US troops thinned down in Iraq to 2,500

Washington: The top U.S. commander for the Middle East said that the United States will keep the current 2,500 troops in Iraq for the foreseeable future, and he warned that he expects increasing attacks on U.S. and Iraqi personnel by Iranianbacked militias determined to get American forces out.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie said in an interview that despite the shift by U.S. forces to a non-combat role in Iraq, they will still provide air support and other military aid for Iraq’s fight against the Islamic State.

Noting that Iranianbacked militias want all Western forces out of Iraq, he said an ongoing uptick in violence may continue through December. “They actually want all U.S. forces to leave, and all U.S. forces are not going to leave,” he said, adding that as a result, “that may provoke a response as we get later into the end of the month.”

The Iraqi government earlier Thursday announced the conclusion of talks on ending the U.S. combat mission against IS. U.S. forces have been largely in an advisory role for some time, so the announced transition changes little.

The announcement reflects a July decision by the Biden administration to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by Dec. 31.

“We’ve drawn down bases we didn’t need, we’ve made it harder to get at us. But the Iraqis still want us to be there. They still want the presence, they still want the engagement,” said McKenzie. “So as long as they want it, and we can mutually agree that’s the case — we’re going to be there.” —(AP)