The U.S. military has troops still in Iraq to aid in the efforts to ensure ISIS doesn’t regrow. However, the two sides will begin planned discussions about the partnership’s future.
U.S. and Iraqi defense officials committed to forming a higher military commission last August, which is a consultative mechanism that is designed to “evaluate the future” of the U.S. military’s mission in Iraq, according to a Pentagon readout of the inaugural U.S.-Iraq Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue on Aug. 8, 2023.
The two sides are expected to begin these talks soon, according to CNN.
“The HMC will be an opportunity to jointly evaluate the conditions required for the future of the D-ISIS fight in Iraq and shape the nature of the bilateral security relationship,” an anonymous official told the outlet. “We have been discussing this for months. The timing is not related to recent attacks. The US will maintain full right of self-defense during the talks.”
These conversations will take place amid a tense time in Iraq as Iranian-supported militias have carried out more than 150 attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since mid-October. The United States has responded infrequently to these attacks but has conducted airstrikes in both Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. military’s most recent strikes in Iraq took place early Wednesday morning locally and targeted three facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups. U.S. officials said the strikes were in response to recent attacks they carried out, including one earlier this week targeting the U.S. Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq that injured four U.S. service members. The injured troops suffered head injuries in the attack, though all of them have since returned to duty, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Tuesday.
U.S. military officials have maintained that they will not be deterred from taking action to protect U.S. troops and facilities, while the strikes, including one that targeted a militia leader in Baghdad earlier this month, have also angered some Iraqi officials.
The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani said on Jan. 10 that it would begin the process “to end the presence of the international coalition forces in Iraq permanently.”
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Ryder, however, reiterated on Tuesday that he’s “not aware of any official notifications to the department” regarding ending the U.S. military presence in Iraq, and he added, “We’ve had regular and ongoing discussions with our Iraqi partners on the topic of U.S. forces in Iraq and their safety and security. And so, those conversations, of course, will continue.”
The strikes against U.S. forces began shortly after Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel, the largest in the country’s history, which ignited Israel’s war against the Gaza-based terrorist group and has resulted so far in the decimation of Gaza.
