Last month, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed that he planned to pull all troops from Iraq as soon as possible.During a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi in August, Trump said American troops would leave Iraq but gave no timetable.
The talks between the pair came with attacks on American targets by pro-Iranian fighters on the rise and the Iraqi government facing calls to expel the roughly 5,000 US troops deployed in the country as part of anti-jihadist efforts.
The US military withdrew from Iraq in late 2011, leaving a small mission attached to the US embassy.The US military withdrew from Iraq in late 2011, leaving a small mission attached to the US embassy.
But additional American forces were deployed a few years later to support Iraqi forces in their war against Islamic State, which carried out a devastating offensive in the summer of 2014.
Under the US-Taliban deal, all foreign troops must leave the country by the spring of 2021, in exchange for security commitments from the militants.
Trump, who is trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in the polls ahead of the November 3 election, had previously promised to bring troops home in a bid to end what he has called America’s endless wars.
