Iraq parliament orders Coalition forces, including Australian troops, to leave

Iraq votes to expel US and Coalition forces, including 300 Aussies, after the killing of an Iranian general.

Australian infantry soldiers from 1RAR walk the streets of Baghdad on patrol.

Iraq’s parliament has voted to expel US and Coalition forces — including 300 Australian troops — from the country after the killing of an Iranian general put the country at the centre of an escalating conflict between its two key allies.

The nonbinding resolution urges Prime Minister Adel-Abdul Mahdi to rescind the invitation for Coalition forces that Iraq called upon for help after Islamic State overran around one third of the country in 2014.

Addressing the session before the vote, Mr Abdul-Mahdi advised parliament to support the motion, saying that the two countries’ priorities had diverged and that the US had violated Iraq’s sovereignty with the strikes targeting Major General Qassem Soleimani and top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes. Mr Abdul-Mahdi resigned as prime minister last year and has since presided over a caretaker government, meaning the decision to evict Coalition troops might fall to his successor.

Lawmakers during and after the session chanted: “Out, out, occupier! No, no to America! No, no to Israel!” Some politicians and analysts said that in order for foreign troops to be expelled from Iraq, a law would have to be presented by the prime minister or president and pass a first and second reading in parliament, at which point the US would receive one year’s notice to depart. Because the current cabinet is in caretaker mode, it can’t initiate such legislation, those politicians said.

US Army Lt. General Pat White, III Armored Corps Commanding General, second left, and Commanding General for U.S. Central Command Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. centre, take part in a transfer of authority ceremony at Union III, base in Baghdad, Iraq.

But others said this didn’t apply because the US and Coalition presence is based on an exchange of letters rather than a formal agreement. “In any case, the constitution, laws, processes have been ignored so many times before that it really doesn’t matter to focus on technicalities,” said Sajad Jiyad, managing director of Baghdad-based think tank Bayan Centre. “It’s a case of will the government be bold enough to take the initiative, or does it want to draw this out and pass the buck around?”

The US has around 5000 troops in Iraq as part of an international coalition that stayed on after Islamic State was defeated militarily to help prevent a resurgence of the group and to train Iraqi security forces.

Early Monday AEST the United States announced a pause of ongoing Coalition operations under Inherent Resolve, including the 300 Australians helping to train Iraqi forces.

The White House announced its priority was to protect all Coalition personnel committed to the defeat of Daesh (Islamic State) and it was shifting focus from fighting Daesh to instead protecting the Iraqi bases which host Coalition troops.

“Repeated rocket attacks over the last two months by elements of Kata’ib Hezbollah have caused the death of Iraqi Security Forces personnel and a US civilian,’’ the White House said in a statement. “As a result we are now fully committed to protecting the Iraqi bases that host Coalition troops. This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review.’’

The US statement added: “We remain resolute as partners of the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi people that have welcomed us into their country to help defeat ISIS. We remain ready to return our full attention and efforts back to our shared goal of ensuring the lasting defeat of Daesh.’’

Australia also has diplomatic personnel in Iraq and the Australian embassy in Baghdad has been in lockdown since the US killing of Iranian intelligence chief Qassem Soleimani on Friday.

Around 2000 Australian military personnel are based elsewhere across the Middle East.

On Sunday Prime Minister Scott Morrison ruled out any troop withdrawal, saying the matters were under close observation and continued review. “We will continue to take advice and assess the situation on the ground,’’ Mr Morrison said.

In television interviews that aired Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Mr Abdul-Mahdi was serving in only a temporary capacity, and was acting under the influence of Iran.

“He’s under enormous threats from the very Iranian leadership that...we are pushing back against,” Mr Pompeo told Fox News Sunday. “We are confident that the Iraqi people want the United States to continue to be there to fight the counterterror campaign.”

The US strike in Baghdad that killed the Iranian and Iraqi commanders as they left Baghdad International airport has brought into the open a long-simmering confrontation between the US and Iran and weighed on ties between Baghdad and Washington.

Though it has no legal force, the vote casts further doubt on the future of the US troop presence in Iraq and the continuing campaign against Islamic State at a time when the militants are seeking to regroup after being defeated militarily.

Threats to the US presence in Iraq have already undermined that campaign. The US-led coalition on Sunday said it had paused the training of Iraqi security forces and support for Iraqi operations against Islamic State as it braced for new attacks in the wake of General Soleimani’s killing.

Iran’s vow to retaliate for the killing of Soleimani has stoked fears of wider conflict across the Middle East, where the slain commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards foreign wing cultivated a network of proxies that could be activated to strike US interests.

“Hard days and nights are awaiting them,” said Yahya Rahim-Safavi, former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a speech quoted by state television. “The Americans must leave West Asia [the Middle East] in disgrace and defeat”.

On Saturday, rockets landed near two Iraqi bases where US forces are stationed, causing no casualties but serving as a reminder of the increasingly hostile climate for American troops. Kataib Hezbollah has given Iraqi security forces a deadline of Sunday evening to move at least one kilometre away from bases where American troops are stationed, urging military commanders not to allow their soldiers to serve as “human shields” for the US.

The events have demonstrated the growing power of Iran-backed groups like Kataib Hezbollah, which Iraqi security forces have been unable to prevent firing rockets at bases housing US troops.

“We have increased security and defensive measures at the Iraqi bases that host anti-ISIS coalition troops,” read a statement from the U.S.-led coalition confirming Saturday’s attacks on Baghdad’s Green Zone and Balad air base, located about 40 miles north of the capital.

Shi’ite political leaders who control a majority of seats in the Iraqi parliament condemned the killing of Soleimani as a violation of sovereignty, but some also have misgivings about the growing dominance of Iran-backed factions and see Washington as a necessary counterweight to Tehran’s influence.

Along with many Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers, they worry that a withdrawal of US troops would enable a resurgence of Islamic State and lead to Iraq’s isolation. Most Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers boycotted Sunday’s parliament session despite threats from the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia, which had ordered all members of parliament to attend. The only representative of the Kurdish political parties was the parliament’s second deputy speaker. Even so, the quorum of 166 was reached.

Of the 167 lawmakers present in the 328-member parliament, all voted in favor of the motion, according to parliament member Mohammed Taqi Amerli.

“The next step is for us as the parliament is to monitor how the government implements this bill,” said lawmaker Mohammed Shoya al-Sudani, adding that it must begin immediately.

Other pro-Iranian lawmakers said their next move would be to shut down the U.S. embassy.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador Matthew Tueller on Sunday, denouncing the U.S. attack as a violation of the coalition’s mission to fight Islamic State and train Iraqi security forces in coordination with Baghdad.

With The Wall Street Journal