Asaib Ahl Haq Leader Sheikh Khazaali: Americans Will Withdraw from Iraq Voluntarily or by Force

The Secretary General of Asaib Ahl Haq (League of the Righteous) group Sheik Qais Khazaali expected a vote in the coming months by Iraq’s parliament calling for the withdrawal of US troops.

Khazaali said there’s no longer a justification for thousands of US troops to remain in Iraq now that the ISIL has been defeated. He suggested US troops may eventually be driven out by force if they do not yield to the will of the Iraqi people.

“I think more than half the members of parliament reject the presence of American military forces as a matter of principle,” he said.

“If the United States wants to impose its presence by force, and to bypass the Iraqi constitution and parliament, Iraq can treat it the same way and drive it out by force… But the first phase is political.”