US President Joe Biden has announced that US-Iraq relations will enter a new phase in which US forces will suspend operations at the end of this year.
Even before President Biden came to power, the main goal of the United States was to help the Iraqi army, not to wage war on their behalf but to build the country's military capacity. And at this point, Biden also did not immediately announce a reduction in the number of troops in Iraq to 2500, one year after his predecessor Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of 3,000 troops in a bid to launch such an initiative.
But Biden is also making the announcement after his decision to withdraw the US military from Afghanistan, after the United States launched a counter-terrorism attack on the September 11,2001 terrorist attacks in New York.
The Iraq-Afghanistan war is a heavy burden on the US military.
Together the war in Afghanistan and Iraq has severely damaged the US military and prevented it from leaving the region and especially after the escalation of tensions with China, which Biden himself has been quoted as saying is a major and long-term challenge.
Biden is making the current statement concluding a US-led internal military operation in talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi in Washington. Although the Islamic State group's threat is still strong with Iran's strong influence on Iraq, Biden has insisted that his government will remain responsible for strengthening security cooperation.
The Iraqi prime minister makes a commitment to strengthen cooperation with the United States.
For his part, Kadhemi emphasized their strategic partnership. But Biden also stressed US support for the October Iraqi elections, saying the US government was working closely with Iraq, the Gulf alliance, and the United Nations to ensure fair elections.
Eighteen years after the United States invaded Iraq and overthrew the dictator Saddam Hussein, and seven years of a military-led coalition against the Islamic State Group, which posed a threat to Iraq, the United States has now changed direction and focused on other forms of aid.
For several years the US military has played a key role in supporting Iraq's military efforts to help deal with the Islamic State group, which by 2014 was largely dispersed in many parts of the country and neighboring Syria.
