MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th January, 2020) The US troop withdrawal from Iraq would be highly problematic, despite the Iraqi parliament vote, since it would require the country to pay Washington unaffordable compensation, with the process likely to take much time, Khoshavi Babakr, a representative of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party in Russia, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
On Sunday, the Iraqi parliament voted to expel all foreign troops from the country after a drone attack ordered by US President Donald Trump killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani near the Baghdad airport. Trump, in turn, threatened Iraq with "sanctions," saying that US troops will not leave unless Baghdad pays back for his country's "very extraordinarily expensive airbase" located there. On Wednesday, the US-Iranian tensions took a new turn as Tehran fired missiles at two American bases in Iraq in revenge for Soleimani's killing.
"The Iraqi parliament's resolution on the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country has no binding force, [it is] only a recommendation. In addition, the incumbent Iraqi government is considered to be a caretaker and has no right to decide on such issues," Babakr said.
The termination of the US-Iraqi military cooperation agreement, he went on, will require from Baghdad "meeting multiple conditions and paying large compensation, which is a very difficult task for Iraq."
"Only compensation in the case of such an initiative by Iraq totals up to $1 trillion. And after the termination of the agreement, the US has the right to withdraw its forces within a year. That is only what lies on the surface," the politician stated.
In addition, Iraq greatly depends on the US economically and financially, he said, pointing to the falling exchange rate of the Iraqi Dinar.
Moreover, Iraqi airspace is "controlled by coalition aircraft," and abandoning this help will "plunge Iraq into chaos," according to Babakr.
