Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi said that his country no longer needs the presence of the US military on its territory, since the security services and the Iraqi army are able to defend the republic without the support of the US-led coalition.

He said this in an interview with the Associated Press.

“There is no need for the presence of foreign military forces on Iraqi soil,” al-Kazimi said.

According to the prime minister, the dates and timing of the US withdrawal will depend on progress in talks with the Biden administration over the coming week.

“The war against IS and the readiness of our troops requires a special schedule, so the date depends on the negotiations that we will hold in Washington,” the Iraqi prime minister added.

At the same time, he noted that Baghdad will still turn to Washington for help in training the military and collecting intelligence.

“We expect from the US presence in Iraq to support our forces in training and strengthening effectiveness and capabilities, as well as security cooperation,” al-Kazimi said.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal, citing sources in the Biden administration, reported that the White House and the Iraqi authorities are working on a joint statement on the withdrawal of American troops from the country by the end of 2021.

The material quoted the words of Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, who expressed a position similar to that of the Prime Minister.

“We don't need more fighters, because we have them.

What we need?

We need intelligence cooperation.

We need help with combat training.

We need the military for air support, ”the newspaper quoted the Iraqi diplomat as saying.

"Now we're leaving"

We will remind, on January 5, 2020, the Iraqi parliament by a majority vote adopted a resolution that called on the government to end any foreign military presence in the country, as well as to cancel the agreement on assistance to the international coalition led by the United States.

The adopted resolution was a response to the American special operation, as a result of which on the night of January 3, an Iranian general, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qasem Soleimani and the deputy head of the Iraqi Shiite militia Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in the area of ​​Baghdad international airport.

In response to the US special operation, Iran launched missile strikes on American bases in Iraq.

After that, the United States and its allies handed over to the Iraqi military a number of bases and facilities where the American military was stationed.

These included air bases and the headquarters of the coalition's military advisers.

  • US military in Iraq

  • © REUTERS / Azad Lashkari

In August 2020, following a meeting with Mustafa al-Kazim, then-President Donald Trump announced that the armed forces of the United States and the international coalition supporting them would be withdrawn from Iraq within three years.

“We were there and now we are leaving.

We will withdraw our troops shortly and relations remain very good.

We are concluding very large oil deals.

Our oil companies are making colossal deals ... Soon we will withdraw our troops and hope to leave a country that can defend itself on its own, ”Trump said at the time.

At the end of April 2021, US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tuller said that the United States is not currently conducting any military operations in Iraq, but is limited only to supporting the Iraqi security forces from the air and providing them with intelligence, so Washington does not plan to increase the number of its military contingent. in the country.

It is worth noting that, until recently, US officials have sent only mixed signals about the future of the American contingent in Iraq.

For example, in April, the head of the US Central Command, General Frank Mackenzie, told the Military Times that the Pentagon was not going to withdraw the last 2,500 troops from the country.

According to him, Operation Unwavering Determination in the fight against IS terrorists is not over yet.

“We will be there, our NATO partners will be there to end the fight against ISIS.

And we will stay in Iraq, ”the publication quotes the words of the military leader.

Mackenzie expressed confidence that "there is still a lot of work to be done in Iraq with regard to the ISIS present there."

Destabilization potential 

Recall that the United States and its allies invaded Iraq in 2003 with the aim of overthrowing Saddam Hussein's regime under the pretext that Baghdad allegedly possesses weapons of mass destruction.

This invasion and overthrow of the Hussein government destabilized Iraq and led to the emergence of various militias that fought among themselves and with American forces.

The deteriorating situation prompted the administration of President George W. Bush to significantly increase the US military presence in Iraq.

According to the Pentagon, as of June 1, 2008, there were more than 182,000 American troops in the country.

In 2008, the authorities in Iraq and the United States agreed to reduce the American military presence in the country.

The withdrawal of US troops was completed in 2011.

  • US invasion of Iraq, 2003

  • © REUTERS / Goran Tomasevic

However, already in 2014, the US Army, with the support of an international coalition, returned to Iraq to fight Islamic State terrorists as part of Operation Unwavering Determination.

As of 2021, there were about 2.5 thousand American troops in the country.

Now Washington wants to cut costs that have become unnecessary, in his opinion, in order to redistribute the released funds, said Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Biden's strategy is to rid the United States of the heaviest baggage that has arisen due to military-political alliances and the spread of the contingent around the world.

Given that the presence of armed forces abroad imposes certain obligations on the United States, and also involves financial costs, the White House is trying to free up all the resources involved, if possible, in order to concentrate them against Russia and China, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that by its actions the United States is destabilizing the situation in the republic, as has already happened in Afghanistan, the political scientist added.

Recall that the hasty withdrawal of the American military from Afghanistan led to a large-scale counteroffensive by the Taliban fighters ** and an increase in tensions on the Afghan-Tajik border.

“However, the White House will not suffer from remorse over this.

Considering that the United States is far from the Middle East and the consequences of this decision will not affect them, Washington can afford such experiments, in particular, to introduce and then withdraw American troops whenever it pleases, ”said Konstantin Blokhin.

Head of the Department of Political Science and Sociology of the PRUE

G.V.

Plekhanov's Andrei Koshkin also believes that the United States wants to reorient its forces and the forces of its allies.

“The US needs to free its forces and NATO forces, and pull them into the Asia-Pacific region.

To do this, it is necessary to revise the map of the presence of American troops in the regions of the planet that have become unpromising.

Therefore, Joe Biden decided to complete the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Now Iraq is next in line, ”the expert explained in an interview with RT.

Andrei Koshkin agrees with the opinion of Konstantin Blokhin that after the Americans leave Iraq, the situation in this country may begin to develop according to a scenario similar to the Afghani scenario.

“Destabilization always arises when forces that restrain a multi-vector conflict leave the region.

The same will happen with Iraq when the US military is withdrawn.

Moreover, this may affect not only Iraq itself, but also the surrounding countries of the region, ”the political scientist concluded.

* "Islamic State" (IS, ISIS) - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.

** "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated 02.14.2003.