During an expected meeting this week, America announces its expected decision regarding Iraq

During an expected meeting this week, America announces its expected decision regarding Iraq

2024-09-21 03:32

During an expected meeting this week America announces its expected decision regarding IraqShafaq News/ The American newspaper “Politico” reported that the United States is expected to announce this week an agreement with Baghdad regarding reducing the number of American soldiers in Iraq, a move that has been criticized by American representatives.

The report, which was translated by Shafaq News Agency, quoted American officials as saying: Negotiations regarding the plan, which Iraqi officials said would lead to the departure of 2,500 American troops from Iraq by the end of 2026, have reached their final stages.

But the report pointed out that American officials acknowledge that the battle against ISIS remnants in Iraq and Syria is not over yet.

The report quoted a senior US Department of Defense official as saying, “ISIS has certainly been defeated on the ground, and we want to ensure that its defeat will remain permanent, but the threat it poses still exists.”

According to the report, the announcement, expected to be issued after a meeting between US and Iraqi officials on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this week, is part of President Joe Biden’s team’s efforts to rectify long-term US commitments abroad before Biden leaves office next January.

In this context, the report said that the US administration has also made great efforts to put Ukraine on a solid foundation, paving the way for some kind of final negotiations with Russia on a peace plan, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to present his plan to Biden when they meet in Washington after the UN meetings.

However, the report said that the change in the status of US forces in Iraq caused some panic on Capitol Hill (Congress).

The report quoted Republican House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers as expressing frustration with what he heard from the Pentagon regarding the deal.

According to Rogers, “there appears to be no strategic military advantage to this anticipated decision,” adding that “withdrawing from Iraq in this manner would benefit and embolden Iran and ISIS, and I am deeply concerned about the implications such a decision could have on national security.”

The report stated that US and Iraqi special operations forces carried out several attacks on ISIS leadership in recent months after the group’s attacks on US and Iraqi forces escalated, noting that a US Department of Defense official said that special forces attacks would continue even as the US presence in Iraq changed in order to “weaken them, prevent them from conducting external operations, and disrupt their leadership, control, and leadership cadres,” adding that “this capability will continue.”

The report also recalled recent statements by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani that “justifications are no longer available” for a large American presence in Iraq, which “has moved from wars to stability, and ISIS does not represent a real challenge.”

The report also recalled the statements of Defense Minister Thabet Abbasi, who announced that the two countries had already reached an agreement to develop Operation Inherent Resolve and transform it into a smaller operation through a “sustainable security partnership.”

The report pointed out that ISIS no longer poses the threat it once did, but it is expected that the pace of attacks claimed by ISIS in Syria and Iraq will double this year compared to last year, as it claimed 153 attacks across Iraq and Syria during the first 6 months of 2024, compared to 121 attacks last year.

The report quoted a US Department of Defense official as saying that while the international coalition previously included about 80 countries when the terrorist group controlled large parts of western Iraq and eastern Syria, the recent negotiations focused on “transitioning from the coalition’s military mission to a permanent bilateral security partnership.”

According to the American official, “We have worked with the Iraqis, and more importantly, with all of our coalition partners, to determine when and what that partnership will look like.”

shafaq.com