Iraqi prime minister defends US troop presence, says it’s a necessity for combating ISIS

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani says he helps an indefinite presence of U.S. troops within the nation to fight ISIS, placing him at odds along with his supporters and Iranian-backed officers. 

In a current interview with The Wall Street Journal, Sudani mentioned U.S. and NATO troop contingents have been obligatory to coach and help Iraqi items in countering ISIS however largely keep out of fight. 

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and the German Chancellor (not in image) give a joint press convention on the Chancellery in Berlin on January 13, 2023. 
(TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP by way of Getty Images)

“Inside Iraq we don’t want fight forces,” Sudani mentioned. “If there’s a menace for Iraq, it’s the penetration of [ISIS] cells via Syria.” 

The U.S. navy and its associate forces in Iraq and Syria continued their struggle to degrade ISIS in 2022, working a whole lot of operations that killed or captured greater than 1,000 ISIS fighters. ‘

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The U.S. and associate forces ran 313 complete operations towards ISIS in Iraq and Syria in 2022, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) mentioned, with 108 of these operations being performed in Syria and 191 in Iraq. The operations resulted within the detention of 374 ISIS fighters in complete, 215 in Syria and 159 in Iraq. A complete of at the least 686 fighters have been additionally killed in 2022, 466 in Syria and at the least 159 in Syria.

There are at the moment round 2,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and one other multinational coaching pressure below NATO command. Around 900 U.S. troops are stationed in Syria. 

Sudani instructed The Journal he needs Iraq to have relations with the United States similar to what Saudi Arabia and different Persian Gulf oil-and-gas producers get pleasure from. 

“We try for that,” he mentioned. “I don’t see this as an inconceivable matter, to see Iraq have an excellent relationship with Iran and the U.S.” 

Sudani mentioned he plans to ship a high-level delegation to Washington for talks with U.S. officers someday subsequent month. Aides mentioned they hoped the transfer would pave the best way for a future assembly with President Biden. 

Fox News’ Michael Lee contributed to this report.