Biden and Iraq’s Kadhimi to seal agreement on ending U.S. combat mission in Iraq

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July 26, 2021: U.S. President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Monday will seal an agreement formally ending the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021, more than 18 years after U.S. troops were sent to the country.

Coupled with Biden’s withdrawal of the last American forces in Afghanistan by the end of August, the Democratic president is completing U.S. combat missions in the two wars that then-President George W. Bush began under his watch.

Biden and Kadhimi will meet for the first face-to-face talks at the Oval Office as part of a strategic dialogue between the United States and Iraq. A senior Biden administration official said the meeting would be followed by a statement announcing the end of the US combat mission in Iraq.

There are currently 2,500 US troops in Iraq focusing on countering Islamic State remnants. The US role in Iraq will be focused on training the Iraqi army and advising on its own defense. It is unlikely that this change will have a major impact, as the United States is already moving to focus on training Iraqi forces.

The US-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003, accusing then-Saddam Hussein’s government of possessing weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was ousted, but such weapons were never found. In recent years, US missions have been dominated by helping to defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

“No one is announcing the completion of the mission. It is aimed at a lasting defeat for ISIS,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters ahead of Kadhimi’s visit.

The reference was to the “Mission Accomplished” banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, where Bush delivered a speech announcing major combat operations in Iraq on May 1, 2003. “If you look at where we were, where we had Apache helicopters to fight, when we had American special forces conducting regular operations, it’s a significant evolution. So by the end of the year we think we’re a good one,” the official said.

Earlier this month, US diplomats and soldiers in Iraq and Syria were hit by three rocket and drone strikes. Analysts believe the attacks are part of a campaign by Iranian-backed militias. The senior Biden administration official did not say how many US troops would be on the ground in Iraq for advice and training.

Kadhimi is considered a friend of the United States and has sought to check the strength of militias linked to Iran. But his government condemned US airstrikes against Iranian-linked militants along its border with Syria in late June, calling them a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

The Biden-Kadhimi statement between the two countries is expected to detail a number of non-military agreements on health, energy and other issues.

The United States plans to provide 500,000 doses of the Pfizer / Biotech Covid 19 vaccine as part of its global covax vaccine distribution program, a senior administration official said.

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