US troops to stay in Iraq after combat mission ends
The International Coalition against Daesh in Iraq, founded and led by the United States, has officially ended its combat missions against Daesh. Thus, last Thursday, after a meeting between senior Iraqi military officials and coalition leaders, Iraq's National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji announced on his Twitter account "the end of the coalition forces' combat missions and their withdrawal from Iraq".
However, according to al-Araji's publication, "the relationship with the international coalition will continue in the field of training, advising and empowerment". This was also confirmed by Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command in the Middle East, in an interview with the Associated Press, in which he said that Washington would keep 2,500 troops in the country. "Despite the transformation of the role of US forces in Iraq to a non-combat role, they will continue to provide air support and other military assistance in Iraq's fight against Daesh."
"We've pulled out of bases we didn't need, we've made it harder to reach us. But the Iraqis still want us there. They still want the presence, they still want the engagement," General McKenzie maintained. "So, as long as they want it and we can mutually agree to it, we're going to be there."
This is in keeping with what US President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi agreed at the White House last July: the US combat effort in Iraq would end by 31 December. Now, weeks before the deadline, only the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) will be tasked with ensuring the protection of international troops and confronting ISIS. "This change sets the Iraqi forces up for success, as it happened ahead of schedule," said Lieutenant General Abdul Amir al-Shammari, deputy commander of Iraq's joint operations command, on Thursday's decision. However, the lieutenant general added, "our soldiers have demonstrated their ability to sustain the defeat of ISIS, and we look to the future with hope".
However, the move comes amid a new wave of aggression and violence by pro-Iranian factions. In the words of Kenneth F. McKenzie, these armed groups "want all US forces to leave Iraq. But we will not leave, and this may provoke a response as we approach the end of the month."
Although relations between Tehran and Washington have worsened markedly in recent years, they have never been entirely favourable. Beginning in January 2020, when US forces in Baghdad attacked the vehicle in which Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani was travelling, killing him, tensions between the two powers soared. In response, just a few days later, Iran launched several missiles at the Al-Asad airbase, where part of the US forces were located on Iraqi territory.
Since then, relations have not improved, and General McKenzie says that, to this day, "Iran is still pursuing the expulsion (of US troops) from the Middle East, and sees Iraq as the main battleground for that". Thus, Iraqi Shiite groups sympathetic to the Iranian regime, totally opposed to the presence of US and international coalition soldiers, have increased their attacks on military headquarters and convoys since the beginning of 2020.
Similarly, when asked about the attack on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi by armed groups, McKenzie said that these events were "a sign of the desperation in which (Iranian-backed proxy groups) now live".
