Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein: American Withdrawal Would Spell Catastrophe For Iraq

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said in an October 5, 2020 interview on Al-Iraqiya TV (Iraq) that American withdrawal from Iraq would spell catastrophe for Iraq because it would indicate a lack of American trust in Iraq, which he predicted would cause banks, international institutions, and other countries to also lose trust in Iraq. He elaborated that Iraqis have already been paying the price for isolation from the world and said that further isolation would be catastrophic.

Fuad Hussein: "What would an American withdrawal from Iraq mean? It would mean catastrophe. Even if the U.S. just pulls out without taking any other measures, it would affect other western countries. In the past week, I have been in touch with many [foreign] ministers from Western and Arab countries. They are all worried. The United States' place in the international coalition, as well as its position in NATO and on the Iraqi scene, and the Western framework [it leads] – they are significant.

"An American withdrawal means a lot. It would reflect a lack of trust in the situation in Iraq by a superpower. When a lack of trust is created, it means that other countries would follow suit. Companies and international banks would also follow suit. Isolation from the world would spell catastrophe for Iraq. We must not forget that Iraq had already been isolated from the world. I won't go into the reasons for that isolation, but we are still paying its price. Generations of Iraqis have been paying the price for the siege and Iraq's isolation from the world."