Pompeo threatens to close U.S. Embassy
WASHINGTON >> Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened to close the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad within weeks if Iraqi leaders fail to prevent Iranian-backed militias from firing rockets at the compound, three U.S. officials said.
The move would place U.S. diplomats out of harm’s way but could jeopardize years of efforts to both stabilize the Iraqi government and keep it from becoming too dependent on neighboring Iran.
It could also undercut international missions to train Iraqi security forces, and prompt diplomats from other nations to consider withdrawing from Baghdad as militias continue lowlevel but potentially deadly rocket and mortar attacks.
A shutdown of the U.S. Embassy, one of the largest American diplomatic missions in the world, would also send a signal that Washington is abandoning the new Iraqi prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief whom U.S. diploma ts had praised in the spring as a “patriot” capable of limiting Iranian influence and guiding a nation wracked by political turmoil, a coronavirus outbreak and violence.
Just last month, al-Kadhimi met with President Donald Trump in Washington to press for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq. Weeks later, the Trump administration announced it would nearly halve its forces there, to 3,000 by the end of October.
Nevertheless, the meeting in August signaled strong support from the White House for al-Kadhimi, which is why Pompeo’s threats have perplexed Iraqi officials.