Al Mayadeen Reporter: US, Iraq Agree That US Troops Should Leave
Al Mayadeen correspondent has reported that the agreement on the withdrawal of the US troops from Iraq included the replacement of the US combat forces by military advisors.
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US military forces to leave Iraq
On Monday, US officials announced that an agreement has been reached with Iraqi officials to end the US military combat mission in Iraq, according to Al Mayadeen reporter.
Our reporter added that “the change of the US military mission would shift the role to a strictly advisory and training capacity by year's end — with no US troops in a combat role.”
Moreover, according to a White House statement, US President Biden is meeting, Monday, with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi at the White House.
The strategic dialogue will address the “new phase” of the US military presence in Iraq, which entails the formal end of combat operations, according to Reuters.
However, Iraqi resistance factions rejected Washington's statements, which claimed that the US presence in Iraq is still required to confront "ISIS".
On his part, Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassem al-Araji has recently announced that the US has been informed that "Iraq does not need any foreign combat force" on its soil.
On Friday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hussein Fuad had stressed that his country's security forces are still in need of the training, armament, equipment, and capacity-building programs provided by the US.
For his part, the Secretary-General of “Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq” Qais al-Khazali said that the Iraqi Foreign Minister's statement about the need for US forces was "unfortunate", noting that "the statement is rejected and does not reflect the reality of the capabilities the Iraqi forces have attained."
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that top Iraqi and US officials plan to issue a statement calling on US combat troops to leave Iraq by year-end, but will also reaffirm the need for a US military presence to help Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS.
