Iraqi defense chief in Washington for talks on security

News Desk - The Cradle 

Hundreds of US troops remain in Iraq on an 'advisory role' despite a 2020 resolution by the Iraqi parliament demanding their immediate exit

Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet Mohammed al-Abbasi boards military cargo plane during domestic flight in June (Photo Credit: Iraqi Ministry of Defense)

Iraqi Defense Minister Thabet al-Abbasi met with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Washington, DC, on 8 August, during the inaugural US-Iraq Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue (JSCD) meeting. 

“Secretary Austin reaffirmed the US-Iraq strategic partnership and underscored US commitment to a secure, stable, and sovereign Iraq,” the US Department of Defense said. 

Austin “praised the tremendous progress made by the Iraqi Security Forces in the campaign to achieve the enduring defeat of ISIS and underscored his view that the terrorist group remains a threat. Secretary Austin affirmed the United States' commitment to continue training, advising, assisting, and sharing intelligence with the Iraqi Security Forces at the invitation of the Iraqi government,” the statement added.

Brigadier General Yahya Rasoul, spokesperson for the Iraqi Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, stated in a press release that “the delegation will engage in several meetings discussing a range of topics, foremost among them the future relationship of the international coalition’s presence and the bilateral security cooperation between Iraq and the US.”

The visit also entails “a series of meetings with officials at the US Department of Defense to further the mutual interests between the two countries.”

“There are agreements between Baghdad and Washington, particularly the Strategic Framework Agreement between Iraq and the US, which pertains to training, consultation, capability development, and maintenance, particularly regarding (F-16) aircraft,” security expert Sarmad al-Bayati told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Bayati pointed out that “there are requests for certain weapons that could be of interest to Iraq and requested from the US, in addition to the importance of consultation and training matters.”

He emphasized that “there is a need to review many agreements signed between the two sides.”

US forces entered Iraq in 2003 during their illegal invasion and occupation of the country in 2003. US forces left the country in 2011 after the White House failed to reach a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the Iraqi government giving US forces immunity from prosecution by Iraqi courts.

However, US troops returned in 2014 after ISIS captured large swathes of northwest Iraq, including the country’s second-largest city, Mosul. ISIS had largely been defeated in Iraq in 2011 but gained strength in neighboring Syria during the war to topple the Syrian government, which began that year. 

ISIS enjoyed support from close US allies Saudi Arabia and Turkiye as it returned to Iraq in 2014.

ISIS was defeated in Iraq in 2017 by the Iraqi security forces, with help from both Iran and the US. However, ISIS continues sporadic guerilla-style attacks in the Iraqi countryside. 

US forces ended their combat mission in Iraq in 2021 but remain in the country to train Iraqi security forces, including Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).

In January 2020, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution demanding the exit of US forces from the country following the US assassination of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. 

US officials rejected the exit demand, and PMU leaders have issued repeated warnings since then, including in recent months, for US forces to depart the country.