1109 Iraq Oil revenues & Gold reserves are held in NY Fed bank; Netanyahu calls Israel 'nuclear power'

Iraq Oil revenues & Gold reserves are held in NY Fed bank; Netanyahu
calls Israel 'nuclear power'

Iraqis are realizing that they are Occupied by the US. US does not need
the Oil, but uses it & the Gold reserve as a lever to get Iraq to do
what it wants. Neocons might bring about their worst nightmare: US
withdrawal.

Newsletter published on January 20, 2020

(1) Iran war-crimes case over Soleimani killing; US military has done a
terrorist act
(2) Soleimani and his guards were not listed in the passenger manifest
(3) Sept. 19-23 Abdul Mahdi visits China; Sept 23 'Oil for
Infrastructure' deal, Iraq joins Belt & Road
(4) Iraq oil revenues are paid in US dollars into a Fed account; Trump
threatens to seize it
(5) Israel pressures Trump not to withdraw from Iraq
(6) Trump threat to confiscate Iraq’s national gold reserves, held at
the New York Fed
(7) Netanyahu calls Israel a nuclear power, before correcting himself
with a bashful nod and an embarrassed smile
(8) Iraq Gov't asks US to send a delegation to Baghdad to begin
preparing for a troop pullout
(9) Washington turns down Iraqi call to remove troops
(10) Iraqi cleric Sadr calls for anti-U.S. demonstrations

(1) Iran war-crimes case over Soleimani killing; US military has done a
terrorist act

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/trump-iran-qassem-soleimani-war-crimes-lawsuit-could-win-2020-1

Iran has a 'shockingly strong' war-crimes case against Trump over
Soleimani's killing — and it could win

MITCH PROTHERO

JAN 16, 2020, 2:10 AM

Iran will pursue war-crimes charges against President Donald Trump at
the International Criminal Court in the Hague over the January 3
assassination of its top commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, outside
Baghdad’s international airport, according to Gholam Hossein Esmaeili,
the spokesman for Iran’s top judicial authorities.

"We intend to file lawsuits in the Islamic Republic, Iraq and The Hague
Court [International Court of Justice] against the military and
government of America and against Trump," Esmaeili said at a Tuesday
press conference.

"There is no doubt that the US military has done a terrorist act
assassinating Guards Commander Lt. Gen. Soleimani and Second-in-Command
of Iraq Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis … and
Trump has confessed doing the crime."

Since the killing, Iran’s leadership has vowed political, military, and
legal revenge for what they call an unlawful killing of one of their
greatest military heroes.

Soleimani was well known throughout the Middle East for his diplomatic
and military acumen.

While the US is not a signatory to the international court – US
presidents have long contended the venue could be used by America’s
enemies in cases like this to pressure its foreign policy – it still
faces a public-relations burden if the case goes to trial.

This is because according to at least one internationally recognised
expert, Iran could win.

Shortly after Soleimani’s death, Agnes Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur
on Extra-Judicial Executions, tweeted that the bar for lethal action by
a nation claiming self-defence – as the Trump administration has
repeatedly claimed – is extremely high and requires an imminent threat
that the US has so far failed to identify.

"The targeted killings of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al Muhandi most
likely violate international law [including] human rights law," she
wrote. "Lawful justifications for such killings are very narrowly
defined and it is hard to imagine how any of these can apply to these
killings."

An attack needs to be imminent to justify such a killing, and this one
may not meet the standard In another tweet, Callamard explicitly broke
down how the Trump administration’s claims that Soleimani posed an
imminent and ongoing threat to US interests failed to reach the bar set
by international law.

The White House statement "mentions that it aimed at ‘deterring future
Iranian attack plans,'" she wrote. "This however is very vague. Future
is not the same as imminent which is the time based test required under
international law."

A NATO military attaché based in the region told Business Insider that
while the case has yet to be formally filed, it could pose significant
problems for the US and its NATO partners, should the court rule against
the Trump administration.

‘The case against the Americans is shockingly strong’ "Keeping distance
between the Americans and Europe is most of Iran’s broader plan right now."

