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This was an announcement that Joe Biden made. Both Iraq and the US have decided that conditions on the ground indicate a good time to withdraw combat troops from Iraq. Service Members that remain in Iraq will perform supporting roles for the Iraqi Military.<\/p>\n
The Iraqi government is showing that it is willing to manage its security without foreign troop involvement. This has been an objective since the beginning of the Iraq War… An Iraq with a government chosen by its people able to manage its security and other affairs. They still face challenges; however, the Iraqi government is willing to address these challenges.<\/p>\n
From the Associated Press:<\/span><\/p>\n The Iraqi prime minister made clear before his trip to Washington that he believes it’s time for the U.S. to wind that mission down.<\/p>\n “There is no need for any foreign combat forces on Iraqi soil,” al-Kadhimi told The Associated Press last weekend.<\/p>\n The U.S. mission of training and advising Iraqi forces has its most recent origins in President Barack Obama’s decision in 2014 to send troops back to Iraq. The move was made in response to the Islamic State group’s takeover of large portions of western and northern Iraq and a collapse of Iraqi security forces that appeared to threaten Baghdad. Obama had fully withdrawn U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011, eight years after the U.S. invasion.<\/p>\n Pentagon officials for years have tried to balance what they see as a necessary military presence to support the Iraqi government’s fight against IS with domestic political sensitivities in Iraq to a foreign troop presence.<\/p>\n The vulnerability of U.S. troops was demonstrated most dramatically in January 2020 when Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on al-Asad air base in western Iraq. No Americans were killed, but dozens suffered traumatic brain injury from the blasts. That attack came shortly after a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian military commander Qassim Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at Baghdad International Airport.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Associated Press has more on this story<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"