Acknowledge the U.S. military mission in Iraq is over

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 15, 2021
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org

WASHINGTON, DC—This morning, U.S. officials denied the accuracy of a report that the U.S. will withdraw combat troops from Iraq. Defense Priorities Fellow Daniel DePetris issued the following statement in response:

“Though the reporting was swiftly denied by U.S. officials, a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would be encouraging and overdue. The U.S. long ago accomplished its military objective: eliminating ISIS’s territorial caliphate. Rather than acknowledge success, U.S. forces have spent the last three years in Iraq for murky and evolving reasons, while taking near-weekly fire from Shia militias backed by Iran—some of which resulted in U.S. casualties. There is no justifying rationale to expose U.S. forces to such unnecessary risks. Withdrawal from Iraq and Syria is the sensible course.”