45]The source described, citing American analyses, that “the exit or reduction of the number of American forces from Iraq has become like a dream.”[/size]
[size=45]Some analyzes have indicated that Washington's use of the bomber (B1), which carried out the recent attack in Iraq and Syria, suggests "other, undeclared goals" beyond the strike that took place.[/size]
[size=45]The situation remains “murky” in Washington, where there is controversy over the continuation of response operations, and the existence of an “Iranian-American” agreement to avoid the first retaliatory strikes.[/size]
[size=45]On the night of Friday to Saturday of last week, the United States targeted 3 sites in western Anbar, hitting the command and logistical support headquarters, and the tank battalion of more than one faction.[/size]
[size=45]The previous week, the government had announced the start of the first rounds of dialogue with the American forces to regulate the form of the presence of these forces in Iraq after the end of operations against ISIS.[/size]
[size=45]Commenting on the call between the Iraqi Foreign Minister and Blinken, Ghazi Faisal, director of the Iraqi Center for Strategic Studies, told Al-Mada: “America may respond to the call for negotiations again, but with conditions.”[/size]
[size=45]Regarding these conditions, Faisal adds: “It requires that the Baghdad government give guarantees to the American forces that they will not be subjected to attacks again, which is not an easy guarantee.”[/size]
[size=45]He points out that guarantees are not easy due to “the presence of many armed organizations in Iraq that have not announced a halt or suspension of military operations against America.”[/size]
[size=45]The director of the Iraqi Center also says that “the lack of unity of security decision-making in Iraq and control of the factions may put the country in danger, as stated in the warnings of Jeanine Plasschaert, the United Nations representative in Iraq, in her recent briefing before the Security Council.”[/size]
[size=45]“For Iraq to continue on the path of stability and progress, it is necessary to have an enabling environment,” Plasschaert told the 15-member Security Council. Such an environment requires restraint from all parties.”[/size]
[size=45]She added: “Iraq, and indeed the broader region, is still on the verge of danger, as the smallest miscalculation threatens to plunge it into a major conflict.”[/size]
[size=45]Faisal confirms that the decision on war and peace in Iraq is not made by the government and parliament alone, “but there are factions that in turn announce the terms of war and peace, which is a dangerous matter indeed.[/size]
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