The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

U.S. Forces Still Operating in Baghdad

Aug 31, 2009

U.S. troops are once again operating in Baghdad two months after they supposedly had withdrawn to their own bases outside all Iraqi urban areas. On August 19, after bombings at Iraqi government offices, U.S. troops were on the scene. “Just make sure you photograph us doing nothing,” one U.S. soldier told a reporter. “Because that’s what we’re supposed to be doing now.” Yes doing nothing, all suited up for battle.

Meanwhile, top U.S. military officers are proposing that U.S. troops join patrols by Kurdish militia and Iraqi army units in northern Iraq.

Obama may talk about withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq, leaving U.S. troops only to train Iraqi soldiers and guard U.S. bases. But the first minute that U.S. control over Iraq is threatened, the troops are right back on the scene. All that Iraqi oil is still sitting there, waiting to be exploited.