WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden declared US relations with Iraq would enter a new phase with American troops exiting combat operations in the country by year-end as he held talks Monday with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi.
Biden stressed that Washington remains “committed to our security cooperation” while Kadhemi reaffirmed their “strategic partnership.”
US troops in Iraq will “to continue to train, to assist, to help, to deal with ISIS as it arises,” Biden said.
But, in a shift that comes as the United States pulls out of Afghanistan, the US leader confirmed that the 2,500 US troops still in Iraq won t be fighting.
