Bangladesh at a Crossroads: The Hidden Cost of the US Military Deal and the Ruwaibidah Takeover

News:

US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Paul Kapur, will visit Bangladesh in early March, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The issue was discussed when US Ambassador to Bangladesh Brent T. Christensen today called on Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman at the ministry, said a statement issued by the ministry. Both sides also reviewed key areas of cooperation, including trade, investment, defense and security, development partnership, immigration and people-to-people exchanges (Daily Star, 23 February, 2026).

Comment:

The impending visit of US Assistant Secretary Paul Kapur in early March has ignited sovereignty concerns. This follows aggressive American lobbying for two controversial defense pacts: GSOMIA and ACSA. President Trump recently demanded "decisive action" from Bangladesh's Prime Minister to finalize these agreements. GSOMIA subjects our military installations to foreign scrutiny, while ACSA could transform our territory into an undeclared American garrison. This military push follows a disastrous pre-election trade deal committing $15 billion in US LNG, Boeing aircraft, and agricultural imports — holding our reserves hostage to American corporate interests behind a non-disclosure agreement.

The troubling facilitator of this agenda is Dr. Khalilur Rahman. Until recently serving as National Security Adviser under the interim government — widely believed to be shepherding these deals — he has now been abruptly appointed as Foreign Minister under a "technocrat" label. This swift elevation signals who is truly setting foreign policy in Dhaka.

Our so-called rulers betray public trust because they mistakenly believe their political survival depends on Washington's approval. Operating under the paranoid assumption that US displeasure means certain removal, they have reduced themselves to compliant lackeys of American interests rather than leaders of a sovereign country. They fail to grasp the fleeting nature of US patronage — as a senior Saudi official recently told Al Jazeera, Washington abandoned Gulf allies hosting permanent US bases to protect Israel, leaving them exposed to Iranian strikes.

These Ruwaibidah rulers — "base and foolish" figures foretold in hadith who serve as proxies for Western hegemony — perpetuate soft colonialism through unequal trade pacts, restrictive intellectual property regimes, and cultural dependency. They convince us that escaping the US sphere is impossible, yet history shows their predecessors like Saddam, Asad, Mubarak, Hasina were discarded like "tissue papers" after serving American interests. Even Iran's Khamenei, whose regime long maneuvered within US geopolitical calculations, was ultimately consumed by the very power he sought to appease. In their desperate appeasement, these rulers mortgage Ummah’s future for temporary security.

True liberation begins with removing these proxy rulers who see the US Embassy, not the citizenry, as their primary constituent. By their removal, we will simultaneously unite to bring back our natural guardianship — the promised righteous Caliphate that alone can guarantee our sovereignty, dignity, and freedom from all forms of neo-colonial domination.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Irtiza Chowdhury- Wilayah Bangladesh