US has no plans to withdraw troops from Iraq, Pentagon says

The US has no plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq despite Baghdad’s announcement that it would initiate the process of doing so after Washington took out an Iran-backed Iraqi militia commander last week.

“I’m not aware of any plans [to withdraw from Iraq],” Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Ryder added: “We continue to remain very focused on the defeat-ISIS mission.”

The 2,500 American troops in Iraq are there as part of an assist and advise supervisory role at the invitation of the Iraqi government.

Pressure has been building for US troops to withdraw after the defeat of ISIS was announced in recent years. After last week’s self-defense strike against the Iraqi militia commander Mushtaq Jawad Kasim al-Jawari, those calls increased from within Iraq.

But Ryder said the Pentagon was unaware of any notification to the Defense Department about beginning to expel US troops from the country.

Al-Jawari, the Iraqi militia official, is believed to have played a key role in attacks on American forces in Iraq over the last few months.

The Harakat-al-Nujaba leader was also actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel.

US military officials were giving Baghdad time to rein in attacks by Iran-backed militias. Days before Christmas, the top US military general for the Middle East held talks with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss potential responses.

After several weeks of attacks, US President Joe Biden had only ordered responses inside Syria in what analysts and former officials have described as largely symbolic strikes despite some of the attacks on US troops being in Iraq.

American forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted over 120 times since October 17, following the Hamas attack on Israel.

However, the US had avoided responding inside of Iraq due to an already frustrated Iraqi public sentiment towards Washington. The US military later targeted Iran-backed militias inside Iraq and killed several fighters on more than one occasion.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to the Iraqi prime minister about Baghdad’s obligation to protect US diplomatic and military personnel.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also held similar talks with the Iraqi premier to drive home a similar message.

Austin said the US had the right to act in self-defense against those who attacked the US and called out Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba for being behind most of the attacks.

Last week’s attack came after an Israeli strike killed a senior IRGC official in Syria, and another Israeli operation killed Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut this week.