The Washington Post covered the meeting of US President Donald Trump with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi last week, and saw that Al-Kazemi offers a glimmer of hope for the possibility of positive change in the Middle East.
The Washington Post said in a report published today that Al-Kazemi faces enormous problems in a semi-failed country that suffers from the repercussions of the Corona pandemic and the associated economic crisis, but he is nevertheless making great efforts to promote the economic, political and security reforms that Iraq badly needs, and this is what makes it different. From almost all of his predecessors.
The Iraqi parliament trusted the government of Al-Kazemi - a former intelligence director - last May, after mass demonstrations forced his predecessor, Adel Abdul Mahdi, to resign.
Immediately, Al-Kazemi began to cross the red lines of the Shiite factions that paralyzed the national government, including the Iranian-backed factions that operate as a state within the state, and raided a camp of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, which Washington accuses of being responsible for missile attacks against its bases and interests in Iraq, and reinstated Baghdad's control of the border crossings that it was taking over.
Tehran's proxies forcefully resisted, and Al-Kazemi was forced to release 13 of the 14 Kataib Hezbollah fighters who were arrested in the raid, but this faction escalated its attacks instead of stopping them, launching 9 missile strikes in July against US military or diplomatic sites only. .
No impunity
However, a recent assessment by the Institute for the Study of War concluded that "proxy factions can no longer operate with complete impunity, knowing that the Iraqi state has managed to recover millions of border revenues."
Al-Kazemi also lined up with the popular protest movement that is still calling for an end to corruption, and called for early elections next June, and pressure on parliament to pass the reforms recommended by the United Nations to the political system.
The newspaper confirmed that the Iraqi prime minister is trying to ensure improved relations between Iraq and the United States, which have become fragile due to the killing of the Iranian Quds Force commander, Qassem Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Authority.
At the urging of Tehran, the Iraqi parliament voted days after that incident on a decision to leave the foreign forces present on Iraqi soil, including the American forces, which include about 5,200 personnel.
But Al-Kazemi told reporters after his meeting with Trump that he would like some members of the American forces to remain as trainers and advisors, and this is consistent with the Pentagon's hope to maintain the presence of a party monitoring Iran and its proxies.
Iran and Trump Resistance
The newspaper pointed out that maintaining the strategic relationship between the United States and Iraq requires overcoming the resistance shown by Iran, as well as Trump, who preferred the indiscriminate withdrawal of US forces from their bases in Iraq.
During his meeting with Al-Kazemi, Trump repeatedly suggested the US withdrawal, but when asked about when he referred the speech to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said that the US forces will leave "as soon as the mission is completed," and that mission should include making the utmost effort to help Al-Kazemi implement His plan.