President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will announce Monday that they've come to an agreement to end the U.S. military's combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, more than 18 years after U.S. troops were sent to the country.
The U.S. will still play a supportive role in Iraq as the part of the fight against ISIS, a senior administration official said Sunday night on a briefing call with reporters.
'As we formally end the combat mission and make clear that there are no American forces with a combat role in the country, Iraq has requested, and we very much agree, that they need continued training; support with logistics, intelligence, advisory capacity building -- all of which will continue,' the official said.
Biden and Kadhimi will meet in the Oval Office Monday afternoon for their first face-to-face talks as part of a strategic dialogue between the United States and Iraq.
A statement to be issued after the meeting will announce the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq, a senior Biden administration official said.
'There is no need for any foreign combat forces on Iraqi soil,' al-Kadhimi told the AP on Sunday.
President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will announce that the U.S. military's combat mission in Iraq will end by the end of the year
President Joe Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will meet in the Oval Office on Tuesday
A U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003 based on charges that then-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. Saddam was ousted from power, but such weapons were never found.
In recent years the U.S. mission was dominated by helping defeat Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
'Nobody is going to declare mission accomplished. The goal is the enduring defeat of ISIS,' the senior administration official said.
The U.S. troop presence has stood at about 2,500 since late last year when former President Donald Trump ordered a reduction from 3,000.
The announcement to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq comes as the U.S. is in the final stages of ending its war in Afghanistan, nearly 20 years after President George W. Bush launched the war in response to the Sept. 11, 2001,
