Daesh rout obviates need for US military presence in Iraq, says Prime Minister Sudani

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani says US military forces and so-called advisors stationed in various bases across the country are no longer need and need to leave Iraqi soil as the army and anti-terror resistance groups have jointly managed to defeat the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

“Today, Iraq in 2024 is not the same as Iraq of 2014. We have defeated Daesh with our sacrifices and the Iraqi people’s position from all its components and factions and with the support of the international community and friends. And we do appreciate that,” Sudani said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Baghdad on Monday.

He added that there remains no justification and "there is no longer a need for a coalition of 86 countries. We moved from a period of wars to a period of stability. Daesh does not pose a threat to the state. It may be part of the security challenges like drug trade and criminal offenses. It’s at that level.”

The Iraqi prime minister made the remarks days after Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Iraq.

Sudani stressed that his country’s forces can handle Daesh remnants as they no longer pose a serious threat.

“They now constitute a group of terrified people hiding in the caves, in the desert, and in the mountains,” he said, underscoring that they do not represent a real threat to Iraq's security and stability.

Sudani further noted that he plans to announce a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

He stated that he had discussed the issue with US President Joe Biden when they met in Washington in April, and the countries have reached an understanding on the pullout.

Military action ‘necessary’ to expel US occupation forces from Iraq: Resistance leader

The leader of the Iraqi Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq resistance group says military action is “obligatory and necessary” in order to expel American occupation forces from Iraq.

“Ending the [US-led] coalition’s mission is an important point. It does not mean a breakdown between Iraq and coalition member states, including the United States. On the contrary, we are in bilateral talks to build a sustainable security relationship, other than economic, cultural and social ties,” Sudani pointed out.

Sudani also voiced Iran's support of the political process in Iraq as well as the Arab nation’s efforts in the fight against terrorism.

Iraqi resistance groups have been pressing for an end to the presence of foreign forces in Iraq more than two decades after a US-led coalition invaded the country in a blatant violation of international law based on false claims of it being in possession of weapons of mass destruction.

There are nearly 2,500 American troops in Iraq and some 900 in Syria as part of what Washington claims to be a fighting force against Daesh.

The US has maintained its presence, although the Arab countries and their allies defeated the Takfiri terrorist group in late 2017.

In 2020, the Iraqi parliament voted in favor of the expulsion of the foreign forces after a US drone strike assassinated Iran’s top anti-terror commander, General Qassem Soleimani, and deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) counter-terrorism force, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, outside Baghdad International Airport.

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