US outlines plan to withdraw troops from Iraq

US soldiers (Illustration photo: TASS).

According to a joint statement released by the US State Department on September 27, Washington will end its international mission in Iraq in the next year.

The decision comes amid escalating tensions in the Middle East as the Israel-Hezbollah war threatens to expand the conflict in Gaza.

The US-Iraq defense relationship will then transition from an alliance to a broader bilateral security relationship, a phase that will take place over the next 12 months, ending no later than September 2025.

However, the statement added that coalition forces would remain in oil-rich areas of Syria until at least September 2026 to “prevent the return of the ISIS terrorist threat”.

A committee will develop the necessary mechanisms to facilitate the transition and "provide physical security for coalition advisers present in Iraq," the statement said.

The Pentagon stressed that although the mission has changed, it does not mean the US will completely withdraw its troops.

Baghdad has been formally negotiating a US troop withdrawal for at least nine months, while Iraqi officials have been making similar calls for years.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani told Bloomberg TV last week that Iraq no longer needed US troops on its soil. “Iraq in 2024 is not the Iraq of 2014. We have come out of conflict and are gradually stabilizing,” he said.

Bloomberg said the US’s hesitation to withdraw may be linked to fears of consequences similar to the withdrawal from Afghanistan. In recent months, the US military has suffered rocket attacks on its bases in Iraq and Syria amid rising tensions over Israel’s campaign in Gaza.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/my-phac-thao-ke-hoach-rut-quan-khoi-iraq-20240928135010660.htm