US and Iraq engage in discussions for long-term defence collaboration
Also Read: US Defense chief visits Iraq for talks on troop presence US officials say the arrangement, with Iraqi forces in the lead, since December 2021, has proven successful. US estimates show IS ranks have been cut to fewer than 1,000 fighters in Iraq while the group's leadership in Iraq has likewise been continually degraded by Iraqi forces.
The payoff has been a 64 per cent reduction in IS attacks in Iraq so far this year, US officials say. And the attacks that have taken place have been less deadly.
"I think it's fair to say decades into the future, US forces will not be present in Iraq in the current formation that we are today," Dana Stroul, deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East, told reporters before the talks began on Monday. US officials said they have also been encouraged by Iraq's progress in fighting corruption, noting improvements especially in the banking sector, though Washington's decision to blacklist 14 Iraqi banks for alleged money laundering on behalf of Iran sparked protests last month.
Still, the heavy focus is likely to remain on defence cooperation given the ongoing, if somewhat minimized, threat from IS, VOA reported. "I still believe the reemergence of ISIS is a, is a considerable risk," said Combined Joint Task Force — Operation Inherent Resolve Commander Major General Matthew McFarlane ahead of the US-Iraq talks.
Also Read: China’s Iran-Saudi deal is a wake-up call for India "Their ideology remains unconstrained and is still a threat as they seek to rebuild some capacity and capability to conduct attacks and to regain or reemerge as a, as a significant threat to the population," he said. While Iraqi forces have managed to maintain a consistent tempo of anti-IS operations,
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