Al-Alousi: Iraq is strategically exposed after the American withdrawal.
Al-Alousi: Iraq is strategically exposed after the American withdrawal.
2026-01-23 09:12
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Prominent Iraqi politician Mithal Al-Alusi warned on Friday that the withdrawal of US forces from military bases has left Iraq “strategically exposed,” stressing that the US decision reflects a lack of regard for Baghdad as a friend or ally, and places a great responsibility on the Iraqi government to protect its sovereignty.
Al-Alousi told Shafaq News Agency that “the American withdrawal has reduced Washington’s responsibility towards defending Iraqi sovereignty, and means that Baghdad needs to deal with American warnings and demands very seriously.”
He added that “Washington sees Baghdad as closer to Tehran and the axis of terrorism than to an independent and sovereign state, and this situation requires the government to accelerate the strengthening of its relations with the free world and the American administration, in light of the military instability in the region.”
Al-Alusi’s warnings come amid security and political developments in the region, especially after the Syrian government took control of areas that were under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), including prisons that hold thousands of ISIS fighters and a large number of their families, in areas close to the Iraqi border, such as Al-Hol camp and the prisons of Ghweiran, Hasakah and Qamishli.
Security experts have confirmed in previous reports to Shafaq News that this development complicates the security situation on the Iraqi-Syrian border, which extends for about 618 kilometers, especially in the governorates of Nineveh and Anbar.
Analysts also assert that the Syrian prisons file represents a “ticking time bomb” threatening Iraq’s internal security, especially with the presence of about 12,000 foreign fighters in Ghweiran prisons alone, including two thousand prominent military leaders, along with thousands of their families in the surrounding camps, making any potential chaos in Syria a direct threat to the Iraqi interior.
The US Central Command announced on Wednesday that its forces had transferred 150 ISIS detainees from a detention facility in Syria’s Hasakah province to Iraq, citing concerns that none of the detainees might escape.
A US official predicted that his country’s military would complete the transfer of up to 7,000 ISIS detainees from prisons in Syria to Iraq in the coming days, while Reuters quoted the official as saying that hundreds would be transferred across the border daily.
Nevertheless, Iraqi authorities assert that the border is almost completely secured, through the construction of a concrete wall covering about 80% of the border strip, in addition to trenches, barbed wire, thermal cameras, reconnaissance aircraft, and three military defense lines, in coordination with the Kurdistan Region Guard forces, and the deployment of border guards and armored forces.
Analysts warn that strengthening security and intelligence coordination with neighboring countries, monitoring the prison system, and sending additional reinforcements to the border strip have become essential to ensure the protection of internal security and Iraqi sovereignty, especially after the withdrawal of US forces, which leaves Iraq more strategically vulnerable.
shafaq.com
