Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Kenneth McKenzie said US forces are still present in Iraq at the request of the government.
“We’ve been invited to be there. That’s why we’re there. And we’re there to continue the fight against ISIS, along with many coalition partners who are there with us,” he said in a televised interview.
McKenzie further hailed Iraqi Security Forces’ ability to move into the lead.
“Where once we were fighting beside them on the ground, now the Iraqis are doing the fighting themselves.”
He affirmed that the US mission has “shifted from direct combat to one of more support for them, training, advising and assisting, often at a very high level, that is to say, very far away from combat on the ground.”
“This is the situation that we would have liked to have seen develop.”
McKenzie noted that the future of US forces in Iraq will be determined by negotiations and consultation with Iraq’s government, ruling out that they will be leaving anytime soon.
He further pointed to the government’s “very aggressive and very proactive” measures taken to defend the US forces present in the country.
“I’m very pleased with the activities of Iraqi Security Forces in protecting us and our coalition partners from attack, because as we’ve noted, that is, in fact the responsibility of the Iraqi government.”
Meanwhile, Advisor for Security Sector Reform in the premier’s office Dr. Hussein Allawi told Asharq Al-Awsat that McKenzie’s statements do not contradict with the ongoing negotiations to schedule the withdrawal of US forces.
The ambiguity lies in determining the nature of these forces’ presence, he noted, adding that combat forces have already been withdrawn and those remaining are advisors and trainers.
Their presence is stipulated in the Iraqi-US strategic agreement and linked to the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
