The United States anticipates the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister to the White House: The mission

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[size=52]The United States anticipates the visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister to the White House: The mission of the international coalition is not over[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]Without any introduction, American officials began talking about the “threat of ISIS” in Iraq, in what was considered an early indication of the United States’ refusal to withdraw from Iraq. On the other hand, the Iraqi government confirms that it is “100% serious” in the issue of withdrawing coalition forces, and that it is going to “comprehensive relations” with the United States.[/size]
[size=45]Muhammad Al-Sudani, Prime Minister, is expected to meet with US President Joe Biden in mid-April, to discuss five security and economic files, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.[/size]
[size=45]The White House's announcement last Friday, about the date of Sudanese's visit, did not mention the issue of withdrawal of coalition forces.[/size]
[size=45]Last year, the government began rounds of negotiations with the American military command to assess the security situation, 7 years after Baghdad declared “victory over ISIS.”[/size]
[size=45]In light of these understandings, Al-Sudani convinced the armed factions calling themselves the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” to stop their attacks on American forces.[/size]
[size=45]These factions were widely active last October, following the war in Gaza, before entering into an “undeclared” truce with the American forces since last February.[/size]
[size=45]It is likely, according to some information, that Baghdad’s failure to announce the presence of the “withdrawal file” on the agenda of Washington’s upcoming visit may revive the activity of these groups.[/size]
[size=45]In the 4 months since the outbreak of the Gaza crisis until the time of the armistice, the factions launched about 180 attacks on American bases in Iraq and the region. Washington also responded with specific operations targeting the leaders of those groups. In mid-March, Abu Ali Al-Askari, spokesman for the Hezbollah Brigades, warned that failure to remove coalition forces from Iraq “will open the gates of hell.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Askari said in a post: “We warned, and we renew the warning, that the government, and behind it the coordination framework, must end the presence of the occupation in Iraq, and not grant immunity to the occupation forces - otherwise the gates of hell will open.”[/size]
[size=45]Speaking about the coalition forces, he added: “They have not yet changed their movements and behavior on the ground and in the sky, and even their statements still indicate evasion to gain time and keep their occupying forces in the country.”[/size]
[size=45]Washington and the Iraqi government say that American forces and other nationalities are present at the request of Baghdad to fight ISIS within an international coalition established in 2014.[/size]
[size=45]But most of these factions believe that ISIS is an American creation, or at least that Washington “was not serious about eliminating it,” according to previous statements by Asaib leader Qais Khazali.[/size]
[size=45]Rumor of withdrawal of troops[/size]
[size=45]Therefore, Ihsan Al-Shammari, head of the Center for Political Thinking, suggested in an interview with (Al-Mada) that there are “parties close to the Prime Minister who are spreading the issue of discussing the withdrawal of American forces during Al-Sudani’s visit to Washington, which does not exist.”[/size]
[size=45]These rumors, according to what Al-Shammari describes, may be political propaganda to prevent the collapse of the new truce that the factions entered into two months ago.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shammari bases his denial of Washington’s intentions to withdraw from Iraq on the recent statements of the American ambassador in Baghdad, who spoke about the international coalition’s mission “not yet over” in Iraq. Alina Romanowski said, “ISIS still poses a threat in Iraq.” She added in an interview with Reuters published on Sunday that “the work of the US-led military coalition with Iraq to completely defeat the organization is not over yet.” At the end of last year, Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani said that there was no need for the international coalition to exist, as “ISIS no longer poses a threat to the Iraqi state.”[/size]
[size=45]“We each appreciate that ISIS remains a threat here,” Romanowski said from the US Embassy in Baghdad. Although it has declined significantly, our work is essentially not done and we want to ensure that Iraqi forces can continue to defeat ISIS.”[/size]
[size=45]The ambassador's statements came after the ISIS branch in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack on a concert hall in Russia on Friday, in which 137 people were killed.[/size]
[size=45]The ambassador said in an additional comment after the interview, “As this incident (the attack in Russia) reminds us, (ISIS) is a common terrorist enemy that must be defeated everywhere.”[/size]
[size=45]She added, “This is why the United States and Iraq share a commitment to ensuring the permanent defeat of ISIS, including by working together to shape the future of a strong bilateral security partnership between the United States and Iraq.”[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad estimates the presence of between 400 and 500 ISIS militants, spread out in caves and remote areas, while United Nations reports speak of thousands of members between Iraq and Syria.[/size]
[size=45]Ihsan Al-Shammari, a professor of public policy at the University of Baghdad, says, “ISIS still represents a major security challenge, and recent military operations may be evidence of that.”[/size]
[size=45]At the beginning of this March, the military command launched an operation to track down the remaining ISIS members in the west and north of the country, and later announced that it had killed 10 militants.[/size]
[size=45]At the beginning of this year, a statement by the Counter-Terrorism Service said that it was able to “kill 51 terrorists” and arrest “139 terrorists” in 249 operations during the year 2023.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shammari points out that “ISIS does not own land, but it is capable of carrying out attacks, as happened in Russia, for example.”[/size]
[size=45]He continued, "The American ambassador's statements indicate beyond doubt that the presence of ISIS negates the issue of the withdrawal of coalition forces, and that Washington is going towards a sustainable stay in Iraq."[/size]
[size=45]Al-Shammari suggested that these statements were a message to the Sudanese before going to Washington, that the issue of the withdrawal of American forces would not be on the agenda.[/size]
[size=45]On the other hand, the government spokesman, Basem Al-Awadi, confirms that the file of withdrawing forces will be among the five files that the Prime Minister will discuss in Washington.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Awadi told the official agency that this matter “has been decided by the Iraqi and American parties, and the Iraqi government is 100% serious,” and “it is not maneuverable.”[/size]
[size=45]But Al-Shammari believes that the upcoming visit is “a protocol that will not change the reality of the American presence and American orientations in Iraq.”[/size]
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