President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States combat operation in Iraq would cease by the end of the year, a statement that reflects the realities on the ground rather than a significant change in U.S. strategy.
US President Joe Biden shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC
Meeting Between Pres. Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi
In a recently published article in The Wall Street Journal, Biden said, at the outset of a White House meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday, that the U.S. would not be in a combat mission by the end of the year. However, Biden said that the U.S. armed troops will "continue to teach, support, help, and deal with ISIS."
Mr. Kadhimi's statement is meant to deflect criticism from hard-line Shiite lawmakers at home, who have demanded that the roughly 2,500-strong American unit leave Iraq. Officials from the United States, on the other hand, claim that it will not result in a substantial decrease in the number of American soldiers in the nation or fundamentally change their purpose.
For years, the U.S. soldiers have served as support forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria, the birthplace of the Islamic State, which surged over the border in 2014 and seized significant swathes of Iraqi territory, leading the U.S. to deploy troops back to Iraq that year, according to a published article in Associated Press.
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The Shift of the U.S. Military Role in Iraq
The American mission has traditionally been focused on advising and training Iraqi soldiers, which takes place mostly inside the boundaries of major facilities. The Iraqi military has received air assistance from the United States in its battle against Islamic State terrorist cells, and Iraqi authorities have indicated that this will continue.
Moreover, following Biden's White House meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday afternoon, the plan to shift the American military mission to a strict advisory and training mission by the end of the year with no U.S. troops in a combat role will be spelled out in a broader communique to be issued by the US and Iraq, according to a published report in the U.S. News.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said, "We don't need any more fighters because we have those. What do we need? We need cooperation in the field of intelligence. We need help with training. We need troops to help us in the air," MSN News reports.
Biden Remains Committed To a Partnership With Iraq
During an Oval Office meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Biden told reporters that his government is still committed to a partnership with Iraq. Iranian-backed Iraqi militia organizations have made the situation more complex. The militias want all American soldiers out of Iraq immediately and have assaulted facilities that hold American troops on many occasions.
Despite this, the U.S. military will continue to help Iraq in its battle against the Islamic State or ISIS, according to Biden. The security partnership between the U.S. and Iraq will be centered on training, advising, and information sharing, according to a joint statement.
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