January 16, 2024
The Lingering Question of American Troops in Iraq
The fate of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Iraq was first questioned in March 2018, just three months after former Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi announced that ISIS was territorially defeated. At the time, the Iraqi parliament voted to request a timeline from the prime minister outlining a scheduled withdrawal of the foreign troops making up the Coalition. Elections were scheduled for May 2018 and the issue of foreign troops, particularly Americans, was largely politicized and used for electoral campaigning. Abadi shrugged the issue off, claiming Iraqi forces still required the training and assistance of allies to counter lingering threats from ISIS.
There are cautionary tales from the recent past of rushing the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.
The issue of foreign troops in Iraq grew more complicated as they became a target of paramilitary drone and rocket attacks. Although they had once fought the same enemy, certain armed groups turned their attention to the United States’ presence in Iraq. These attacks were largely performative and rarely resulted in casualties, but they did violate Iraqi sovereignty by defying and embarrassing the Iraqi government by attacking a foreign entity that was present at the invitation of the government. They also provoked responses from the United States which also infringed on Iraqi sovereignty. The back-and-forth in attacks reached a climax when the United States killed IRGC commander Qassim Soleimani and deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis on Baghdad Airport Road on January 3, 2020.
Read the full article from 1001 Iraqi Thoughts.
More from CNAS
-
Donald Trump’s Gaza Plan Skips Step One
The White House proposal attempts to solve too many distinct issues all at once, without enough input from Palestinians....
By Delaney Soliday
-
Analyzing Trump’s 20-Point Peace Plan for Israel and Gaza
President Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are urging Hamas to accept the latest U.S. peace plan to end the war in Gaza. Trump says if Hamas rejects the 20...
By Rachel Brandenburg
-
Fourth Time’s a Charm? How Trump Could Push Netanyahu into Ending the Gaza War
Trump's new Gaza plan has a weak point: It clashes with Netanyahu's promises to his voters....
By Rachel Brandenburg
-
Israel’s Strike in Qatar: A “Big Red Line Has Been Crossed”
Donald Trump says he's "not thrilled" by Israel's unprecedented strike against Hamas in the Gulf state of Qatar – a key American ally. He adds it was the lone decision of Isra...
By Adham Sahloul