[Rudaw] The United States on Friday suspended a program that granted Iraqis refuge in the US in exchange for aiding American troops in Iraq, according to a statement from the state department.
"Effective January 22, 2021, the United States is suspending the Direct Access Program for the U.S.-Affiliated Iraqis for 90 days," reads the statement from Daniel B. Smith, the acting secretary of state.
He justified the temporary halt to the program, which incentivized Iraqis to work with the US military, by saying they have identified individuals stealing documents from the state department’s Worldwide Refugee Admissions Processing System "to take advantage" of the program.
This suspension is needed to "further review and address vulnerabilities," he said.
The US has reduced the number of its troops in Iraq to 2,500, according to a statement released by the Department of Defense on January 15.
"We recognize the importance of assisting those who legitimately put their lives at risk to provide critical support to the United States in Iraq and we do not take the decision to suspend this program lightly," Smith added.
US forces have come under repeated attack since Washington’s liquidation of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in a January 2020 Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM! ...
, also killing Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the Iraqi deputy of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi).
The attacks have reduced recently despite fresh US sanctions on both Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
and PMF officials.
Washington has previously threatened to withdraw all troops and close its Baghdad embassy if the Iraqi government fails to reign in Iran-backed militias, who have repeatedly targeted the embassy and Iraqi military bases hosting US-led coalition troops, as well as coalition-contracted convoys.
Despite the reductions, Baghdad and Washington agree that a US and coalition presence remains "vital" in the continued fight against ISIS, the statement added.
Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden
 ...Failed seeker of the Democratic presidential nomination on multiple occasions, vice president under Barack Obama, giving it a last try in his dotage for 2020...
was sworn into office as President of the US on Wednesday, against the backdrop of the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
pandemic and a violent mostly peaceful insurrection at the Capital two weeks prior. 
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