Biden's Iraqi Way

Mustafa al Kadhimi and Joe Biden at the White House on Monday.- / AFP

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• The United States agrees with Iraq the cessation of its combat mission 18 years after the invasion

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has reached an agreement with the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa al Kadhimi, according to which as of the end of this year the US military will no longer participate in any combat mission in that eastern country. Next.

In theory, the decision will close an open cycle - with a hiatus between 2011 and 2014 - with the 2003 invasion ordered by then-President George W. Bush.

The agreement is part of Biden's strategy to end the direct participation of the US military in wars that have lasted almost two decades and of which the greatest exponent is the withdrawal from Afghanistan. It should be noted, however, that the announcement on Iraq has more of a political variant than a practical one, because it is not a question of a complete withdrawal - as is the case in the Afghan case - but rather it consists of formally limiting the functions of the US troops deployed. . Currently, the US maintains about 2,500 soldiers in Iraq and the deployment may continue for tasks of "training and logistical assistance", in terms expressed by the US Administration, which are now a large part of its functions. Staying on the ground, even without fighting, has a strategic value.

Although, therefore, things do not change much for Washington, instead the announcement represents a victory for Iraqi Prime Minister Al Kadhimi, who has before him a general election in October to which he can now attend with an achievement achieved against the most anti-American factions of the electorate.

Unlike Afghanistan, where the complete withdrawal is causing a turnaround with the strong advance of the Taliban, in this case, predictably, there will not be a very tangible change of scenery with respect to neighboring countries. The continued military presence in Iraq will serve as a warning to Iran, a country that exerts great influence over an important part of the Iraqi political spectrum, and also as a support for the almost one thousand military personnel in Syria who collaborate with the militias opposed to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. and that at the same time they fight against what is left of the Islamic State.

The bottom line is that the US continues to consider its military presence in the country strategic but it will now take a less politically costly form for both Baghdad and Washington. In any case, Biden has opted for a clear message to the region that he does not leave Iraq, a very different route from the Afghan exit. A withdrawal, the latter, which after 20 years of operations causes perplexity, by largely leaving the way for the Taliban and the setback in rights they represent.