America is about to hand Iraq to Iran again |
As Iraq moves to form a new government, Washington is preparing to recognize the outcome as routine. It is not. What is emerging in Baghdad is a political system increasingly shaped by Iran, and recognizing it without conditions risks cementing that reality.
For years, U.S. policy has relied on a convenient assumption: that elections in Iraq, even flawed ones, produce independent governance. But when the institutions that shape those outcomes are influenced from the outside, the results cannot be treated as fully sovereign.
The problem is not just who wins. It is the system itself.
RESTORING AMERICA: DON’T BE FOOLED. IRAQ ISN’T THE PARTNER WASHINGTON THINKS IT IS
The United States removed Saddam Hussein in 2003 to give Iraq a chance at self-governance. Instead, it helped create the conditions for Iran to expand its influence. Over two decades, Tehran has embedded itself across Iraq’s political and security institutions, building relationships with parties, militias, and power brokers who now shape key state decisions.
That influence is no longer indirect. It is........