US Will End Combat Mission In Iraq, Biden Says

The United States is ending its combat mission in Iraq, President Joe Biden announced Monday, though U.S. troops will remain in the country to continue training and advising local forces.

“Our role in Iraq will be...to be available to continue to train, to assist to help and to deal with ISIS as it arises, but we are not going to be by the end of the year in a combat mission,” Biden said at the beginning of a meeting in the Oval Office with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. 

Biden said the U.S. remains committed to “our security cooperation and our shared fight against ISIS is critical for the stability of the region and our counterterrorism cooperation will continue even as we shift to this new phase we are going to be talking about.” 

The military has about 2,500 American troops in Iraq today. At the White House briefing on Monday, press secretary Jen Psaki declined to provide details on how many troops will stay in Iraq past the end of this year to provide training and advising help.