Talks to end the coalition’s presence in Iraq may not end until after the US elections!
Talks to end the coalition’s presence in Iraq may not end until after the US elections!
2024-03-12
An Iraqi government official told Reuters that talks with the United States about ending the presence of the military coalition in the country may not end until after the US presidential elections in November.
Last January, Baghdad and Washington began talks to re-evaluate the presence of the US-led coalition in Iraq, which was formed in 2014 to help fight ISIS after the extremist organization invaded large parts of the country.
The decision came after US forces and armed groups launched mutual attacks amid a regional conflict linked to the Israeli war in Gaza.
These attacks stopped more than a month ago to allow room for negotiations.
Politicians view technical talks through a joint military committee as a way to buy time amid different views on how the military relationship between the two countries will develop.
While Washington says the coalition’s mission needs to be reevaluated in light of the defeat of ISIS in Iraq in 2017, it does not see the talks necessarily entailing the withdrawal of American military advisers from the country.
It is worth noting that the United States returned to Iraq in 2014 at the head of an international coalition to fight ISIS, where there are currently about 2,500 American soldiers in Iraq and 900 soldiers in Syria on the mission of providing advice and assistance.
burathanews.com