"If this case happens – I suspect there are some reasons Iran might not
want to take this mess to an international court for their own reasons –
but if it does go forward, the case against the Americans is shockingly
strong," the official, who asked not to be named, said.

"On the face of it, the killing of Soleimani for reasons specifically
cited by Trump is probably illegal. Do the Americans have a stronger
case then they’re showing us?

"I would assume so, but there’s little chance of them participating in a
Hague trial, so all the evidence will be what Iran delivers along with
public statements."

"And these statements will not look good in a courtroom," the official
added.

(2) Soleimani and his guards were not listed in the passenger manifest

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-soleimani-exclusive/exclusive-informants-in-iraq-syria-helped-u-s-kill-irans-soleimani-sources-idUSKBN1Z829L

JANUARY 10, 2020 / 4:00 AM /

Exclusive: Informants in Iraq, Syria helped U.S. kill Iran's Soleimani -
sources

Reuters staff

(Reuters) - Iranian General Qassem Soleimani arrived at the Damascus
airport in a vehicle with dark-tinted glass. Four soldiers from Iran’s
Revolutionary Guards rode with him. They parked near a staircase leading
to a Cham Wings Airbus A320, destined for Baghdad.

Neither Soleimani nor the soldiers were registered on the passenger
manifesto, according to a Cham Wings airline employee who described the
scene of their departure from the Syrian capital to Reuters. Soleimani
avoided using his private plane because of rising concerns about his own
security, said an Iraqi security source with knowledge of Soleimani’s
security arrangements.

The passenger flight would be Soleimani’s last. Rockets fired from a
U.S. drone killed him as he left the Baghdad airport in a convoy of two
armored vehicles. Also killed was the man who met him at the airport:
Abu Mahdi Muhandis, deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces
(PMF), the Iraqi government’s umbrella group for the country’s militias.

The Iraqi investigation into the strikes that killed the two men on Jan.
3 started minutes after the U.S. strike, two Iraqi security officials
told Reuters. National Security agents sealed off the airport and
prevented dozens of security staff from leaving, including police,
passport officers and intelligence agents.

Investigators have focused on how suspected informants inside the
Damascus and Baghdad airports collaborated with the U.S. military to
help track and pinpoint Soleimani’s position, according to Reuters
interviews with two security officials with direct knowledge of Iraq’s
investigation, two Baghdad airport employees, two police officials and
two employees of Syria’s Cham Wings Airlines, a private commercial
airline headquartered in Damascus.

The probe is being led by Falih al-Fayadh, who serves as Iraq’s National
Security Adviser and the head of the PMF, the body that coordinates with
Iraq’s mostly Shi’ite militias, many of which are backed by Iran and had
close ties to Soleimani.

The National Security agency’s investigators have "strong indications
that a network of spies inside Baghdad Airport were involved in leaking
sensitive security details" on Soleimani’s arrival to the United States,
one of the Iraqi security officials told Reuters.

The suspects include two security staffers at the Baghdad airport and
two Cham Wings employees - "a spy at the Damascus airport and another
one working on board the airplane," the source said. The National
Security agency’s investigators believe the four suspects, who have not
been arrested, worked as part of a wider group of people feeding
information to the U.S. military, the official said.

The two employees of Cham Wings are under investigation by Syrian
intelligence, the two Iraqi security officials said. The Syrian General
Intelligence Directorate did not respond to a request for comment. In
Baghdad, National Security agents are investigating the two airport
security workers, who are part of the nation’s Facility Protection
Service, one of the Iraqi security officials said.

"Initial findings of the Baghdad investigation team suggest that the
first tip on Soleimani came from Damascus airport," the official said.
"The job of the Baghdad airport cell was to confirm the arrival of the
target and details of his convoy."

The media office of Iraq’s National Security agency did not respond to
requests for comment. The Iraq mission to the United Nations in New York
did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Department of Defense declined to comment on whether informants
in Iraq and Syria played a role in the attacks. U.S. officials, speaking
on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the United States had been
closely tracking Soleimani’s movements for days prior to the strike but
declined to say how the military pinpointed his location the night of
the attack.

A Cham Wings manager in Damascus said airline employees were prohibited
from commenting on the attack or investigation. A spokesman for Iraq’s
Civil Aviation Authority, which operates the nation’s airports, declined
to comment on the investigation but called it routine after "such
incidents which include high-profile officials."

