DAMASCUS, January 30 Negotiations that have begun between Washington and Baghdad The completion of the mission of the international anti-terrorist coalition in Iraq will end not with the withdrawal of US troops, but with a change in the format of their presence in the country, taking into account the needs of the American military contingent in neighboring Syria, said Syrian expert on geostrategic issues Kamal al-Jufa.
A joint US-Iraq military commission began work in Baghdad on Saturday to develop a timetable for completing the mission of the US-led international anti-terrorism coalition and transitioning to bilateral security relations between Iraq, the US and coalition partner countries.
“The meeting of the head of the Iraqi government with representatives of the US Armed Forces is preparing a new stage — not the withdrawal of the Americans from Iraq, but a change in their functions, retraining for the training format, as was the case before, with a reduction in the number of troops in Iraq, which will have a positive impact on the American presence in Syria. Especially considering that Iraq is a logistics springboard for American troops in Syria,” the expert said.
He emphasized that changing the format of the US military presence in Iraq is part of the general process of changing their role in the Middle East. At the same time, according to him, “a number of parties” are not interested in reducing the American military presence in the region and are putting pressure on Washington so that this presence remains or even increases against the backdrop of general instability.
“This whole mutual escalation in Syria and Iraq by both the resistance forces and the American troops is a consequence of what is happening in Gaza… There will be no possibility of de-escalation without a decision on a ceasefire in Gaza,” he added.
As a result, Washington is in a difficult situation due to the election struggle and growing public discontent in connection with the events in Gaza, the expert believes.
Earlier, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani said that Baghdad was serious about withdrawing foreign military forces from the country after US bases became targets of constant attacks by Iraqi Shiite armed groups, and the US began to respond to these attacks with strikes on Iraqi territories.
The US armed forces illegally control territories in the east and northeast of Syria in the provinces of Deir ez-Zor, al-Hasakah and Raqqa, where Syria's largest oil and gas fields are located. Official Damascus has repeatedly called the presence of American troops on its territory occupation and state piracy for the purpose of blatant oil theft.