US, Iraq ‘agree on American combat troops withdrawal’

The United States and Iraq announce in a joint statement that they have agreed on the withdrawal of “all” American combat troops from the Arab country’s soil, with Washington attributing the prospect to sufficiency of the Iraqi military’s combat capability.

The agreement was arrived at following the first-ever “strategic dialogue” to take place between the two sides under US President Joe Biden, AFP reported, citing the statement.

The US had taken all of the forces out of Iraq under former president Barrack Obama. The same American commander-in-chief, however, flooded the country with military forces again in 2014 as part of a Washington-led coalition under the pretext of battling the Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh.

The terror outfit had emerged amid the chaos and sectarian violence that had resulted from the 2003-then US-led military intervention.

Obama’s successor and Biden predecessor Donald Trump took down the number of the forces to 2,500 by January 15. Many, however, downplayed the drawdown as a gesture aimed at boosting Trump’s re-election chances that he would very likely reverse if he was chosen president again.

The US would retain a training mission in Iraq, the statement added. “The parties confirmed that the mission of US and Coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq,” it read.

The statement alleged that the Iraqi forces had now outgrown American assistance due to the “success” of Washington and Baghdad’s “strategic partnership.”

Wednesday’s statement, however, came after constant pressure from many Iraqi factions, influential personalities, and the general public on the country to follow up a law passed by the parliament early last year that had ordered withdrawal of all US-led forces.