Soleimani’s plane landed at the Baghdad airport at about 12:30 a.m. on
Jan. 3, according to two airport officials, citing footage from its
security cameras. The general and his guards exited the plane on a
staircase directly to the tarmac, bypassing customs. Muhandis met him
outside the plane, and the two men stepped into a waiting armored
vehicle. The soldiers guarding the general piled into another armored
SUV, the airport officials said.

As airport security officers looked on, the two vehicles headed down the
main road leading out of the airport, the officials said. The first two
U.S. rockets struck the vehicle carrying Soleimani and Muhandis at 12:55
a.m. The SUV carrying his security was hit seconds later.

As commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds force, Soleimani
ran clandestine operations in foreign countries and was a key figure in
Iran’s long-standing campaign to drive U.S. forces out of Iraq. He spent
years running covert operations and cultivating militia leaders in Iraq
to extend Iran’s influence and fight the interests of the United States.
Reuters reported on Saturday that, starting in October, Soleimani had
secretly launched stepped-up attacks on U.S. forces stationed in Iraq
and equipped Iraqi militias with sophisticated weaponry to carry them out.

The attack on the general sparked widespread outrage and vows of revenge
in Iran, which responded on Wednesday with a missile attack on two Iraq
military bases that house U.S. troops. No Americans or Iraqis were
killed or injured in the strike.

In the hours after the attack, investigators pored over all incoming
calls and text messages by the airport night-shift staff in search of
who might have tipped off the United States to Soleimani’s movements,
the Iraqi security officials said. National Security agents conducted
hours-long interrogations with employees of airport security and Cham
Wings, the sources said. One security worker said agents questioned him
for 24 hours before releasing him.

For hours, they grilled him about who he had spoken or text with before
Soleimani’s plane landed - including any "weird requests" related to the
Damascus flight - and confiscated his mobile phone.

"They asked me a million questions," he said.

Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Brian Thevenot

(3) Sept. 19-23 Abdul Mahdi visits China; Sept 23 'Oil for
Infrastructure' deal, Iraq joins Belt & Road

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-09/21/c_138410838.htm

Abdul Mahdi's visit to China important in supporting Iraqi
reconstruction: newspaper

Source: Xinhua

2019-09-21 20:38:58|Editor: Li Xia

BAGHDAD, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi state-run al-Sabah newspaper
highlighted Saturday the significance of Iraqi prime minister's visit to
China for supporting Iraq's reconstruction.

There is more than one reason motivating Iraqi leaders to open up to a
country possessing the capacity to support Iraq's renaissance and
infrastructure construction, the newspaper said in its editorial.

China is Iraq's largest trading partner. The China-Iraq trade volume
reached more than 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2018.

The editorial said that raising the level of trade and cooperation
between the two countries will help Iraq to reach a new stage ahead for
the bright future.

China has tremendous capability and experiences in the construction of
roads, bridges, infrastructure, power plants, etc, the editorial said.

The al-Sabah editorial stressed that Iraq's openness to Asia and in
particular China, is based on the depth of historical ties between Iraq
and China, which extends deep into the old civilizations of China and
Mesopotamia, which both presented scientific achievements and knowledge
to mankind.

The newspaper said that China, with its Belt and Road Initiative, builds
relations with its historical partners based on the revival of the
historic ancient trade route of the Silk Road, in accordance with its
political policy based on the principle of peace and mutual development.

It hailed China as a "balancing factor in international politics," while
Iraq is adopting a political approach that keeps it away from conflicts,
axes and polarization in the hottest regions of the world.

On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, heading a large and
high-ranking delegation, embarked on an official visit to China and is
expected to sign agreements to improve Iraq's economy and develop its
infrastructure.

