“NO NEED FOR ANY FOREIGN COMBAT FORCES ON IRAQI SOIL,” IRAQI PM AL-KADHIMI

Sun 25 July 2021:

Iraq’s prime minister al-Kadhimi has stated that his country no longer requires American combat forces to fight ISIL (ISIS), but the outcome of negotiations with US officials this week will determine a formal timeline for their redeployment.

The US troop presence has stood at about 2,500 since late last year when then-President Donald Trump ordered a reduction from 3,000.

Previously, former President Barrack Obama had withdrawn US forces from Iraq in 2011, creating a security vacuum that aided the rise of ISIL. US troops were redeployed in 2014.

In an interview with the Associated Press news agency, Mustafa al-Kadhimi remarked that Iraq will still ask for US training and military intelligence gathering, but will seek a timeline for the withdrawal of combat troops, which was announced in April amid ongoing talks between Washington and Baghdad.

“There is no need for any foreign combat forces on Iraqi soil,” he said in the interview published on Sunday before a planned trip to Washington, where he is slated to meet President Joe Biden on Monday for a fourth round of strategic talks.

“The war against IS [ISIL] and the readiness of our forces requires a special timetable, and this depends on the negotiations that we will conduct in Washington,” he added.

Meanwhile, the threat of an ISIL resurgence remains ever-present in Iraq, with al-Kadhimi careful to stress Baghdad is not seeking a full withdrawal.

“What we want from the US presence in Iraq is to support our forces in training and developing their efficiency and capabilities, and in security cooperation,” al-Kadhimi said.

“Iraq has a set of American weapons that need maintenance and training. We will ask the American side to continue to support our forces and develop our capabilities,” he said.

It remains unclear exactly how Washington and Baghdad are defining combat troops and how many troops would actually be redeployed under the plan.

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