Iraq a Platform for Endless US Regional Wars

By Stephen Lendman
Source

Post-the 9/11 mother of all false flags, initiating US aggression on one nation after another, Dick Cheney warned of wars that won’t end in our lifetime.

Former CIA director James Woolsey said America “is engaged in World War IV, and it could continue for years. This fourth world war, I think, will last considerably longer than either World Wars I or II did for us.” 

The Pentagon earlier called what unfolded post-9/11 a “long war.” It’s being waged endlessly in multiple theaters, more wars planned, readied to be launched when ordered.

In his September 11, 1990 address to a joint congressional session, GHW Bush called America’s imperial agenda a “new world order” – ahead of Washington’s invasion, rape and destruction of Iraq in 1991, preceded and followed by genocidal sanctions, more war under Bush/Cheney, continued by Obama and Trump.

The cradle of civilization was destroyed under GHW Bush, again under Bush/Cheney, pro-Western puppet rule installed, Iraq occupied by thousands of US forces earlier and following intervention in June 2014 on the phony pretext of combatting the scourge of ISIS Washington created and supports.

On Wednesday, Trump made an unannounced visit to Iraq. Speaking to US troops at the Pentagon’s Al-Asad airbase, he said he has “no plans at all” to remove US troops from the country.

It’s unclear how many occupy Iraq. The Pentagon claims about 5,200 – on the phony pretext of aiding “Iraqi forces…ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS,” imperial foot soldiers comprising a US proxy force.

Meeting with US-installed puppet Afghan president Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday in Kabul, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani warned of the following:

“Enemies of the security and tranquility of the region in an organized move are after fomenting insecurity at the shared borders to transfer the defeated ISIL terrorists to Afghanistan and support the spread of takfiri terrorism in the country to ignite the flames of war, bloodshed and insecurity in the region once again.”

He warned that the Trump regime could escalate war in the country, repeating the rape and destruction of Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria – on the phony pretext of combatting ISIS.

On Christmas eve, Joint Chiefs chairman General Joseph Dunford visited US troops at the Pentagon’s Afghanistan Bagram airbase, saying:

“There’s all kinds of rumors swirling around. The mission you have today is the same as the mission you had yesterday.”

Commenting on the reported withdrawal of around 7,000 US troops from the country in 2019, he cautioned against planning on it, saying:

“When there is something else to tell you, I’ll make sure General (Austin) Miller (commander of US forces in the country) knows in real time what changes may be taking place. Right now, you’re American soldiers. You have a mission. Just get after it.”

During his Wednesday visit to Iraq, Trump said nothing about Afghanistan. He called Iraq a platform “to do something in Syria” – or anywhere else regionally.

Moving US troops around from one theater to another leaves Washington’s imperial agenda unchanged. Its global war OF terror continues with a vengeance, punctuated by endless wars, smashing sovereign states to colonize and control them.

Trump’s announced pullout of US forces from Syria and partial withdrawal from Afghanistan is inconsequential in the greater scheme of things.

Permanent US wars continue unchanged, along with the stationing of US special forces in three-fourths of world countries, perhaps nearly all of them ahead.

That’s what imperialism is all about, a diabolical scheme to rule the world unchallenged, endless wars Washington’s favored strategy, all sovereign independent states on its target list, including Russia, China, and Iran.

Bipartisan hardliners in Washington risk catastrophic nuclear war if things are pushed too far – the key issue of our time gone unaddressed in the mainstream.

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