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US pressures mount on Iraq's incoming Ali Al-Zaidi government
What Baghdad has witnessed in recent days amounts to an "American blackmail operation" against the government of Prime Minister-designate Ali Al-Zaidi, with parliament expected to announce within days that it will hold a session to grant it confidence, according to political officials in Baghdad. Arab Shia political sources in Baghdad told The New Arab that Iraq is facing dictates and pressure from US administration officials, led by threats involving the economy and the imposition of sanctions. According to testimonies from seven members of Iraq's ruling Coordination Framework coalition, all who spoke anonymously to The New Arab, the US has sent messages to Baghdad, imposing conditions for future cooperation with Ali Al-Zaidi's government and placing "many vetoes" in its path. One of the sources told The New Arab that the United States is imposing conditions not in support of Iraq, but in return for refraining from imposing sanctions on the country. The source described this as an unfamiliar scene since the 2003 US invasion and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime. The source noted that phrases such as "disengagement from Iran", "dissolving the factions", "withdrawing their heavy weapons", presenting those involved in shelling the US embassy in Baghdad for trial, distancing those affiliated with armed factions from the government scene, and preventing them from assuming any position had all reached Baghdad in what could be described as American "dictates". The source added that the threat of sanctions is usually the primary pressure tool used by Washington. Another source told The New Arab that Arab Shia political forces agree on the impossibility of implementing a scenario of forcibly disarming the factions, believing this would trigger bloodshed in Iraq. The source said those forces are seeking to create a framework by integrating or restructuring the Popular Mobilisation Forces system and by imposing a mechanism that allows the government to place all factional weapons under state control within depots and warehouses, similar to army and police stockpiles. The source confirmed that "the number of Shia forces that could adopt Washington's demands is zero. It is not true that anyone is aligning with the current American arrogance. We believe that if the Zaidi government is formed, it will face unprecedented security and political challenges because of American pressure regarding the factions and relations with Iran." Statements from four oth...
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Ali al-Zaidi May Be Exactly What Washington Wants
Ali al-Zaidi may be precisely the kind of Iraqi prime minister Washington prefers: competent, predictable, and manageable. But is that enough for Iraq.
