By: Kayhan Int’l Staff Writer

We are still not sure whether the armed resistance put up by the Taliban over the past years did force the US to end its military occupation of Afghanistan or whether there was a secret deal between the two sides during talks in Doha, Qatar, that handed over power to the militia.
Whatever the undisclosed truth, the end of the American occupation of another Muslim country in our neighbourhood is sure to happen in the coming months, and whether Washington likes it or not, it has no other choice but to withdraw all its armed forces from Iraq by December 31 and close its military bases.
And there is no question of any US troops remaining on Iraqi soil after that date on the pretext of training the Iraqi army, because of the simple fact that neither the Iraqis are in need of such training nor the Americans are capable of training any potent force anywhere in the world, as is evident by the impotence of all US-trained armies – in Afghanistan this year, in Iraq in 2014 when takfiri terrorists swept across the western parts, and in Yemen where Saudi gutlessness is exposed.
The Iraqi people are hoping for a diplomatic solution to end the US occupation of their homeland, if not the resistance forces, which are better equipped than the Taliban, will have no other option but to engage the unwanted Americans in an all-out armed struggle.
The notice has been served in this regard by the Hashd ash-Sha’bi or the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) which are the real representatives of the Iraqi people and with the backing of the masses are determined to force the Americans out of the country – irrespective of the doctored results of the recent parliamentary elections.
It should be remembered that these popular forces had managed to force US occupation troops out of Iraq in 2011, a decade before the Taliban’s recent success in Afghanistan.
This can easily be repeated in view of the fact that the Iraqi resistance today is stronger than in 2011, and in routing the macabrely murderous takfiri terrorists a few years ago, it acquired valuable battleground experience against what was a division of the US army – fully armed and logistically supported by the Americans.
As for the government in Baghdad – whether the current interim cabinet remains or is replaced by a new administration formed by any coalition that gains the parliament’s mandate – it has to support the popular forces’ resolve to end the US occupation, for the simple reason that any talks with Washington on this vital issue or excuses for prolonging the undesirable American presence, will be seen by the Iraqi masses as a betrayal of the people and the country.
The message is thus loud and clear for Washington that this part of the world is determined to rid itself of the CENTCOM terrorists who will be forced to withdraw from Syria as well, and after that from the entire Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and the eastern Mediterranean region.