If the Iraqis tell us to leave--what if Trump tells them to fuck off...?

[genxlib]

4. I think the Iraqis are the x-factor here

Iraq has been put into an untenable position.

They have been asked to choose sides.

If they let the US stay, then any war that gets fought will likely play out within their borders.

If they ask the US to leave, and they don't, the war will again largely take place within their borders.

Their best case scenario is to ask the US to leave and that we go. It is the equivalent of a bar owner asking unruly patrons to take their fight outside.

If the scenario you lay out happens, the shit will hit the fan. We will abandon all pretense of not being occupiers. We could end up in a war with Iraq and Iran while trying to wage operations from enemy territory. We would have no choice but to increase our footprint elsewhere in the Middle East which will lead to its own set of problems.

Not good.