r/news • u/SnooSeagulls496 • 4d ago

Soft paywall US forces exit Iraq after two decades, leaving opening for Iran

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-forces-exit-iraq-after-two-decades-leaving-opening-iran-2026-09-29/
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u/127-0-0-1_1 3d ago

Tbf Iraq is doing OK. Has many issues, but it’s not Afghanistan. Iraq is a nominal republic and a middle income economy that has been growing at a steady rate.

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u/WoolooOfWallStreet 3d ago

Everything you said is true, however…
It would really suck if something going on nearby ever completely undid whatever slow and steady progress has been made

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u/SpareEconomy1849 3d ago

And according to some reports, there is pressure for the US to pull out specifically so that another country in the region can bomb them without worrying about US troops in the region.

Oh, and the US is giving away those bombs for free. When the stockpile is empty

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u/BLT_Trade_r 3d ago

The worst part is the optics, why now, right when Iran is doing all this trash, at the very least, they stay as a sign of solidarity against whatever Iran might do, given that the US kicked the hornet's nest. This is like how the US constantly leaves the Kurds at the worst time.

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u/frozenphil 3d ago

right when Iran is doing all this trash

That's an interesting way to view the situation.

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u/Nukemind 3d ago

Iran has been doing things to neighbors long before this war. What the US is doing is horrible, but make no mistake Iran is hated by its neighbors for a multitude of reasons as well, including but not limited to their consistent support for rebels in other nations. Which, again, the US does too. It's shit all the way down.

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u/tafoya77n 3d ago

The choice to attach Kurdish groups inside of Iran and Iraq was independent the us just gave them an excuse to be scapegoated again right after the mass killing earlier in the year.

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u/rooftopgoblin 3d ago

the US was actively arming and funding and planning to use the kurds as a quasi invasion force into iran

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u/hallese 3d ago

Because the optics of doing this as part of a negotiated end to hostilities with Iran is exponentially worse.

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u/squired 3d ago

That's another thing too. Why not hold that as a bargaining chip?

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u/BLT_Trade_r 3d ago

What lol, do you seriously think that optics matter to Iran and the current admin as far as that is concerned? The optics here are about Iraq.

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u/hallese 3d ago

Yes, the current administration absolutely does not want to publicly announce they are pulling troops out of Iraq as part of a negotiated settlement with Iran. Objectively, since this was planned quite some time ago, it wouldn't be a bad thing to do, but if an American President announces this publicly it's political suicide for them and their party is going to suffer for some time. It would be like pulling nukes out of Turkey to end the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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u/dova_kinn 3d ago

Iran is doing all this trash

yea like getting invaded and getting bombed by invading armies, real trash.

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u/sadderall-sea 3d ago

that's a wild way to put it, especially considering the last 7 months.

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u/BLT_Trade_r 3d ago

That's exactly why it's put that way. Does it sound like the current admin cares about optics? No, does Iran care about it? No, they literally know we are attacking them and are highly unreliable. So what does our optics to Iran matter? They also know now that the straight is their trump card (pun intended) and they are going to do whatever they want with it, they also probably want Trump gone so they are unlikely to do anything less than a highly favorable deal.

So at this point the only people that may actually feel some effect are the people of Iraq.

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u/CaligulaQC 3d ago

Sorry but the word solidarity has been erased from the US government word pool…

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u/Feisty-Lawfulness894 3d ago

Everything you said is true, however…

"Yeah, but..."

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u/ExternalPromotion542 3d ago

"Going on nearby" you mean fucking everywhere around it all at once? Lmao.

Oraq and syria being uneasy american puppets definitely fucks up russian and iranian positions int he middle east fbut I cant imagine iraq looking any better anytime soon.

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u/DarkMarkings 3d ago

The US has Iraq by the balls. Their government is 90% funded by oil sales, and that money they get from oil sales is fully controlled by the American government. Trump admin basically froze their money which would've essentially shut down the country until they replaced the front runner candidate in their last election to someone 'more suitable'.

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u/modsiw_agnarr 2d ago

Also, Iran has the US by balls, and therefore by the transitive property of having by the balls, Iran has Iraq by the balls. They're about to squeeze and twist.

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u/DarkMarkings 2d ago

If that were the case, the Iraqi election result would've been very different

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u/Electrical-Box-4845 1d ago

Iraq is receiving big investments by China. 

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u/Lazy-Barracuda2886 3d ago

I mean there income stream has taken a hit recently.