The State Department says recent talks with the Iraqi government are about transitioning to a 'bilateral security partnership'
The State Department on Wednesday said that at “no point” in recent talks with the Iraqi government has the US discussed the idea of withdrawing troops from Iraq.
The comments came in response to questions about reports saying that the US was planning to withdraw. Tasnim , an Iranian news agency, reported this week that the US and Iraq would announce plans for a withdrawal next month.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said that the talks with the Iraqi government had been focused on transitioning US involvement in Iraq from an international coalition to a “bilateral security partnership,” which would mean an open-ended US military presence.
“At no point did we discuss the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, but we continued to discuss the transition to a – what we would say a bilateral security partnership,” Patel said.
There are currently about 2,500 US troops in Iraq as part of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, known as Operation Inherent Resolve. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani began calling for the withdrawal of the coalition at the end of 2023 after the US began launching airstrikes against the PMF, a group of mainly Shia militias that are part of Iraq’s security forces. Al-Sudani has said that Iraqi troops could handle ISIS remnants without the foreign coalition.
🔗SOURCE ➡️ Antiwar.com
Related: 8/13 — Striking Iraq: How US–Israel Attacks Are ‘Unifying The Fronts’
Oregon National Guard Sends Off 230 Soldiers To Iraq And Syria
8/12 — US-proxies Shell Syrian Army As Tribal Revolt Continues
8/10 — US Troops Return To Oil-rich Kirkuk Despite Talks To Withdraw From Iraq
8/9 — US Kurdish Allies in Syria Set Free Hundreds of ISIS Fighters To Put the Terror Group Back Into Play in Iraq and Syria
8/2 — Iraq Boosts Security On Syrian Border After US Proxies Free Hundreds Of ISIS Fighters
4/13 — Iraqi PM Says ‘Timetable Set’ to End Presence of US-Led Coalition
3/24 — Islamic State Still a Threat in Iraq, US Ambassador Says [lol]
3/1 — Ex-ISIS chief Appointed as Commander of US-Backed Militia in Syria
2/8 — Iraq Threatens to Expel U.S. Troops After Strike in Baghdad
2/7 — Iraq Says 'No Contact' With US After Latest Attack
2/4 — ISIS Exploits US Strikes To Attack Iraqi Forces In Anbar
2/3 — Iraqi Government Accuses U.S. of Lying About Circumstances of Airstrikes, Violating International Law
1/22 — US Troops in Iraq Are a Tripwire for War With Iran
1/16 — US to Send 1,500 Troops to Syria and Iraq
1/10 — Iraq Wants ‘Orderly’ Withdrawal Of ‘Destabilizing’ US Troops: PM
1/9 — Washington Has 'No Plans' to Withdraw From Iraq
7/26/23 — The End of The PetroDollar, The Rise of BRICS is Here — TheMcgwire / PsyopDaily original
Syria, Iran, and Normalization of Ties Through the Middle East
...Following the point of normalization of relations in the region, Iran has been making strides in diplomacy with some of its neighbors in the Middle East, and the whole MESA region...
7/19/23 - US Issues New Sanctions Waiver Claiming to ‘Help’ Iraq Pay For Iranian Gas
…only to sanction 14 Iraqi banks the next day.
7/20/23 — US Bans 14 Iraqi Banks in Crackdown on Iran Dollar Trade
These sanctions on Iraqi banks plays into the same dynamic seen with the US targeting individual banks in Turkey and the UAE with sanctions, after the nation’s ignored the US’s threats I highlighted in my March 2022 series....
....The real question is why should the sovereign country of Iraq ... have to beg the US permission to conduct business with its neighbor that is in its own interest?
Somewhere in the answer to that question, is the prime reason for why BRICS is rising.
Iraqi Resistance Warns US Of 'Unrestrained Response' If Iran Attacked Via Iraq's Airspace
7/9 — US Delays Announcing Timetable for Iraq ‘Withdrawal’
Follow us on Minds / X / Substack
Boost This Channel
Follow ➡️ @PsyopDaily