the loot of world resources, they are
trying to escape from the burdens
of US initiated or led armed actions
in the world. They began a search
for new friends and combinations
in an attempt to improve their own
positions in the competition.
Rather than as a move to
relinquish the US role as a leading
world power, we can see Trump’s
talk about “America First” more as
an attempt to assert the primacy of
US interests and the talk like, “US
cannot continue to be a policeman
of the world” can be seen essentially
as an attempt to tell to its allies to
take the US lead unwaveringly in
the world.
At a time when Trump was
talking about the withdrawal of
troops from Syria, the White House
spokesperson Sara Sanders
clarified: “The victories over ISIS in
Syria don’t signal the end of the
Global Coalition or its campaign.
We have started returning US
troops as we transition to the next
phase of this campaign.” One US
official told that America had
consulted its partners and allies on
the decision.
It must be noted that a
“complete withdrawal of US troops
from Syria would still leave a
sizeable US military presence in the
region, including about 5,200
troops across the border in Syria.
Much of the campaign in Syria
earlier has been waged by war
planes flying out of Qatar and other
locations in West Asia.
Addressing the US troops in
Iraq on Dec 25, 2018 Trump said:
“If we see something happening
with ISIS that we don’t like, we can
hit them so fast and so hard they
really won’t know what the hell
happened.”
US And Iraq
Commenting on the proposed
withdrawal of US troops from Syria,
the US Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo said: “It in no way changes
January - 2019
anything that this administration is
working alongside Israel.” “The
counter ISIS campaign continues,
our efforts to counter Iranian
aggression continue and our
commitment to the Middle East
stability and the protection of Israel
continues in the same way it did
before that decision was made”.
Trump made it clear that US
has no intention to withdraw troops
from Iraq. This could be used as a
future base “if we wanted to do
something in Syria.” According to
an Iraqi political analyst Hisham –
Hashmi, “Iraq is important because
of its strategic location. The
presence of US troops reassures
both Jordan and Saudi Arabia and
strike a balance between the Khurds
and Turkey and Turkish, Iranian and
Iraqi triangle.” It also aids “Israel’s
desire to block Tehran – Beirut route
and offset Iran’s strengthening
presence in the region.”
Thus the withdrawal of US
troops from Syria is a small,
temporary re-adjustment being
made in the deployment of forces
with an aim of further strengthening
the striking power of the US forces.
At the same time the US drive
for domination is also facing many
hurdles and problem.
At the end of nearly two
decades long war against the
Afghan people, the US is compelled
to try for a negotiated settlement
with Taliban, without, of course,
abandoning the method of force.
The US had opened the dialogue
with North Korea, though it once
threatened to blow up, with an
intention to disarm it while keeping
itself fully armed. However, the
alertness of Korean people and
their leadership are making this
dream difficult to realize.
The US is pursuing with all
seriousness its strategy of imposing
its domination over the Asia, Asia –
Pacific region. But it is faced with
formidable foes in the region and
the politics of domination are facing
an ever growing opposition among
the people of the region.
US hopes to use Iraq as its
potential military base to push
through its hegemonic policies in
the Middle East. But, right in Iraq
itself, the US is faced with ever
growing opposition. The demands
among the people as well as political
forces inside the Iraq parliament for
an immediate and total withdrawal
of US troops from Iraq are growing
strong. The opposition to the use
of Iraq as a launching pad for US
attacks against the countries and
forces opposed to the politics of
domination are growing strong.
The US still maintains nearly
800 bases in more than 70 countries
and territories. US has no intention
to abandon them. It continues to
possess most sophisticated
Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMD) and aspire for world
hegemony. The US sits on the
mountains of these weapons not for
a fun, but to use them to frighten
and force the world people to
accept the US hegemony.
So, no one should be swept
away by the claims, pretences and
assurances of imperialist powers.
All peace loving forces and people
must demand the imperialist
powers in general and the US in
particular to immediately : 1) stop
the production and destroy all types
of WMD; 2) Dismantle all their
military bases on land, sea and
outer space; 3) withdraw all troops
from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, South
Korea, Japan, Middle East and
other countries; 4) Abandon Military
Alliances – global, regional and
bilateral; 5) stop all acts of threats,
bullying, and domination and
intervention into the affairs of other
countries; 6) respect the
independence,
sovereignty,
territorial integrity of countries and
the principle of equality in the
relations between the countries.
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