Foreign Policy Iran

Allies Are Rightfully Jumping Ship

Written by SK Ashby

It's something of a mystery right now if American forces will be withdrawing from Iraq entirely, but some of our closest allies aren't waiting for that to happen.

Canadian defense officials say they're "temporarily" moving their service members from Iraq to Kuwait because they fear an Iranian counterattack could incidentally target them.

General Jonathan Vance, chief of the defense staff, said in a letter to military families that “the news coming out of the Middle East is alarming for many of you.”

“Some of our people will be moved temporarily from Iraq to Kuwait,” he added. Simply put, we are doing this to ensure their safety and security.” [...]

Earlier in the day, NATO said it was moving some of its trainers out of Iraq, without giving details.

Meanwhile, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace spoke to British parliament this morning where he said their support for the United States on this matter is not "unquestioning."

Asked by an opposition Labour lawmaker in parliament about the risks of Britain’s “unquestioning” support of President Donald Trump, Wallace said: “Our support for the United States is not unquestioning at all.”

“We are friends and allies but we are also critical friends and allies when it matters.” [...]

He also said Britain would “call out” any attacks on cultural sites, threatened by Trump but prohibited under international law.

I don't know if Trump's recent actions will lead to more tit for tat attacks that eventually widen into a broader conflict, but it that does happen it seems relatively clear that we'll be on our own.

And we should be on our own, shouldn't we? You won't find me eating "Freedom Fries" anytime soon and not just because I gave up carbohydrates nearly a year ago. Trump has spent over three years insulting our allies at every turn and we can't expect them to get involved in an unnecessary conflict that Trump personally precipitated with he unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear peace deal.

Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal is patient zero for the current conflict and it's underappreciated that exactly none of this would be happening if Americans had simply elected the email lady instead of a game show host.