Ahead of Iraqi Prime Minister Shia Al-Sudani’s visit to the White House, members of the Republican Party expressed concern about the hundreds of billions of dollars sent to the country and its links to groups listed as terrorist groups. appointed by the United States in a letter to President Biden.
The letter, which was signed by RNC National Security Task Force Chairman Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., and Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hearn, was sent to Biden on Monday.
“As members of the Republican Study Committee, we write to express our deep concern about your decision to host Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani at the White House and your overall Iraq policy,” the letter says. “Despite hundreds of billions of dollars spent in Iraq over two decades and countless American treasures, Iraq is now solidly in Iran’s hands.”
The letter notes that Iraq joined Iran in attacking Israel on Saturday, and adds that Al-Sudani leads a government that funds Iranian-backed militias with around $2.7 billion a year.
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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shyaa Al-Sudani, left, and US President Joe Biden, right, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, Monday, April 15, 2024. (Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Three of the militias were designated by the United States as terrorist groups, Wilson and Hearn explained, and those groups have attacked Americans at least 180 times since Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, killing three Americans and injuring over 100 others. .
“Last year, the Iraqi federal budget also approved massive funding for the Iranian-backed militias’ financial arm, the Muhandis General Company, giving the IRGC and Iraqi militias nearly unlimited access to funding for terrorist threats and land grants. – the last of which was half the size of Lebanon, in the exact area from which the same militias launched drones into Saudi Arabia,” the letter said. “The [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s] “Influence is also extending to the Iraqi judiciary, which has led the campaign against American interests, especially in the Kurdistan Region.”
The members of the terrorist groups, according to Republican lawmakers, are members of the Iraqi parliament and the Finance Committee, which authorizes funding for US-designated terrorist groups while blocking funding for the Kurdistan Regional Government, which It is an ally of the United States.
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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends a ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 9, 2024. The White House announced on Friday, March 22, that President Joe Biden plans to host al-Sudani on Jan. 15. April as the countries hold formal talks. about ending the mission of a U.S.-led military coalition formed to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq.
The letter to Biden claimed that Al-Sudani’s cabinet supports terrorism and that the country’s security forces have been infiltrated by IRGC-backed militias, which include members of designated terrorist groups.
Additionally, Hearn and Wilson told the president that the US Treasury Department continues to allow US money to go to the Central Bank of Iraq, which is ultimately funneled to terrorist groups and Iranian-backed militias.
Additionally, the Oil Minister oversees the world’s second-largest OPEC producer, and the oil leaving Iraq is largely controlled by militias. Iran then exports the oil as unauthorized Iraqi oil, the two told the president.
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Hezbollah militants gather to pay their respects to one of the militant group’s commanders. Ali al-Debs was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieyh on February 16, 2024. (MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)
“These are the officials you have determined are worthy of visiting the White House. In addition, China and Russia have exploited American investments in Iraq, so that China now operates more than 50% of Iraq’s oil fields and the Ministry Iraqi Oil Company now turns to Russia and China for most of its sales and investments,” the letter reads. “In essence, the United States has effectively overseen China, Russia and Iran dominate Iraq, despite our overwhelming financial and human commitment to Iraq’s latest chapter.”
To make matters worse, he added, Iraq, which is supported by Iran, has turned against the Kurds and refuses to allocate the Kurdistan Region its full constitutional budget.
Before the meeting, lawmakers sought answers to several questions, including whether the U.S. Treasury Secretary can certify that no U.S. money is being transferred to the Central Bank of Iraq or used to finance Iran or its proxies in Iraq.
Wilson and Hearn also asked why the Treasury Department continues to support money transfers to Iraq when the funds are used by U.S.-designated terrorist groups, and how the State Department is addressing the Iraqi government’s blockade of military equipment assigned by the United States. the United States Congress to the Kurdistan region.
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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the letter.
