(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) A US State Department spokesperson told Shafaq News on Wednesday that the US is not withdrawing from Iraq but shifting its military role to a “bilateral relationship” under a deal that will end the mission of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition in the country.
The official made the comment in response to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani saying that Baghdad will only disarm the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a group of mostly Shia militias, including some that are aligned with Iran, once the US-led coalition leaves Iraq.
The Trump administration has been demanding that Iraq disarm the PMF, which was formed in 2014 to fight ISIS and is considered part of Iraq’s security forces. The State Department official speaking to Shafaq said Iraq must dismantle the “Iran-backed militias” and accused the groups of engaging in “violent and destabilizing activities in Iraq.”
“Their actions drain the country’s resources and act against its national interests,” the spokesperson said. Referring to the US plans for its military presence in Iraq, the spokesperson said, “This is not a withdrawal. It is a shift toward a more traditional bilateral relationship in the areas of security and diplomacy.”
Last year, the US and Iraq signed a deal that would end the mission of the US-led coalition in Iraq by September 2026, but at the time of the signing, the Biden administration said that the US was “not withdrawing from Iraq.”
The US has recently withdrawn some military personnel from the country, but the War Department has said fewer than 2,000 US troops will remain. The US is keeping troops at the Ain al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq, at the Erbil Air Base in Iraqi Kurdistan, and a small number of advisors will remain in Baghdad.
Over the weekend, Iraqi Defense Minister Thabit al-Abbasi said the US had issued its “final” and “most serious” warning regarding the disarmament of the PMF. He also suggested that US War Secretary Hegseth told him the US would be conducting some sort of military operation in the region.
Al-Abbasi said that Hegseth’s message “concerns armed factions and includes a direct threat in the event that those factions carry out any operations in response to what Washington intends to do in the region near Iraq in the coming days.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
