Iraqi Groups Renew Attacks Upon US Targets In Retaliation For Gaza War

For five days pro-Iran groups in Iraq have launched attacks upon U.S. targets in Iraq. Ain Al-Asad airbase in Anbar and Al-Harir airbase in Irbil have been the prime targets. This is in retaliation for America’s support of Israel in its current war with Palestinians in Gaza.

Iraq-Lebanon Sign Trade Deal That Doesn’t Make Any Sense

(Shuttershock)

On July 24 Iraq and Lebanon finally signed their much talked about trade agreement. Iraq will send one million tons of oil to Lebanon in exchange for services. The problems are many. First, Lebanon can’t use Iraqi oil for its power plants. Instead, it will buy petroleum from other providers and pay them in Iraqi crude. Second, Lebanon has no services to offer Baghdad. At first, Beirut was to provide medical services but most of its doctors are in the private sector and the government doesn’t have authority over them. Then it was said that other good would be provided like fruits and vegetables, but again, it didn’t have much to offer. Then it was said that Lebanese dollars would be used but those can only be spent inside the country. That means Iraq will be exporting oil to Lebanon for free.

How US Tilt Towards Iraq In Iran-Iraq War Led To Iran-Contra Scandal

Iran had Hezbollah kidnap CIA station chief Buckley and six other Americans in Lebanon in retaliation for the U.S. supporting Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War The Reagan administration would later try to get its hostages released by offering Tehran weapons which would be exposed in the Iran-Contra Scandal

In 1985 The Reagan administration attempted to reconcile with the Iranian government by offering it arms sales, which it desperately needed to maintain its military during the war with Iraq. Profits from these sales were later diverted to the Contra rebels which the United States was banned from funding under the Boland Amendment. The White House was also hoping that if secret ties were made with Ayatollah Khomenei’s government he might decide to release several Americans seized in Lebanon. The deals with Iran were later exposed by a leak by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to a Lebanese paper in November 1986. This later became known as the Iran-Contra Scandal. What was little known was that this whole affair was caused by the United States’ decision to back Baghdad in its war with Tehran, which led the Iranians to retaliate by kidnapping American citizens in Lebanon.

Review Ropes Of Sand, America’s Failure in the Middle East

Review Eveland, Wilbur Crane, Ropes Of Sand, America’s Failure in the Middle East, London New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1980

 

Wilbur Crane Eveland originally joined U.S. army intelligence after World War II. He then got recruited into the CIA. He started off being stationed to Baghdad in 1949 during the monarchy period as the military attaché at the embassy. During that time, the U.S.’s main role was supporting the British in Iraq. The Iraqis had their own plans and went to the U.S. asking for military equipment to break the hold England had over Iraq. The Americans said no not wanting to offend their ally. When Eveland first arrived the U.S. Ambassador was an Anglophile and all too happy to follow this policy. The second one however warned that the British could not hold their position in Iraq, and all their projects were for London’s benefit. His advice was ignored.

JERUSALEM CENTER VIDEO: Are Political Borders Still Relevant? Iraq, Syria & Lebanon