(4) Iraq oil revenues are paid in US dollars into a Fed account; Trump
threatens to seize it

https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/iraq-warns-collapse-if-trump-blocks-oil-cash-doc-1nn3l14

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/contents/afp/2020/01/iraq-us-unrest-iran-troops-sanctions.html

Iraq warns of 'collapse' if Trump blocks oil cash

AFP January 13, 2020

Iraqi officials say around $35 billion of the country's oil revenues are
held at the US Federal Reserve, which means Washington's threat to
restrict access could be a major problem Iraqi officials fear economic
"collapse" if Washington imposes threatened sanctions, including
blocking access to a US-based account where Baghdad keeps oil revenues
that feed 90 percent of the national budget.

US President Donald Trump was outraged by the Iraqi parliament voting on
January 5 to oust foreign forces, including some 5,200 American troops,
who have helped local soldiers beat back jihadists since 2014.

If troops were asked to leave, he threatened, "we will charge them
sanctions like they've never seen before."

The US then delivered an extraordinary verbal message directly to Prime
Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi's office, two Iraqi officials told AFP.

"The PMO got a call threatening that if US troops are kicked out, 'we'
-- the US -- will block your account at the Federal Reserve Bank in New
York," one official said.

Parliament's vote to oust the troops was triggered by outrage over a US
drone strike on Baghdad two days earlier that killed top Iranian general
Qasem Soleimani and his Iraqi right-hand-man, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The Central Bank of Iraq's account at the Fed was established in 2003
following the US-led invasion that toppled ex-dictator Saddam Hussein.
Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1483, which lifted the
crippling global sanctions and oil embargo imposed on Iraq after
Saddam's invasion of Kuwait, all revenues from Iraqi oil sales would go
to the account.

Iraq is OPEC's second-biggest crude producer and more than 90 percent of
the state budget, which reached $112 billion in 2019, derives from oil
revenues.

  Already strained relations between Baghdad and Washington reached a
new low on January 3, when a US drone strike on the edge of Baghdad
airport killed a top Iranian general and a key Iraqi paramilitary leader
(photo by: -/IRAQI MILITARY/AFP)

To this day, revenues are paid in dollars into the Fed account daily,
with the balance now sitting at about $35 billion, Iraqi officials told AFP.

Every month or so, Iraq flies in $1-$2 billion in cash from that account
for official and commercial transactions.

"We're an oil-producing country. Those accounts are in dollars. Cutting
off access means totally turning off the tap," the first Iraqi official
said.

The second official said it would mean the government could not carry
out daily functions or pay salaries and the Iraqi currency would plummet
in value.

"It would mean collapse for Iraq," the official said.

Trump 'politicises everything' A third senior Iraqi official confirmed
the US was considering "restricting" cash access to "about a third of
what they would usually send."

The Federal Reserve declined to comment on Trump's threat.

A US State Department Official confirmed to AFP that the possibility of
restricting access to the Fed account was "raised" with Iraq following
the vote.

"You can imagine why, if troops were expelled, banks might be nervous
about sending lots of... cash to Baghdad," this official said. But the
US threat was still highly unusual as the Fed is meant to be independent
of foreign policy.

"The attempt to politicise dollar shipments has the Bank worried because
it affects its prestige and integrity in dealing with clients," the
State Department official added.

"Trump is obviously willing to politicise everything."

Washington has considered the measure for months, with a senior US
diplomat at the Baghdad embassy telling AFP in July it was looking at
"limiting the cash that comes into Iraq."

"That would be the nuclear option," this diplomat added at the time.

Just before Iraqi lawmakers voted on the troop ouster, Speaker Mohammad
Halbusi warned the world could stop dealing with Iraq's banks in revenge
for the move.

Blocking the Iraqi central bank's Fed account could be done by
blacklisting a government body, which would immediately restrict
Baghdad's access to dollars. The US already sanctions Iraqi nationals,
armed groups and even banks for links to Tehran, Washington's arch-foe
in the region. It had left oil revenues untouched, with officials
previously telling AFP such a move would be too damaging to a country
considered a US ally. [...]

Iraqi officials said the US threat to deny access to oil revenues was
met with shock, anger and near-disbelief.

"The PM was pissed and insulted," one official told AFP.

Another said the US would then irreversibly "lose Iraq.".

"They'd push us towards Russia, China, Iran. We'd have to form a
separate economy with those countries."

