SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
US agrees to move 'remaining combat troops' from Iraq
Washington, April 7 (AFP) Apr 07, 2021
The United States agreed in talks Wednesday with Iraq to remove all remaining combat forces deployed to fight Islamic State extremists, although US forces will still provide training.

After a first "strategic dialogue" under President Joe Biden's administration, the two nations said that the Iraqi military had made substantial improvements.

"The parties confirmed that the mission of US and Coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq, with the timing to be established in upcoming technical talks," said a joint statement after the virtual strategic dialogue.

The moves comes amid near daily rocket fire on US forces attributed to Shiite paramilitary groups linked to Iran, which led Biden to order airstrikes on affiliated camps in Syria.

But Biden, in a rare point of agreement with his predecessor Donald Trump, has been looking for ways to wind down what have come to be dubbed "endless wars."

Trump had ordered a drawdown in his final months from Iraq as well as Afghanistan with the number of US troops in each country dipping to 2,500 by January 15.

Former president Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president, had removed all US forces from Iraq but sent troops back in faced with the brutal onslaught of the Islamic State extremist group.

"The transition of US and other international forces away from combat operations to training, equipping and assisting the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) reflects the success of their strategic partnership and ensures support to the ISF's continued efforts to ensure ISIS can never again threaten Iraq's stability," the joint statement said.

Iraq in the statement pledged to protect bases with US-led forces, who Washington said were present "solely in support of Iraq's effort in the fight against ISIS."


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Maven stays silent after routine pass behind Mars
Sun boundary map tracks shifting Alfven surface over solar cycle
Mission Space to fly second space weather payload with Rogue Space

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Molecular contacts push tandem solar cells to 31.4 percent efficiency
Asymmetric side chain design boosts thick film organic solar cell efficiency
New analysis links lead cooled reactor corrosion to steel microstructure

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus

24/7 News Coverage
UAlbany Atmospheric Scientist Proposes Innovative Method to Reduce Aviation's Climate Impact
Digital twin successfully launched and deployed into space
Robots that spare warehouse workers the heavy lifting



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.