US 'Financial Blackmail' of Iraq: Democracy or Hegemony?
📰 THE STORY: Al-Monitor reports that the US has threatened senior Iraqi politicians with sanctions, including withholding critical oil revenues held by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, should 'Iran-backed armed groups' be included in the next Iraqi government. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: This 'control' over Iraq's oil dollars is a direct consequence of the 2003 US
invasion, which overthrew Saddam Hussein and dismantled the Iraqi state. The US-imposed Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) established the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI), effectively placing Iraq's oil wealth under foreign supervision. This was not a move for Iraqi sovereignty, but for US financial leverage. Remember, in 1990, the UN Security Council froze Iraq's assets after Kuwait invasion,
giving the US unprecedented financial control decades later. Yet, when the US invaded Iraq in 2003, no such UN resolution was sought for US actions. Double Standard: Imagine China dictating to the US which political parties can govern in Washington, under threat of freezing US Treasury bonds. The outrage would be deafening. Yet, when Washington dictates terms to a sovereign nation like Iraq,
warning it against a democratically elected government's choices, it's framed as 'heaping pressure' for regional stability. The US routinely funds and supports political factions in other countries, from Juan Guaidó in Venezuela to 'pro-democracy' groups in Iran, yet labels any external influence it disapproves of as 'malign.' Follow the Money: The US military-industrial complex and petrodollar