(5) Israel pressures Trump not to withdraw from Iraq

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/israel-us-iran-iraq-syria-qasem-soleimani-letter-withdrawal.html

US withdrawal from Iraq is Israel’s worst-case scenario

Ben Caspit January 8, 2020

ARTICLE SUMMARY

The leaked letter published this week about the United States
considering withdrawing from Iraq and Syria generated great concern
within the Israeli security establishment.

The letter of Gen. William H. Sili, commander of US military operations
in Iraq, was leaked and then rapidly disseminated among Israel’s most
senior security figures Jan. 6. In fact, a translated version in Hebrew
appeared only minutes after the letter was leaked to the media, sweeping
up the WhatsApp groups of Israel’s most top-secret (coded) defense
systems. The content of the letter — that the Americans were preparing
to withdraw from Iraq immediately — turned on all the alarm systems
throughout the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. More so, the publication
was about to set in motion an Israeli "nightmare scenario" in which
ahead of the upcoming US elections President Donald Trump would rapidly
evacuate all US forces from Iraq and Syria.

Simultaneously, Iran announced that it is immediately halting its
various commitments regarding its nuclear agreement with the
superpowers, returning to high-level uranium enrichment of unlimited
amounts and renewing its accelerated push for achieving military nuclear
abilities. "Under such circumstances," a senior Israeli defense source
told Al-Monitor under condition of anonymity, "We truly remain alone at
this most critical period. There is no worse scenario than this, for
Israel’s national security."

After a few hours, it became clear that the letter had been leaked
accidentally. Nevertheless, the American denial, which began from US
Defense Secretary Mark Esper and trickled down from there, did not
really calm down Israel’s defense-system sources. "It is sad to see the
[US] president’s conduct has also ‘infected’ the military," a senior
Israeli security figure told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, "It
is not clear how this letter was written, it is not clear why it was
leaked, it is not clear why it was ever written to begin with. In
general, nothing is clear with regard to American conduct in the Middle
East. We get up every morning to new uncertainty."

Twenty-four hours after the letter, the following assessment formed in
Israel: Trump hasn’t decided if he’s staying or leaving. His inclination
is to leave; he has no desire to see caskets of US soldiers being
airlifted in Washington during an election year. Trump would be happy to
leave Syria too, as he promised a long time ago. The US Army is trying
to prepare a framework working plan toward an exit. And it was the
preparations of this work plan that eventually generated the incident in
which the letter was sent and then leaked. That, and perhaps also some
unclarities in the American command chain. One way or the other, Israel
must prepare for the worst-case scenario, because the odds are
increasing that such a scenario may arise. According to this scenario
(described in Al-Monitor in an earlier article), Trump would choose to
abandon the Middle East and leave Israel alone on the battleground
toward the 2020 elections. This would constitute the worst and most
dramatic possible timing imaginable, when Iran would gradually abandon
the nuclear agreement and inch its way toward the bomb.

The assessment is that Israel will inflict heavy pressure on Trump in
the coming weeks and try to convince him not to abandon the Middle East
in general, and Iraq and Syria in particular, before the US presidential
election. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will use all the tools at
his disposal in this context. Ambassador Ron Dermer will work overtime,
and we can assume that Israel’s open communication lines to the
evangelical Christian leaders in the United States will also be put to
good use. The question is: What will happen if these efforts fail and
Trump comes to the conclusion of abandoning the Middle East? "Under such
circumstances," an Israeli military figure told Al-Monitor on condition
of anonymity, "We’ll have to do everything we can to prepare ourselves
for a worst-case scenario." Such a "scenario" means that Iran may go for
the bomb in the final stretch: It can abandon the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and take advantage of the US
election year.

Meanwhile, Israel is trying to keep as low a profile as possible.
Netanyahu instructed the Cabinet ministers not to give interviews and to
avoid aggressive statements regarding the elimination of Iranian Qasem
Soleimani. Netanyahu himself said, in a Cabinet meeting, that "the
killing of Soleimani is a US event, not an Israeli event," and he
emphasized that Israel needs to do everything to distance itself from
it. [...]

(6) Trump threat to confiscate Iraq’s national gold reserves, held at
the New York Fed

https://ejmagnier.com/2020/01/13/iraq-is-the-next-battleground/

IRAQ IS THE NEXT BATTLEGROUND.

