Saturday, 13 March 2021_Iraqi anti-terror Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have been consistently fighting off American occupation forces ever since Iran's legendary anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi trenchmate Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were assassinated in a US drone strike in Baghdad early last year, political analyst and writer Julia Kassem says.
Kassem, who is based in the Lebanese capital Beirut, said in an interview with Press TV on Friday that the recent US military airstrikes against the positions of anti-terror PMU forces – better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi – on the Iraqi-Syrian border came as the troops were purging the vast desert area of last remnants of Daesh Takfiri terrorists.
“The fact that the US keeps attacking the PMU as it eradicates Daesh is very telling,” she pointed out.
Kassem warned that an increase in the number of US occupation troops in Iraq would exacerbate the current situation in Iraq as Hashd al-Sha’abi forces have frequently vowed to put up greater resistance against such a measure.
The political analyst went on to say that she does not expect a dramatic change in the US foreign policy toward Iraq.
“We should not expect any kind of change regarding the overall objectives of the United States. The US invaded and plundered Iraq under [former president George W.] Bush, facilitated the conditions for a reoccupation of Iraq and the rise of Daesh years ago under [Barack] Obama, and under [Donald] Trump last year openly refused to leave Iraq,” Kassem noted.
“[US President Joe] Biden is clearly ramping up involvement in the region, having bombed Syria days ago and prepping for more troop deployment in the neighboring country," she said.
Kassem highlighted that the missile power of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and Iraqi anti-terror PMU is far superior to the capabilities of US-built Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) systems.
“This is a testament to the resistance front’s increasingly capabilities against Israeli-made and American [missile] systems,” she commented.
Anti-US sentiments have been running high in Iraq since Lt. Gen. Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, Muhandis, the deputy head of the Hashd al-Sha’abi, were targeted along with their companions on January 3, 2020 in a drone strike authorized by former US President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport.
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