Almost seven years after former US President Barack Obama pulled out the US military to the last soldier from Iraq, the United States announced it would keep its current force of between 7,000 and 9,000 troops in Iraq despite the defeat of Islamic State’s caliphate.
Col. Sean Ryan, spokesman for the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, said the United States would keep its Special Forces in Iraq “as long as we think they’re needed.”
Ryan said that once ISIS is definitely defeated Iraq, would still need help to stabilize the country which has seen relentless war since the American invasion in 2003.
The announcement by the American spokesman came two days after the State Department issued a travel warning for US citizens not to go to Iraq because of “terrorism and armed conflict.”
Iraq is currently going through a new political and humanitarian crisis, while ISIS is once again stepping up its attacks on the Iraqi military and civilian targets.
As I pointed out in an analysis about Iraq two weeks ago, ISIS has currently 17,000 Jihadist fighters in Iraq who are increasingly destabilizing the warn-torn country.
This week ISIS terrorists caused the death of at least 70 Iraqis and slaughtered 20 cows belonging to residents of the village of ad-Udheim in revenge for their alleged cooperation with the Iraqi security forces.
Another reason for the continuation of the US presence in Iraq is the political crisis in the country which started immediately after the parliamentary elections on May 12, and the Iranian attempts to turn the country into another proxy state. READ MORE
