President Biden Announces He is Ending Combat Mission in Iraq

By Nikki Slusher

The Biden Administration is making a shift in the US foreign policy in the Middle East. On Monday, President Joe Biden announced that he has agreed to end US combat missions in Iraq by the end of this year. Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi stood next to Pres. Biden in the Oval Office while he spoke to reporters.

“I think things are going well. Our role in Iraq will be … to be available to continue to train, to assist, to help, and to deal with ISIS — as it arrives. But we’re not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission,” Biden said. “We support strengthening Iraq’s democracy and we’re anxious to make sure the election goes forward in October.”

The Iraqi PM is currently engaged in a political battle with only a few months left until the election. The president continued, “And we’re also committed to our security cooperation, our shared fight against ISIS. It’s critical for the stability of the region and our counter-terrorism cooperation will continue, even as we shift to this new phase we’re going to be talking about.”
It was Biden’s decision to pull American troops from Afghanistan, however, his choice to end combat missions in the country comes after Iraq urged the US to do so. Currently, around 2,500 American troops are still in Iraq. Officials for both countries have not stated when they will be completely withdrawn. Both countries are expected to announce the new mission of the US transitioning into an advisory role by the end of 2021.

After Monday’s meeting, Pres. Biden stressed his support for a more diplomatic and humanitarian relationship between Iraq and the US by introducing a plan to give Iraq over 500,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

One former senior official spoke in support of Biden’s shift for the US foreign policy plan. “The goal is the enduring defeat of ISIS,” the official stated. “We recognize you have to keep pressure on these networks as they seek to reconstitute, but the role for US forces and coalition forces can very much recede, you know, deep into the background where we are training, advising, sharing intelligence, helping with logistics.”

Iraq asked for the US to cooperate with their request after the country is struggling to balance between anti-American factions, Iranian-backed militias, and the American military’s presence bringing stability to the nation. It’s been almost 20 years since American policy has shifted focus from the Middle East. Pres. Biden has made it clear he wants to begin concentrating on threats from China after one of the top diplomats for the US spent a week over tense talks between the two countries.

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