US authorities deal little clearness on future of two-decade UnitedStates military existence in Iraq amidst ‘transition’.
Published On 27 Sep 2024
The United States and Iraq have stated that a US-led union in the nation to battle ISIL (ISIS) will wind down by the end of 2025, however they left the door open to a lengthened military existence.
The joint statement on Friday did not define what the future of UnitedStates soldiers in Iraq will be, with authorities worrying that the relocation represents more of a “transition” than a “withdrawal”.
A senior main from US Pcitizen Joe Biden’s administration who informed pressreporters stated the wind-down would include 2 stages.
The veryfirst stage – anticipated to end in September 2025 – will consistof “ending the existence of union forces in specific places in Iraq as equally figuredout”, the authorities stated.
The 2nd stage would see the UnitedStates continue to run in Iraq in some capability “at least through” 2026 to assistance continuous anti-ISIS union efforts in Syria.
US-Iraq defence ties would then shift away from the union to “an broadened US-Iraqi bilateral security relationship”, the authorities stated. They decreased to state whether that shift would signal a complete withdrawal of UnitedStates soldiers.
“We’re not in a position right now to start to either hypothesize or talkabout precisely where w