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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

allies like Israel. The suspected attack This was enough for the US to in- been able to prevent the Iraqi govern-
by Iran-promoted militias on the Saudi crease its military presence in the region. ment from maintaining very cordial
oil infrastructure last September and Washington deployed 750 additional ties with Iran, Washington’s sworn
sabotage of tankers in the Gulf in May soldiers besides its 5,200 troops in Iraq. enemy. It is difficult to find a bigger
and June should be viewed against this Last year, the US brought 14000 troops to policy failure than that of the US in
backdrop. be stationed in West Asia to ensure that Iraq. The US spent billions of dollars
For a few months Iran has been en- the interests of Washington as also those and lost many well-trained soldiers in
gaged in a proxy war through the militias of its allies remain unharmed. Besides the Iraqi war theatre, yet it could not
its sustains. Pro-Iran militias attacked these, the US has decided to station be- capture Iraq.
Iraqis hosting US and its allies’ forces tween 3000 and 3500 troops in Quwait. Now if there is a war between the
two months back. This was followed by a Before the US attack on the Saddam US and Iran in the region, it will be dif-
major rocket attack near Kirkuk in which Hussein regime in Iraq in 2003, the ficult for Iraq to be on the side of the US
a US citizen, a contractor, was killed. Iranian position in the region was not as as the Iraqi public, excepting Sunnis, is
The US, obviously, was not going to strong as it is today. Iraq under Saddam, fully pro-Iran. Most of the people in the
keep quiet. Soon it struck five sites in Iraq militarily the most powerful country in entire Middle-East will be on the side
and Syria associated with the Kataib Hiz- the region then, had fought an eight- of Iran in such an eventuality. The gov-

bollah, an Iran-funded militia. As a result, year-long war with Iran. That enemy ernments in Saudi Arabia and other
the Iranians went wild and torched the number one of Iran was eliminated by US allies in the region will be with the
US Embassy compound in Baghdad. another top enemy of Teheran. US, but the public in these countries
This forced the US to deploy hundreds After Saddam became history the cannot be expected to behave as their
of additional troops to take care of its government formed in Baghdad was governments would.
interests in the Middle-East and launch more attracted towards Iran than to the Thus, the US policy in the region has
a precision drone attack in Baghdad US. That is why when the first elected not helped its regional allies as much
resulting in the death of Iranian Revo- government was formed in Baghdad, as it did in the case of Iran, obviously
lutionary Guard Corps’ senior general the first country the then Iraqi President indirectly. This is one reason why the
Suleimani. Another top Iranian military visited was Iran. The two countries even US will think twice or thrice before
man and Suleimani’s number two, Abu now are closest to each other. taking any military action again Iran.
Mahdi al-Muhandis, was also eliminated The US military presence in Iraq with
in the drone strike. a clearly demarcated green zone has not LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

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