'At no point’ US discussed troop withdrawal from Iraq: State Dept
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US troops have maintained a military presence in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, a campaign launched under the pretext of disarming the country of weapons of mass destruction—claims that were later proven false.
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Al Asad air base in Iraq (AFP)
State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel stated on Wednesday that Washington has at no point discussed the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq during bilateral talks concerning the future of the US-Iraqi military partnership.
"We have held discussions with the Government of Iraq on the future of Operation Inherent Resolve since last year. This includes when Prime Minister [Mohammed Shia] al-Sudani met with President [Joe] Biden here in [Washington] DC in April, and at no point did we discuss the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq," Patel said during a press briefing.
US troops have maintained a military presence in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, a campaign launched under the pretext of disarming the country of weapons of mass destruction—claims that were later proven false.
This invasion marked the beginning of a long and controversial occupation that was primarily driven by ambitions to control Iraq's vast oil resources.
Repeated delays
Back in April, US President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reportedly agreed they would work to ensure the withdrawal of troops from the country amid regional tensions following "Israel's" war on Gaza.
The two leaders reportedly discussed the "natural evolution" of the coalition "in light of the significant progress that has been made in ten years" and that they would continue to look into issues like ISIS (Daesh), support for the Iraqi government, and boosting Iraqi security forces," as per a statement.
They affirmed "they would review these factors to determine when and how the mission of the International Coalition in Iraq would end," the statement added.
Read more: CENTCOM commander does not recommend US withdrawal from Iraq
On July 8, sources told Al Mayadeen that the US postponed the official announcement of the scheduled troop reduction in Iraq.
This decision was reportedly made after internal discussions and was influenced by the US prioritizing its troop withdrawal from Niger.
The announcement was initially expected that week, but the US chose to delay it before meeting with Iraqi officials under the Iraqi-US Bilateral Committee framework.
