U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq should be a step toward leaving the Middle East

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 5, 2020
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the Iraqi parliament voted 170-0 to expel U.S. forces from the country following the U.S. military strike that killed Iranian IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani. Defense Priorities Policy Director Benjamin H. Friedman issued the following statement in response:

“U.S. forces should have left Iraq and Syria following the defeat of ISIS’s caliphate. And the U.S. should have drawn down militarily from the Middle East long ago. Today’s vote in Iraq’s parliament shows Iraqis agree.

“Sooner or later, Iraqis need to solve their own problems. They know that, and most Americans agree. Rather than entangle U.S. forces in everyone else’s fights, Washington should minimize U.S. participation in avoidable global trouble.

“Leaving Iraq should be a step toward leaving the region. When U.S. forces leave Iraq, they should come home or offshore, not to Kuwait or another garrison in the region where they would remain vulnerable to retaliation.

“The relatively small number of U.S. forces in Iraq, let alone Syria, are too few to conduct the missions they are given—especially with the blowback Soleimani’s killing will cause—but enough to be a tripwire to war with Iran, as events over the past few weeks have demonstrated.”

Author

Benjamin
Friedman

Policy Director

Defense Priorities