Growing US Military Presence in Iraq Intended to Help Israel, Warns Resistance Group

Sunday, 23 April 2023 10:36 AM 

The file photo shows American forces at the al-Qaim military base in Iraq’s Anbar province, west of Baghdad.

An Iraqi resistance group has warned about the increasing number of US occupation forces as well as their activities in the Arab country, saying such presence aims at lending further support to the Israeli regime.

The Ashab al-Kahf resistance group, in a statement on Sunday, called on the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to “be aware” of the growing US military presence in and around the country.

“American intelligence personnel are using Iraqi airspace frequently these days…to transfer personnel and technical equipment from the Kuwaiti Jahra base to the Victory site located at Baghdad Airport,” the resistance group said.

“We must also pay attention to what the Americans are planning in this particular period, which is to help the temporary Israeli entity, and to increase the transfer of logistical support through Iraqi airspace,” it added.

Pressured by the Iraqi people, US President Joe Biden and Iraq’s then-Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi declared in July 2021 that the US mission in Iraq would transition from combat to an “advisory” role by the end of that year.

While the United States claims it has ended its combat mission in Iraq, some 2,500 American troops still remain inside the Arab country under what Washington calls an “advisory” mission.

The head of the Iraqi resistance group Harakat Hezbollah Nujaba says there is no friendship between Baghdad and Washington.

Back in February, the head of the Iraqi resistance group Harakat Hezbollah Nujaba, Akram al-Kaabi, stated that there is no friendship between Baghdad and Washington, and the American occupation forces cannot stay in the Arab country under any pretext.

“There is no friendship with America,” he said. “The US is an enemy and will remain an enemy. We do not accept the staying of American forces, including advisers, technicians and combat forces. The resistance has no other position and will never change it.”

On March 19, 2003, the US and Britain invaded Iraq in blatant violation of international law and under the pretext of finding Weapons of Mass Destruction, but no such weapons were ever discovered in Iraq.

More than one million Iraqis were killed as the result of the US-led invasion, and occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.