Iraq to give us the boot

Trump doubles down on threat to Iranian cultural sites, demands Iraq pay for U.S. base

The crime boss speaks.

Speaking aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington Sunday from a holiday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, Trump said: 

"They’re allowed to kill our people. They’re allowed to torture and maim our people. They’re allowed to use roadside bombs and blow up our people. And we’re not allowed to touch their cultural sites. It doesn’t work that way."

Meaning "I'm not going to obey the law. War crimes? Who gives a shit?"

And it never occurs to him to find out whether there might be binding legal obligations limiting his actions.

Who will make him obey?

Trump on Sunday night also sounded a note of defiance over the news that Iraq's Parliament voted to expel U.S. troops from the country. He said military personnel would not leave unless Iraq pays the U.S. back for an airbase there.

"We have a very extraordinarily expensive airbase that’s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time," Trump said. "We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it."

Or that some actions might require legislative backing.

The president went on to say that if Iraq forces the U.S. military out of Iraq, "we will charge them sanctions like they’ve never seen before ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame."

"If there’s any hostility, that they do anything we think is inappropriate, we are going to put sanctions on Iraq, very big sanctions on Iraq," Trump said.

He's too stupid to see that all his bullying could easily backfire.

Iraq's prime minister has scheduled a meeting Monday with the American ambassador to discuss the U.S. role in Iraq, according to two officials familiar with the planning.

The officials say Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi is expected to tell Ambassador Matthew Tueller that U.S. troops will have to leave the country, and he is expected to ask for a timeline.