We don’t want to go to another war with
Iran.
We don’t want to be the launching pad, the
launching base for another American adventure
in the Middle East.
And yet, at the same time, the agreement,
the forces agreement with the United States,
states that the American forces are in Iraq
to secure Iraqi airspace, secure Iraqi government
against attack.
So, that shift in the narrative, that using
Iraq as a launch pad, of course would make
Iranian allies in the region jittery, accuse
the Americans of plotting against them and
something, and, again, using that American
argument to counter the demonstration in the
streets.
This is what these militias have been doing
all along, even before these strikes.
So now you have the strikes.
Now you have this rhetoric, this Trump rhetoric.
You know, can I say this small joke?
You know, every single demonstrator I’ve
talked to in the squares in Baghdad, they
pray, they tell me, they wish, they pray,
that Trump would never utter a tweet regarding
Iraqi politics, because they don’t want
to be part of this Iran-versus-America narrative.
It is Iraqi demonstrations against the Iraqi
political system.
The militias want to make it as if it’s
targeting Iran.
And now the Americans are using these demonstrations
for their own, you know, whatever, pressure
on Iran.
This is the delicate situation in Iraq.
And again, it’s a country awash with weapons,
with militias, with military forces, and a
new civil war can spark within hours, if not
days.
Well, Ghaith, you were just in Baghdad before
Christmas, when these widespread protests
were ongoing.
But now, given the U.S. airstrikes — very
quickly, before we conclude — are protesters
concerned now that those, their demonstrations,
will be viewed as pro-American because they
have been anti-Iranian?
Yes.
I mean, this is the biggest concern for the
demonstrators.
The biggest concern is that they will be labeled
as pro-Americans or stooges in an American
plot against Iran.
But at the same time, the youth, the people
in the streets, the rioters, all have been
very vocal, from day one, to say that “We
are not part of any American plot.”
They denounce these American airstrikes.
And they’re trying to push back the momentum
or the narrative, and towards electing a new
prime minister and reforming the Constitution
and the election law,
which has been their 
 demand from day one.
