WASHINGTON (AP) The United States announced on Friday that it had reached an agreement with the Iraqi government to conclude in 2025 the mission in Iraq of a coalition led by Washington that fights the Islamic State group, by which US forces will abandon some bases that they have occupied. during a two-decade military presence in the country.
But President Joe Biden’s administration declined to provide details on how many of the roughly 2,500 U.S. troops still stationed in Iraq will remain there or to acknowledge that this will mark a full withdrawal from the country.
“I think it’s fair to say that our footprint is going to change within the country,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Friday, without giving details.
The announcement comes at a particularly conflictive time in the Middle East, where the escalation of the confrontation between Israel and two militia groups backed by Iran Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hams in Gaza threatens to unleash a broader regional war. Bases housing U.S. forces and contractors have been regularly attacked by Iranian-backed militias in recent years, and those incidents escalated late last year and in 2024 after war between Israel and Hamas broke out nearly a year ago. year
For years, Iraqi authorities have periodically called for the withdrawal of coalition forces, and formal talks have been underway for months to reduce the US presence in the country.
The United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, in what it called a massive shock-and-awe bombing campaign that leveled large swaths of the country and paved the way for American infantry to converge on Baghdad. The invasion was based on what turned out to be false allegations that Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein had hidden weapons of mass destruction. These weapons were never found.
“We have taken an important step toward resolving the issue of the international coalition to combat ISIS,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed al-Sudani said in a speech this month, referring to the Islamic State group by its English acronym. He noted the government’s conviction in the capabilities of our security forces that defeated the remnants of ISIS.
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