Fox News – Iraqi lawmakers approved a resolution Sunday calling to expel U.S. troops from the country, following an American drone attack that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. The resolution asks the Iraqi government to end the agreement under which Washington sent forces to Iraq more than four years ago to help in the fight against the Islamic State terror group.
“The Iraqi government has an obligation to end the presence of all foreign forces on Iraqi soil and prevent it from using Iraqi lands, waters, and airspace or any other reason,” Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halboosi said in an address to lawmakers before the vote. The majority of about 180 legislators present in Parliament voted in favor of the resolution.
It was backed by most Shiite members of parliament, who hold a majority of seats. Many Sunni and Kurdish legislators did not show up for the session, apparently because they oppose abolishing the deal. But the Iraqi Parliament vote doesn’t mean that the U.S. military has to leave the country immediately. It’s a non-binding vote, which is seen as mostly symbolic. The 5,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq at the invitation fo the country’s executive branch, the Prime Minister’s officer — not Parliament. It is up to the Iraqi Prime Minister whether the troops will be expelled. READ MORE
