Trump Is Handing Iran Its Biggest Strategic Objective: Iraq

It was barely a year ago that the U.S. outmaneuvered Qassem Soleimani to install Adil Abdul-Mahdi as Iraq’s prime minister. But with Soleimani dead in a U.S. drone strike, the U.S. is treating the Iraqi government that U.S. forces created during the 2003-2011 occupation as little more than an adjunct of Iranian strategy. As the Iranians vow that revenge for Soleimani will include the eviction of the U.S. from the Middle East (Tehran’s longtime goal), the administration is refusi