US Halts All Weapons Deliveries To Iraq As Local Demands For Troop Exit Grow
January 30, 2020 9:07 am
Upping the ante and further threatening downward spiraling US-Iraq relations, the Trump administration has now suspended all weapons deliveries to Iraq, including missile systems promised as part a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2016.
Department of Defense officials cited security concerns over the arms deliveries, also amid recent White House threats to actually impose sanctions on the country while completely severing military ties. However, most analysts see these latest threats – which also have been tied with demands the country pay back the “billions” spent on an air base should US forces be made to leave – as but an attempt to leverage greater Baghdad dependency on Washington (and not Tehran).
The late Monday announcement also said US training and support for Iraq’s F-16 fleet will pause. Air Force spokesman Brian Brackens said the US will begin shipments again “when the environment in Iraq is safe enough to resume."
The past week in Baghdad has been extremely volatile, also with multiple deaths throughout the country as protests grip major cities, following both last week’s “million man protests” demanding an immediate US troop withdrawal, as well as anti-government protests which have raged on-and-off since October.