US-led international operations in Iraq against the so-called Islamic State (IS) have been put on pause, as some 5,000 US forces in Iraq are primarily focused on protecting themselves in the wake of escalating violence between the US military and Iranian-backed groups that culminated in the Jan. 3 US drone strike on Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and an Iraqi militia leader at Baghdad airport, a top US envoy said today. But any discussions with the Iraqi government about a possible future withdrawal of US forces in Iraq would need to be broadened to encompass the entire scope of US-Iraq relations, including diplomatic and financial support, said James Jeffrey, the special envoy to the global coalition to defeat IS.
“We have said that we’re not interested in talking about withdrawal because we don’t think we should withdraw,” Jeffrey, who also is the US special representative for Syria, told journalists at the State Department today. “However, at the end of the day, this is obviously an Iraqi decision on the future of the American and the coalition presence. We acknowledge that.”
