DrDinar Blog

The United States’ eight-year military operation of Iraq is coming to an end. Military commanders in Iraq say the withdrawal of troops and equipment from the country is nearly complete. Welcome home ceremonies are being held across America and the families of the troops are enthusiastic and are now at ease as the U.S. military’s time in Iraq comes to an end.

President Barack Obama declared an end to the combat mission there last August, setting a goal of bringing all troops home by the end of this year.

“We’re quickly, quietly and professionally moving out,” said Army Lt. Col. Charles Krumwiede, strolling past lines of trucks driven by Indian and Pakistani contractors and protected by U.S. armored vehicles and attack helicopters. Only 8,000 U.S. troops and 5,000 support contractors remain in Iraq, said the general overseeing the exit of U.S. forces on recently, ahead of the Dec. 31 deadline for withdrawal.

Also leaving are hundreds of non-military personnel who worked on the military bases, including those from Pakistan, India and Nepal. Violence across Iraq has fallen dramatically over the last few years, but on the eve of the American withdrawal, Iraqi Army and police units are still overwhelmed by roadside bombs and assassinations.

Pictures of 17 dead Iraqi soldiers line the entry hall of a nearby Iraqi Army office, where a mourning banner for a revered Shiite imam hangs from the façade. U.S. officials have warned that the departure of American forces will leave some gaps in Iraq’s defenses, particularly in defending its airspace.

“For all the convoys that come through here, the convoy commanders come in and check in with us, we verify their documentation, and if there is anything wrong with the documentation, we correct it on the spot,” said Captain David Moses, one of the officers coordinating the final drawdown. The drawdown has been under way for months, but in recent days movement has accelerated at U.S. bases in Kuwait that serve as transit points. The drawdown is progressing with surprising speed.

Camp Adder, near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, is the last staging post for trucks and soldiers before they arrive in neighboring Kuwait. Most of the convoys have made it safe over the border, but the American Embassy recently warned of about the severe threat of kidnapping and terrorist attacks inside the walled-off International Zone, where American diplomats and the last forces in Baghdad are stationed.

Iraqi security forces are supposed to provide the first line of defense for U.S. facilities, and the Pentagon will also provide some support. A defense official said the Defense Department would operate a system to provide warning of incoming rocket and mortar attacks. It might have been just another day, if not for the backdrop of a withdrawal that has already cut the number of American forces to 7,500 on four bases, with all expected to be gone this coming week.

Soldiers who will stay behind until the end will still be responsible for securing roads, protect other American forces and ward off rebellious attempts to impose casualties on departing American troops. Since the war began in 2003, 4,485 American service members have been killed in Iraq, though none from this unit on this tour. Still, some of the soldiers said they worried about what could happen in their remaining days. The United States has paid not only in money but also loss of life. The dollar amount spent on the war as of Nov. 30 was $805 billion, according to the National Priorities Project.

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In recent weeks the U.S. Senate unanimously passed economic sanctions against Iran, a move that the Obama administration cautioned against. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner announced new measures to increase pressure on Iran.

Secretary Clinton outlined a series of actions to increase pressure on Iran to comply with its full range of international nuclear obligations and to engage in constructive negotiations on the future of its nuclear program. Secretary Clinton said,

“Recent days have brought new evidence that Iran’s leaders continue to defy their international obligations and violate international norms, including the recent plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador here in the United States and as verified by the new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency that further documents Iran’s conduct of activities directly related to the development of nuclear weapons. Now, this report from the IAEA is not the United States or our European partners making accusations; this is the result of an independent review and it reflects the judgment of the international community.” -Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

President Barack Obama has been cautious about harsher sanctions, fearing such a move could disrupt the oil markets at a time of economic uncertainty for many Americans, and alienate potential allies primarily Iraq. US officials have also warned that depriving global markets of Iranian exports could send oil prices sharply higher which can however be good for oil producing allies, but, gifting Tehran a funding boost. Unless a compromise is reached, the US President will have to decide whether to veto it.

“First, President Obama signed an Executive Order that, for the first time, specifically targets Iran’s petrochemical industry, a significant source of export revenues and a cover for imports for sanctioned activities. This will allow us to sanction the provision of goods, services, and technology to the petrochemical sector. To accompany this new measure, we will launch a worldwide diplomatic campaign to encourage other countries to shift any purchases of Iranian petrochemical products to other suppliers”, Secretary Clinton said.

With that sanction more opportunities are given from the neighboring countries of Iran. Most countries will be encouraged to shift to other suppliers especially in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. These two countries are known to have the largest resources of oil reserves in the Middle East aside from Iran. The economic situation of Iran has been really affected due to the new sanction given by the US. The US has already given strong warnings for its own banks from dealing directly with the Iranian central bank.

Under the new sanctions, drafted by Democrat Robert Menendez and Republican Mark Kirk, foreign banks that do business with Iran’s central bank would be cut off from the US financial system. The sanctions are designed to come into effect after a six-month grace period – in order to give oil markets time to factor them in.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner echoed the warnings prior to its passage, stating ’strong opposition’ to the amendment. The amendment would specifically disallow organizations that do business with financial institutions in Iran, including the country’s central bank, from holding financial accounts in the United States.

Waivers though would be provided for companies that deal with national security matters. The amendment also requires that studies be done to better understand how oil prices would be affected in the United States. Europe’s new sanctions blacklist 180 Iranian officials and firms, but do not impose an oil embargo on Iran, because some European countries are dependent on Iranian oil. Ministers meeting in Brussels also agreed recently to work on other measures targeting Iran’s energy sector. The latest round of sanctions follows a recent UN report that linked Iran with the development of a nuclear weapon.

Multiple US administration officials have said that these sanctions would do more harm than good and both raise the price of oil and have little impact on Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions. As far as Iraq Dinar is concerned, one of the side effects of the Iran sanctions is obviously the potential for higher oil prices which will strengthen dinar, in the short term. Long tern effects, well, we are working on an update for that.

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Written for DrDinar Blog
This article may be reprinted online or offline
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online.
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