Multiple Iranian and Iraqi News Sites Seized by US DOJ and FBI

I am indeed incorrect that they are not Iranian by nationality. That said, they have sworn allegiance to the political leader of Iran, not that of Iraq, because he is both the political and spiritual leader, and their official policy is he speaks with the word of God on Earth.

So these are not traditional Iraqi forces - indeed, they have more in common with Crusaders that swore to fight for the Pope than they do a modern military.

They are absolutely an Iranian backed militia that are at absolute best loyal to more than one regime. And there is considerable doubt they would follow a Sunni Iraqi Prime Minister.

A claim necessary to infer legitimacy to their attacks in Iraq against Iraqi allies. And no, the Iraqi government is not a rubber stamp for US policy. If it was, groups like these would not be tolerated.

And to put it in context, KSS has officially blamed the US for an attack that killed 21 of their personal in 2016. The US denied the claim, stating they were not operating anywhere near that region at the time.

The KSS were fighting ISIL - and ISIL officially took credit for the attack.

The KSS continues to blame the US, despite the fact they were engaged in open warfare with ISIL, who has stated that yes, it was their forces that conducted the attack.

Since then they have harrassed US forces and have launched several attacks via drone and rocket. The US has retaliated on two occasions. Prior to that, there were no known conflicts between them.

They are indeed discussing a roadmap for withdrawal, have met twice already, the US has cut its forces by 98% from their height at the surge, and they are meeting again in July to discuss this issue further. There was a point where Trump threw a temper tantrum, but that's Trump - you won't find much support for that idiot from anyone on the center to center-left.

No formal request from the Iraqi government has been sent to the US for immediate withdrawal, and just like any other democracy, they have a split system where multiple different groups have power. In this case, power for formal negotiatons resides in the Minister's Council, not the unicameral Council of Representatives.

I agree there have been violations, but clearly the council of ministers believes that these can either be addressed or are worth the issue. Among other things, the US helped train Iraqis in dealing with Covid, including training their epidemiologists.

As to the current relationship between the two, this is their official stance delivered jointly by the designated parties by their respective governments. The delegation of the Republic of Iraq, led by Dr. Fuad Hussein, Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the delegation of the United States Government, led by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, was delivered on April 9th, and covered virtually every aspect of their relationship.

The stated security concerns:

In the security and counterterrorism discussion, the United States and Iraq reaffirmed their mutual intention to continue bilateral security coordination and cooperation. Both countries reaffirmed that U.S. forces are in Iraq at the invitation of Iraqi Government to support the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in their fight against ISIS. Based on the increasing capacity of the ISF, the parties confirmed that the mission of U.S. and Coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq, with the timing to be established in upcoming technical talks. The transition of U.S. and other international forces away from combat operations to training, equipping, and assisting the ISF reflects the success of their strategic partnership and ensures support to the ISF’s continued efforts to ensure ISIS can never again threaten Iraq’s stability.

The Government of Iraq reaffirmed its commitment to protect the Global Coalition’s personnel, convoys, and diplomatic facilities. The two countries also emphasized that the bases on which U.S. and Coalition personnel are present are Iraqi bases and their presence is solely in support of Iraq’s effort in the fight against ISIS. The two countries intend to continue talks through the Joint Military Committee to ensure Global Coalition activities are aligned with and appropriately support the needs of the ISF, including the Peshmerga.

As this joint statement was proferred 10 weeks before the KSS attack on US forces, clearly the US is officially an Iraqi ally, clearly the attacks have no legitimacy, clearly they are acting beyond Iraqi sanction, and the US has the right to defend themselves.

 

Why yes, absolutely, because both sides view it that way.

The US and Iran are not in a state of war, are they? There is low level asynchronous conflict going on between the two groups, but neither side has believed this to be an escalation sufficient enough to declare open warfare even on a limited case such as shipping in the region.

Define 'harm.' That's a pretty broad statement. Not allowing access to US banking, stopping importation of certain Iranian goods to US markets and US goods to Iranian markets, and of course neither side viewing it as a casus belli means that 'harm' is a pretty broad term.

And, of course, the Ayatollah Khamanei has stated that internal mismanagement in Iran is of more import to their economic difficulties than US sanctions.

The specific quote: "More than the sanctions, economic mismanagement (by the government) is putting pressure on ordinary Iranians ... I do not call it betrayal but a huge mistake in management."

"With better management and planning we can resist the sanctions and overcome them," Mr Khamenei said.

"The fall of the rial and the increase in gold coin prices are major economic problems... The corrupt people (officials) should be punished firmly," Mr Khamenei said told a gathering attended by thousands of Iranians, state TV reported.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/go...smanagement-hurts-iran-more-than-us-sanctions

But you certainly can lay blame entirely at the feet of the US sanctions, despite their own supreme leader stating that is not the only or even the most important cause of their economic woes.

Russia is far more aggressive than the US since we started being rivals in the early 50s. Ask millions who lived under the Iron Curtain. And the PRC doesn't believe in any degree of political or economic freedom for those they oppress, and are actively running concentration camps for millions.

So you assert, but so far no government seems to think it justified. I wonder what they know that you don't.

But yes, if it should happen, it would not be the equivalent of actual violence. Aggression is a wide term, yet another one that you conflate to intentionally mislead. You can be aggressive in trade without anyone believing that war in imminent. Certainly if the EU gets the better of Britain in their trade agreement it isn't a war crime, even if there are real consequences for Britons.

So because it's war, we launched the ICBMs when, exactly?

I really hope your worldview isn't this fundamentally limited.

The US has had it's elections impacted, it's critical infrastructure hacked, and through Putin's crony numerous treaties and relationships threatened - not the least being the JCPOA, which would not have been exited under Clinton.

You cna wax poetic about it's impact all you want, but none of this lead to open warfare between the US and Russia, despite your insipid hyperbole.

No, these things are not war crimes, nor are they any real approximation of war. They are aggressions, but to act aggressively is not the same thing because of the unbelievable cost of modern warfare.

 

I'm not in a position to give this a full response right now, but it seems that two statements could summarise my feelings here.

1) Whether sanctions are the primary cause of economic damage is immaterial to my point.

2) oppressive =/= aggressive. No one doubts Russias human rights issues but the fact remains that by any real world measure the US has an objectively far higher rate of engaging in military actions in and outright invasions of sovereign foreign nations.

 

It's a cute analogy, but if Christians had actual laser swords and could slap droids around telekinetically, then I would not be a fucking atheist.

 

Right?!?

 

Iranian intelligence agents plotted brazen abduction of Brooklyn dissident journalist, U.S. prosecutors say