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Iraq asks United States to set up mechanism for troop withdrawal Iraq asks United States to set up mechanism for troop withdrawal
(about 4 hours later)
BEIRUT — In a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi asked the United States to send a delegation to Iraq to set up a mechanism for U.S. troop withdrawal from the country, a statement from the prime minister's office said Friday. BAGHDAD — Iraq and the United States disagreed publicly Friday over the future of the U.S.-led coalition troops here as Iraq's prime minister asked Washington to begin plans for the force's withdrawal.
The request followed a vote by the Iraqi parliament to expel thousands of U.S. troops, a direct consequence of a U.S. drone attack that killed senior Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and nine companions in Baghdad a week ago. The firestorm sparked by President Trump's decision to order a drone strike killing Iranian general Qasem Soleimani has imperiled the mission of more than 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq to fight the Islamic State, prompting Iraqi lawmakers to urge their expulsion and hardening sentiments against Western influence.
But in a response Friday, the State Department said that any delegation to Baghdad would not focus on pulling out U.S. troops. On Friday, Iraq’s caretaker prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said that he had asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to send a delegation to Iraq that could establish a plan for the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.
But in a response, the State Department said that representatives in Baghdad would not focus on pulling out U.S. troops.
“At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership — not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.“At this time, any delegation sent to Iraq would be dedicated to discussing how to best recommit to our strategic partnership — not to discuss troop withdrawal, but our right, appropriate force posture in the Middle East,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.
Ortagus stressed that “America is a force for good in the Middle East” and that the purpose of the U.S. military presence in Iraq is “to continue the fight” against the Islamic State. She did not reference Iraq’s request. “America is a force for good in the Middle East,” read the opening line.
She noted that a NATO delegation is at the State Department on Friday “to discuss increasing NATO’s role in Iraq” in line with President Trump’s “desire for burden sharing.” Ortagus added: “There does, however, need to be a conversation between the U.S. and Iraqi governments not just regarding security, but about our financial, economic, and diplomatic partnership.” Soleimani’s killing on a slip road leaving Baghdad airport last week, as well as U.S. airstrikes on an Iran-backed militia five days earlier, has sharpened the position of Iraq’s powerful Shiite Muslim political blocs and armed groups, and they are now leading calls for coalition troops to withdraw.
The targeted killing of Soleimani early Jan. 3 set off a string of events in the region. On Tuesday, Iran retaliated for the death of its revered Quds Force commander by launching more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two military bases that house U.S. troops in Iraq. President Trump said the strike caused no American or Iraqi deaths and that new sanctions on Iran will be imposed. Iran’s ballistic missile strike on bases hosting U.S. forces in Iraq appeared to deepen the crisis. That attack fear rippling through a country that has repeatedly become the stage for proxy warfare between the two powers.
The Iraqi prime minister has repeatedly insisted that U.S. troop withdrawal was the only path toward de-escalation. In the phone call on Thursday, he asked Pompeo “to send representatives to Iraq to put in place a mechanism for implementing the parliament’s decision for the safe withdrawal of forces from Iraq.” With tensions flaring, the Trump administration has come to increasingly view Abdul Mahdi’s push to remove coalition troops as a clear decision to “take sides,” said Randa Slim, director of the Track II Dialogues initiative at the Middle East Institute.
According to a statement, Abdul Mahdi also shared his objections regarding U.S. forces entering Iraq and American aircraft flying in Iraqi airspace without the consent of the Iraqi government. “The impression here is that this Iraqi request is being done at the request of the Iranians and the prime minister is basically acting on their orders and acquiescing to their wishes,” she said.
More than 5,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq under a U.S.-led global coalition set up in 2014 to fight the militant Islamic State group. On Sunday, the 81-country coalition announced it has paused its training activities and is redirecting its resources to ensure the safety of personnel and bases, citing “repeated rocket attacks over the last two months.” Iraq’s parliament took a nonbinding vote Sunday urging Abdel Mahdi to expel the coalition. Although the Chamber barely reached quorum, and many Sunni Muslim and Kurdish lawmakers stayed away after a militia group sent threats via text message, the initiative is gathering momentum in Baghdad, and the prime minister is under increasing pressure to see it through.
