Biden announces end of the combat mission in Iraq as he shifts US foreign policy focus

Biden announces end of the combat mission in Iraq as he shifts US foreign policy focus

President Joe Biden said on Monday that the US combat operation in Iraq will be formally ended by the end of the year, marking another step toward ending the two lengthy military deployments that began in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The US role in Iraq will alter, Biden told reporters in the Oval Office with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

"Things appear to be going nicely. Our job in Iraq will be to be available to continue to teach, support, and deal with ISIS when it emerges. But, by the end of the year, we won't be on a combat mission "Later, the President stated.

"We support improving Iraq's democracy, and we're eager to see the election take place in October," Biden said beside Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We're also committed to security cooperation and fighting ISIS together. It's essential for regional security, and our counter-terrorism cooperation will continue, even as we transition to the next phase we'll be discussing."

The end of the combat operation comes at Iraq's request, unlike Biden's decision to remove all American soldiers from Afghanistan. The country is stuck in the middle of a balancing act between anti-American groups, Iranian-backed militias, and the stabilizing presence of the United States.

It will also not lead to the evacuation of US forces from the nation, like in Afghanistan. Officials declined to indicate how the number of US soldiers in Iraq will alter following Monday's announcement. There are presently 2,500 US troops in Iraq. By the end of the year, the US and Iraq are anticipated to announce that the US mission will fully transition to an advising function, implying that some of the present changes will just be on paper.

Nonetheless, Biden's efforts to reorient American foreign policy away from judgments taken almost two decades ago are best illustrated by these two actions. Instead, he wants to concentrate on the risks posed by China, where a senior American ambassador visited this week for a heated round of talks.

The United States and its coalition partners originally attacked Iraq in 2003, claiming that Saddam Hussein's regime had produced weapons of mass destruction. Weapons were never discovered. As a senator, Biden voted to authorize military action against Iraq, and he even signed the resolution with then-President George W. Bush in the White House East Room. Later, he chastised the Bush administration's handling of the war.

In 2011, then-President Barack Obama announced a military pullout from the nation. They returned in 2014 to assist in the fight against Islamic State militants. As vice president, Biden was mainly responsible for the Iraq portfolio, going to the nation numerous times and dealing with the country's various political groups.

Prior to his death from brain cancer in 2015, his own son Beau served as a reservist in the nation. Biden has stated that he believes his son's illness was caused by exposure to chemicals created by military trash burn pieces.

On Thursday and Friday, their administrations had technical meetings as part of the strategic conversation between the two nations, ahead of the first meeting between the two presidents. Biden will emphasize continuing diplomatic and humanitarian support for Iraq at Monday's summit, including a proposal to supply the country with 500,000 doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine.

The shift away from fighting isn't a significant change for the US presence in the region, which already spends a significant amount of time training and aiding the Iraqi military.

Iranian drone strikes have targeted US forces in Iraq in recent months, sparking back-and-forth retaliation. When then-President Donald Trump authorized an attack that killed Iran's top commander, Qasem Soleimani, on a visit to a Baghdad airport, tensions skyrocketed.

The symbolic move away from Iraq, although not a major reduction in military strength, is nonetheless crucial for the President. In justifying his decision to leave Afghanistan, Biden has stated repeatedly that it is time to focus on challenges that exist now rather than those that were 20 years ago.

The 18-year US presence in Iraq has yielded mixed results, similar to Afghanistan.

"Nobody is going to declare mission accomplished,'" a senior administration source said, referring to the massive banner unfurled behind Bush on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier when he began combat operations in Iraq three months after US forces first arrived.

"The long-term defeat of ISIS is the aim," the official stated. "We acknowledge the need to maintain pressure on these networks as they attempt to reassemble, but the role of US and coalition troops can be relegated to the background, where we train, advise, share intelligence, and assist with logistics."