Republicans Put Iraq Aid on Chopping Block Over Country’s Support for Iranian Terrorism

Republicans examine Iraq aid as Biden blinks to Iran-Iraq increasing ties Iraqi prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Khaiya and Iranian president Ebrahim Rashi / Iranian state media

More than half a billion dollars in U.S. security aid to Iraq could be on the chopping block amid growing concerns that the money is benefiting Iranian terrorists, according to lawmakers and congressional sources.

House Republicans are considering plans to cancel American taxpayer aid to Iraq—the fourth-largest recipient of U.S. security assistance—citing the country’s growing alliance with Iranian proxy groups, which are embedded at nearly every level of Iraq’s armed forces. As it tries to save Baghdad from economic collapse, these aid dollars have been a top priority for the Biden administration. After an Iraqi court issued an arrest warrant last month for Donald Trump’s former president, Republican leaders said they were done authorizing the growing aid packages. The warrant was issued because of Trump’s 2020 decision to murder Iranian general Qassem Solimani on Iraqi soil. This decision and the growing alliance between Iran and Iraq are fueling Republican opposition.

“Iraq, which we give millions in taxpayer dollars of security assistance to a year, has indicted President Trump for the alleged ‘crime’ of removing terrorist mastermind Qassem Soleimani from the battlefield,” Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), told the Washington Free Beacon. “Yet President Biden is turning a blind eye to Iraq’s growing Iranian ties. The Biden administration is recklessly funding foreign bad actors and Congress needs to take a hard look at where our taxpayer dollars are going overseas.”

These plans could lead to diplomatic problems for the Biden government, which will meet at the State Department Thursday with an Iraqi delegation. These meetings will see the Biden administration raise any congressional efforts to close the aid pipeline to the Iraqi government. The U.S. has become more important to the Iraqi government, which is facing a severe cash crunch and a deteriorating economy. Biden’s administration, which supports U.S. support for Iraq, is likely to protest any congressional attempt to cut it.

Rep. Joe Wilson (R., S.C.), a House Foreign Affairs Committee member who chairs the Middle East subcommittee, said the Trump arrest warrant