The following interview is from Fight Back! News:
Fight Back!: Many are saying that the occupation in Iraq is coming to an end. What is your view?
Meredith Aby: In a recent speech President Obama claimed, “Our commitment in Iraq is changing – from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats.” But 50,000 U.S. troops and tens of thousands of contractors is an occupation plain and simple. The Democratic Party is worried about the mid-term elections this November and their base has strong opposition to the war in Iraq. The president is decreasing the amount of U.S. troops there as a crumb to anti-war Democrats. However, it is not a significant change in U.S. policy. Obama’s foreign policy is the same now as it was a year ago; he has escalated the war in Afghanistan and is keeping enough troops in Iraq to keep the country under the thumb of U.S. imperialism, even though it isn’t the focus of current U.S. war efforts.
Fight Back!: Why is Iraq so important to the U.S.?
