"ANALYSIS OF IRAQ NEWS" BY MNT GOAT, 13 JAN

PENTAGON: NO PLANS FOR AN AMERICAN WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ

The Pentagon said on Monday that it does not currently plan to withdraw its forces, numbering about 2,500 soldiers, from Iraq.

This comes despite Baghdad announcing last week that it had begun a process aimed at ending the mission of the US-led international military coalition in the country.

“At this time, I am not aware of any plans (to plan a withdrawal). We remain very focused on the mission of defeating ISIS,” Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said in a press briefing.

More news….

SUDANESE ADVISORS TO WASHINGTON SECRETLY: WE WANT AMERICAN FORCES TO REMAIN IN IRAQ

Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani secretly told American officials that he wanted to negotiate whether American forces would remain in the country despite his recent announcement that he would begin the process of removing them,  according to Politico magazine.

Al-Sudani’s senior advisers told US officials that his announcement was “an attempt to please domestic political constituencies” and that Al-Sudani himself “remained committed” to negotiating the future presence of the coalition in Iraq, according to a January 6 State Department report obtained by Politico. from him.

There was a public uproar in Iraq over a US drone strike last week that killed a senior member of an Iranian-backed militia in Baghdad, and Al-Sudani’s office announced last Friday that his government was forming a bilateral committee to end the presence of US-led international forces focused on preventing… The return of ISIS.

Iraq’s willingness to keep US forces in the country is considered critical to the Biden administration. The United States believes that its presence in Iraq is important not only to prevent the return of ISIS, but also to confront Iranian influence in the region. Any decision taken by Sudanese to expel US forces from the country would also undermine the US administration’s efforts to prevent the expansion of the war in Gaza.

https://mntgoatnewsusa.com/latest-mnt-goat-newsletter/