Posted on 13/01/2020

By Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai

Well-informed and established sources at Iraqi Prime minister Adel Abdel
Mahdi’s office in Baghdad believe "the US is unwilling to listen to
reason, to the Iraqi government or the parliament. It has the intention
of bringing war upon itself and transforming Iraq into a battlefield, by
refusing to respect the law and withdraw its forces. The US will be
faced with strong and legitimate popular armed resistance, even if some
Iraqis (in Kurdistan) will break the law and will accept the US presence
in their region, though without a heavy price."

Caretaker Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdel Mahdi suggested to the
parliament to agree on a new law asking the US to leave the country. The
parliament listened to Mr Abdel Mahdi and agreed on a new law
terminating the contract between Iraq and the US forces and asked the
government to implement it. Mr Abdel Mahdi, in a phone conversation with
US Secretary Mike Pompeo, demanded the presence of a delegation to
organise the total withdrawal of all US forces from the country. The
answer did not have to wait for long: "The US shall not withdraw from
Iraq but respects its sovereignty and decisions," said Secretary Pompeo.
The US official failed to explain how Washington can reject the Iraqi
sovereign decision asking for the withdrawal of the US troops and yet
respect it at the same time.

President Donald Trump took a harsh position asking the Iraqis to pay
billions of dollars for the development of the Iraqi bases his forces
are hosted in. Otherwise, he threatened to "charge the Iraqi with
sanctions like they’ve never seen before" and "it’s Central Bank account
held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with $35 billion could be
shut down".

US Ambassador to Iraq Mathew Tueller delivered to Iraqi officials –
including PM Abdel Mahdi, who has asked for the US forces removal of
Iraq — a copy of all the possible US sanctions Iraq could from if the
government insists on the total withdrawal of all US forces. This has
triggered an immediate reaction from Iraqi groups willing to fight the
US forces once declared an occupation force by Iraq.

Iraqi groups who fought against al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syria and Iraq
visited the newly appointed Iranian General head of the IRGC-Quds
brigade Ismail Qaani who replaced Sardar Qassem Soleimani. They asked
for military and financial support to fight the new "occupation forces".
The Iranian General promised to assist in implementing the parliament,
government and people’s decision to fight the US occupation forces.
Qaani is expected to visit Iraq, where over 100 Iranian advisors work in
Baghdad security and command Control Base along with Syrian and Russian
counterparts to fight ISIS.

Trump’s decision to take control of Iraq’s oil revenue account at the US
Federal Reserve Bank of New York could create a devaluation of the local
currency and a crash in the financial system. There is also an implicit
threat in Trump’s words, to confiscate Iraq’s national gold reserves,
held at the New York Fed.

(7) Netanyahu calls Israel a nuclear power, before correcting himself
with a bashful nod and an embarrassed smile
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-netanyahu-nuclear/netanyahu-in-apparent-stumble-calls-israel-nuclear-power-idUSKBN1Z40CS

JANUARY 5, 2020 / 9:32 PM /

Netanyahu, in apparent stumble, calls Israel 'nuclear power'

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - In an apparent slip of the tongue on Sunday, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Israel as a nuclear power before
correcting himself with a bashful nod and an embarrassed smile.

Israel is widely believed to have an atomic arsenal but has never
confirmed or denied that it has nuclear weapons, maintaining a so-called
policy of ambiguity on the issue for decades.

Netanyahu stumbled at the weekly cabinet meeting while reading in Hebrew
prepared remarks on a deal with Greece and Cyprus on a subsea gas pipeline.

"The significance of this project is that we are turning Israel into a
nuclear power," he said, before quickly correcting himself to say
"energy power".

He then paused for a beat, acknowledging his mistake with a smile, and
then ploughed on with his comments.

The rare blooper from one of Israel’s most polished politicians swiftly
proliferated on social media.

Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival in a March 2 vote after
two inconclusive elections in April and September. In November, he was
indicted on corruption charges, which he denies.

Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Maayan Lubell and Frances Kerry

(8) Iraq Gov't asks US to send a delegation to Baghdad to begin
preparing for a troop pullout

https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/contents/afp/2020/01/iraq-iran-unrest-us-troops.html

Iraq asks US for team to prepare troop pullout

AFP

January 10, 2020

Iraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi has asked the United States to
send a delegation to Baghdad to begin preparing for a troop pullout, his
office said on Friday.

In a phone call late Thursday with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
Abdel Mahdi "requested that delegates be sent to Iraq to set the
mechanisms to implement parliament's decision for the secure withdrawal
of (foreign) forces from Iraq."

Some 5,200 US soldiers are stationed at bases across Iraq to support
local troops preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State group.

They make up the bulk of a broader US-led coalition, invited by the
Iraqi government in 2014 to help combat the jihadists.

Their deployment was based on an executive-to-executive agreement never
ratified by Iraq's parliament.

But on Sunday, Iraq's parliament voted in favour of rescinding that
invitation and ousting all foreign troops.

The following day, US commanders sent a letter to their counterparts in
Baghdad saying they were preparing for "movement out of Iraq."

The letter said the coalition would "be repositioning forces over the
course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement".

The Pentagon said the letter was a draft sent by mistake but Abdel Mahdi
disputed that account, saying his office had received signed and
translated copies. He has demanded clarification from Washington of its
intentions, while the US-led coalition said Thursday that it too was
seeking clarity on the legal ramifications of parliament's vote. Many
Iraqi lawmakers had been infuriated by a US drone strike on Baghdad a
week ago that killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani and top Iraqi
commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, among others. ...

(9) Washington turns down Iraqi call to remove troops

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-iraq-security/washington-turns-down-iraqi-call-to-remove-troops-idUKKBN1Z80OW

JANUARY 9, 2020 / 5:29 PM /

John Davison, Susan Heavey

BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington on Friday spurned an Iraqi
request to prepare to pull out its troops, amid heightened U.S.-Iranian
tensions after the U.S. killing of an Iranian commander in Baghdad, and
said it was exploring a possible expansion of NATO’s presence there. [...]

Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi made his request for preparations
for a U.S. troop withdrawal in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo on Thursday in line with a vote in Iraq’s parliament last
week, his office said.

Abdul Mahdi asked Pompeo to "send delegates to put in place the tools to
carry out the parliament’s decision," his office said in a statement,
adding that the forces used in the killing had entered Iraq or used its
airspace without permission.

The State Department said any U.S. delegation would not discuss the
withdrawal of U.S. troops as their presence in Iraq was "appropriate."

"There does, however, need to be a conversation between the U.S. and
Iraqi governments not just regarding security, but about our financial,
economic, and diplomatic partnership," spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said
in a statement.

Pompeo told reporters a NATO delegation was in Washington on Friday to
discuss the future of the Iraq mission and a plan to "get burden-sharing
right in the region." [...]

(10) Iraqi cleric Sadr calls for anti-U.S. demonstrations

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-sadr/influential-iraqi-cleric-sadr-calls-for-anti-u-s-demonstrations-idUSKBN1ZD271

JANUARY 15, 2020 / 3:09 AM

Influential Iraqi cleric Sadr calls for anti-U.S. demonstrations

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Populist Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called
on Tuesday for a million Iraqis to march against the U.S. "presence and
violations" in Iraq after Washington’s killing of an Iranian commander
in Baghdad.

Iraq’s parliament has called for U.S. and other foreign troops to leave
amid growing a backlash against Washington’s air strike, which also
killed a top Iraqi militia commander.

Iran launched a missile attack on U.S. targets in Iraq in retaliation
for the death of General Qassem Soleimani, a move that heightened fears
of a wider Middle East conflict.

"Go on soldiers of God, soldiers of the nation, onto a million man march
condemning the American presence and its violations," Sadr tweeted.

"Iraqi space, its land and sovereignty are infringed upon by occupying
forces."

Sadr has million of followers has been able to summon tens of thousands
of people onto the streets of Baghdad for demonstrations in previous years.

He gave no details of when he was calling for the protest to take place,
or where.

Thousands are of Iraqis still gathering in separate anti-government
demonstrations in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square in protests that started on
Oct. 1 - potentially setting the stage for rival groups to clash.

Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Alison Williams


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