Withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq, don’t continue train, advise mission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 22, 2021
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. and Iraq will issue a statement supporting a withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of the year. Defense Priorities Policy Director Benjamin H. Friedman issued the following statement in response:

“The withdrawal of all U.S. combat troops from Iraq could be a significant step towards full withdrawal and an acknowledgment that there is no sound U.S. security rationale for staying. On the other hand, since it is unclear what portion of the 2,500 troops in Iraq are classified as ‘combat troops,’ the import of this announcement is unclear. It could result in few, if any, U.S. troops leaving by 2022.

“The trouble with the U.S. mission is not that there are still combat troops there, but that there are still troops there, taking rocket fire and risking wider war with Iraqi militias and their Iranian backers for no good reason. The counter-ISIS mission in Iraq was achieved by the U.S. and its Iraqi partners more than three years ago, when ISIS lost its last territorial holdings in the country. ISIS is degraded to a point where local actors, including the Iraqi government and the Kurdish peshmerga, can manage the threat.”

Author

Benjamin
Friedman

Policy Director

Defense Priorities