President Joe Biden Said Monday that the U.S. combat mission is Iraq Coming to end at the end of this year, this statement not only reflects a major change in US policy, but also reflects local realities.
Even before Biden took office, the main focus of the United States had been to assist the Iraqi army, not to fight for them. Biden did not say whether he plans to reduce the number of troops stationed in Iraq, which is currently about 2,500.
Nearly 20 years after the United States launched that war in response to the September 11, 2001 attack, Biden decided to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The combined wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have placed a heavy burden on the US military, preventing it from paying more attention to the rising China. The Biden administration called it the biggest long-term security challenge.
For many years, the U.S. military has played a supporting role in Iraq and neighboring Syria. This is the origin of the Islamic State organization that swept across the border and occupied large areas of Iraq in 2014, prompting the United States to send troops to Iraq. year.
Biden told reporters at the Oval Office meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadimi that his government is still committed to building a partnership with Iraq — the Iraqi militia backed by Iran has made this relationship a reality. More and more complicated. The militia hopes that all U.S. troops will immediately withdraw from Iraq and regularly attack bases where U.S. troops are stationed.
Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser with the American Veterans Association, said that the US military will still be in danger.
Caldwell said in a statement: “Regardless of whether their deployment is called a combat mission, as long as they remain in Iraq, the US military will continue to be attacked on a regular basis.” “For our safety, the US military presence in Iraq. It is not necessary, it will only risk losing more American lives.”
Biden said that the US military will continue to assist Iraq in combating the Islamic State (ISIS). The United States and Iraq’s joint statement stated that the security relationship will focus on training, consulting, and intelligence sharing.
Biden said: “Our joint fight against ISIS is vital to the stability of the region, and our counter-terrorism operations will continue, even if we move to this new phase that we are going to talk about.”
The transition from a US combat role to a role focused on training and consulting Iraq’s security forces was announced in April. At that time, a joint statement between the United States and Iraq stated that this transition allows any remaining US combat forces to be withdrawn from Iraq according to a timetable. . Determined later. It did not specify which combat functions the United States was engaged in at the time, and Biden did not elaborate on Monday.
“By the end of this year, we will not perform combat missions,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki declined to say how many troops will remain in Iraq before the end of the year.
She said: “Over time, these numbers will depend on what the task requires, so it’s more of a shift from what we have in the past few years to more consulting and training capabilities.”
Since then President Donald Trump ordered a reduction from 3,000 troops at the end of last year, the number of U.S. troops stationed has remained at around 2,500.
The Iraqi government announced its victory over the Islamic State group in 2017, which has now become the shell of its predecessor. Nonetheless, it has shown that it can conduct high casualty attacks. Last week, the organization claimed responsibility for a roadside bombing in a busy suburban market in Baghdad, which killed at least 30 people and injured dozens of others.
In a speech with Biden, Kadimi thanked the United States for its support.
Back home, al-Kadhimi faced many problems. In recent months, Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq have stepped up their attacks on US forces, and a series of devastating hospital fires that have caused dozens of deaths and a surge in coronavirus infections have added new frustrations to the country.
For al-Kadhimi, before the elections scheduled for October, being able to provide the Iraqi public with a date when the U.S. combat presence ends may be the feather of his hat.
Biden officials said that Kadimi’s improvement of Iraq’s position in the Middle East is also commendable. Last month, King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Abdul Fatah Al-Sisi of Egypt visited Baghdad for a joint meeting-this was the first official visit by the President of Egypt since the 1990s, when Saddam Hussein Relations between the two countries were interrupted after Hussein invaded Kuwait.
Before visiting Washington, the Iraqi Prime Minister made it clear that he believes it is time for the United States to end this mission.
“There is no need for any foreign combat troops on Iraqi territory,” Kadimi told the Associated Press last weekend.
The mission of the United States to train and advise the Iraqi army recently originated from President Barack Obama’s decision to send troops to Iraq in 2014. The move was in response to the Islamic State Group’s takeover of most of the western and northern parts of Iraq and the Iraqi security forces that seemed to threaten the collapse of Baghdad. In 2011, eight years after the United States invaded Iraq, Obama has completely withdrawn from Iraq.
Over the years, Pentagon officials have been trying to strike a balance between what they believe is a necessary military presence to support the Iraqi government’s fight against the Islamic State and the political sensitivity to foreign military presence in Iraq.
In January 2020, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on the Assad Air Force Base in western Iraq, which most notably demonstrated the vulnerability of the US military. No Americans were killed, but dozens of people suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the explosion. The attack occurred shortly after a U.S. drone attack killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraq’s senior militia commander Abu Mahdi Mohandis at Baghdad International Airport.
___
Associated Press writer Samya Kullab contributed to this report.
© 2021 Canadian Press