In his phone call with Pompeo, Abdul Mahdi condemned the Iranian missile strikes, saying his country objects to any attack that violates Iraq’s sovereignty and turns the country into a war zone. Also killed in the strike on Soleimani’s convoy was the influential Iraqi leader of an Iran-backed militia, known as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. His photographs now adorn monuments across Baghdad, and armed groups have threatened to avenge his death by targeting U.S. interests here.
The Iraqi prime minister, who announced his resignation in November following anti-government mass protests, is currently working in a caretaker capacity, meaning that the parliamentary vote on Sunday could be interpreted as advisory — a politically significant vote, but not one that is legally binding. But in diplomatic meetings to quell the crisis, some foreign officials say, the tone of some Shiite leaders has been more muted. “In private [they] more practical and don’t want to see all forces go straight away because they know it would be destabilizing,” said one western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject.
A day after the parliament voted, a U.S. letter further added to the chaos. Sent to the prime minister’s office on Monday by a senior U.S. commander, it said U.S. troops in Iraq were being repositioned and prepared for a possible withdrawal. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at the Pentagon that the letter was “a mistake,” an unsigned draft that should not have been sent. The U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq under a U.S.-led coalition set up in 2014 to fight the militant Islamic State group. On Sunday, the 81-country coalition announced it has paused its training activities and was redirecting its resources to ensure the safety of personnel and bases, citing “repeated rocket attacks over the last two months.”
On Wednesday, Trump delivered a speech following the Iranian attacks on two military bases in Iraq that house U.S. troops — but he did not mention whether troops would be withdrawing. Despite losing its caliphate, the militants are regrouping and digging in for the long haul. U.S. military commanders say that a hasty coalition retreat could imperil efforts to contain the threat and risk seeing the group become more active.
“The American people should be extremely grateful and happy no Americans were harmed in last night’s attack by the Iranian regime,” Trump said. “We suffered no casualties, all of our soldiers are safe, and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases.” “If there is another military escalation, it will be very hard to do what’s needed to get this on the right track, which is taking some time away from this to create space for diplomats on both sides to figure out a path forward, creatively, to suit both sides’ interests,” said Slim.
Despite a rocket attack Wednesday night on Baghdad’s Green Zone, where the U.S. Embassy is located, U.S.-Iranian tensions seemed to have eased somewhat. “Iran seems to be standing down,” Trump said. To that end, European countries are looking at what an alternative type of coalition presence might look like, “to make sure that the gains against [ISIS] are not lost and that we continue to support the Iraqi security forces in their efforts,” the western diplomat said.
He also said he would ask NATO to become “much more involved in the Middle East process.” Following the Iranian attack, NATO began moving troops out of Baghdad’s Green Zone to other locations in Iraq and countries in the region. Germany temporarily moved all its military personnel stationed in non-Kurdish Iraq to Jordan and Kuwait. Ideas on the table include a smaller force with a slightly different focus, in an attempt to restore trust damaged by the U.S. decision to launch unilateral airstrikes on Iraqi soil.
Louisa Loveluck in Baghdad contributed to this report. The accelerating debate over Iraq’s foreign troop presence has breathed fresh life into months-long anti-government protests, which rallied in larger numbers on Friday than they had for weeks.
In Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, music blared and protesters held Iraqi flags aloft as they chanted in unison to reject attempts to turn their country into a political battleground. “We reject Iran, we reject the U.S., none of these people speak for us,” said Zahraa, 21, a student, as she pinned a message to a small stand. “Our country deserves a good morning,” it read.
More than 500 people have been killed in violence, with much of the bloodshed blamed on Iran-backed militias opposed to the protesters. Standing in a medical tent run by volunteer workers, Hassan Al-Rubaie, also 21, saw the political class’s response to Soleimani’s death as an indication of the extent to which many lawmakers prioritized geopolitics over the sort of change that the movement has been fighting for.
“We’ve lost hundreds of martyrs and not one politician went to grieve with the families,” he said. “Then Soleimani dies and the parliament turned out for his funeral.”
“We need politicians who are not beholden to either side.”
Asked if he could name any, he said no.
Sarah Dadouch in Beirut contributed to this report.
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