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Qais Khazali, secretary-general of the Shiite Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq militia in Iraq, recently criticized the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, saying that he "had the audacity" to set conditions upon Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi's entry into Al-Anbar Province, "as if Al-Anbar is one of the states of the USA." "It is as if you own this country and we are the foreigners," he said on May 18, 2015.
Following are excerpts from the speech, which was broadcast on the Iraqi Al-'Ahad TV channel:
Qais Khazali: I say to the United States of America: You are not providing weapons to the Iraqi government so that it may arm the Iraqi citizens of the Al-Anbar tribes. I say to America: You do not like the Sunnis. You do not like the Iraqis. You do not like the Arabs. You do not like the Muslims. Whoever thinks this way is deluding himself. America does not love or hate. Far from it. You are not driven by your emotions. We know that you have a plan. Naturally, you seek to accomplish your interests, and your interests in this region are clearly those of Israel and its security. For the sake of your interests and those of Israel, you wish to destroy our country, and you do not hesitate - not even for a moment - to sacrifice Ramadi and Al-Anbar, and to embarrass the Iraqi government. You tried to shackle the Iraqi government with the Strategic Framework Agreement, so that it would continue to be dependent upon you, and you would be able to continue to weaken and humiliate it in the eyes of its people.
[...] The American ambassador is not ashamed to say... nobody has even responded to him - as if he has the right to say this... He said to the media: "We are setting the following condition: if the Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi militia enters the Al-Anbar Province, it must operate under the Iraqi armed forces." He had the audacity to say this. It is as if Al-Anbar is one of the states of the USA. It is as if you have authority over the Iraqi government. It is as if you own this country and we are the foreigners.
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