The U.S. has been fighting a rearguard action against Iran cementing its influence in Iraq for almost two decades Aramco, is in talks with Iraq’s various ministries for billions of dollars worth of energy, power, water and petrochemical contracts Ever since its occupation of Iraq in 2003 began to turn sour, the U.S. has been fighting a rearguard action against Iran cementing its influence in the neighboring state, with the opportunistic assistance of Russia initially and then China as well. This rearguard action initially involved the U.S. giving Iraq scores of billions of dollars in financial assistance, most of which ended up in the offshore bank accounts of various officials and did nothing to halt Iran’s extension of its power into all levels of Iraq’s political and economic infrastructure. Then the U.S. tried linking financial assistance to specific goals, most notably Iraq halting its long-time gas and electricity imports […]