This handout picture released by the US Army shows U.S. Army Paratroopers assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, deploy from Pope Army Airfield, North Carolina on January 1, 2020.
CAPT. ROBYN HAAKE
Iraq’s parliament passed a resolution Sunday calling for the government to end the presence of foreign troops in the country in the wake of a U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian general.
The resolution asks Iraq’s government to cancel the request for assistance from the U.S.-led coalition operating in the country against the Islamic State.
“The government commits to revoke its request for assistance from the international coalition fighting Islamic State due to the end of military operations in Iraq and the achievement of victory,” the resolution read.
“The Iraqi government must work to end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil and prohibit them from using its land, airspace or water for any reason.”
The death of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in a U.S. airstrike has enraged Shiite militias in Iraq. The Baghdad government has accused Washington of violating its sovereignty.
The resolution is non-binding on the government, but Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi urged parliament earlier on Sunday to take urgent measures and end the foreign troop presence as soon as possible.
“Despite the internal and external difficulties that we might face, it remains best for Iraq on principle and practically,” Abdul Mahdi told parliament in a speech.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the U.S. troop presence in an interview with Fox News, saying Abdul Mahdi was under pressure from the Iranians.
“The prime minister is the acting prime minister…he’s under enormous threats from the very Iranian leadership that we are pushing back against,” Pompeo said. “We’re confident the Iraqi people want the United States to continue to be there.”
The U.S. is deploying an additional 3,500 troops to Iraq, Kuwait and other parts of the Middle East as tensions escalate in the wake of Soleimani’s death. It’s unclear how the Iraqi resolution would impact those deployment plans.
— Reuters contributed to this report
