Baghdad — Iraqi Prime Minister is heading to Washington this weekend to demand that President Biden withdraw all U.S. military combat units from Iraq, and the visit “ends the existence of combat units,” Iraqi media said. Announced in.

U.S. officials say the U.S. is likely to require a request from Prime Minister Mostapha al-Tadimi and plans to announce a deadline for U.S. military withdrawal on Monday by the end of the year.

The Pentagon and other government officials say they will achieve this by removing a small but unspecified number of 2,500 U.S. troops currently stationed in Iraq and reclassifying the roles of other troops into paper. Says. Al Kadimi has a political trophy to bring home to satisfy Iraq’s anti-American factions, maintaining US military presence.

“By the end of the year, there will be no US military in the fighting role,” said a senior US official familiar with the ongoing debate. “We look forward to some power adjustments in line with that commitment.”

What looks like a diplomatic theater set piece is the latest effort by Mr. Arkadimi to trample between the needs and demands of Iraq’s two closest allies, the United States and Iran. Pro-Iranian factions have urged the United States to leave, but Iraqi officials have acknowledged that they still need US military support.

The Byden administration has changed its way of operating in a country that has been increasingly under the control of a corrupt political system that has put Iran-backed militias and Iraqi government agencies on the brink of collapse since the U.S. invasion 18 years ago. It is working.

The Al-Kadimi administration, along with many senior Iraqi military officials, quietly supports the approximately 2,500 US troops in Iraq that remain in their current state.But the murder Maj. Gen. Garsem SreymaniIran’s Supreme Security and Intelligence Commander, along with senior Iraqi security officials and eight others, politically disabled the current existence of the United States in the 2020 U.S. drone attack and politics in the United States Made it undesired. After the US drone strike, the Iraqi parliament demanded that the government expel US troops. This is not binding, but it has sent a strong message to politicians who want to maintain power, including the prime minister.

Having been unable to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, the budget crisis, and the powerful militia backed by Iran, Arkadimi has had little success since taking office two years ago. His advisers claim that if he were given more time, he could subdue the militia, reduce corruption, and arrest hundreds of unarmed protesters and activist murderers.

Most of Iraq’s paramilitary organizations were formed in 2014 in response to a call by the country’s most respected Shiite clergy to mobilize Iraqis against Islamic State. These militias were later absorbed by Iraq’s official security forces, but the most powerful are associated with Iran and are nominally only under the control of the Iraqi state.

U.S. repeatedly accuses Iran-backed militias Persistent attacks on Iraqi US targets..U.S. and many Iraqi officials believe the militia is also responsible For most assassinations For activists and a wide range of illegal money-making plans.

The announcement on Monday comes as the Pentagon approaches the end of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and ends its 20-year presence there, even if the Taliban occupy dozens of districts across the country in a military attack. increase.

Some remained under the jurisdiction of the US Embassy in Baghdad after President Barack Obama withdrew his troops from Iraq in 2011. Three years later, the Iraqi government demanded from the United States that Islamic State fighters occupied most of the territory of Iraq and Syria. Military aid to support the fight against terrorist groups.

Since ISIS was expelled from its last Iraqi base in 2017, US officials have consistently claimed that there are no combat units in the country due to the lack of combat operations currently permitted in Iraq. However, they allow a small number of US special operations forces acting as advisors and trainers to occasionally accompany Iraqi counter-terrorism forces on combat missions against Islamic State fighters.

In Washington on Friday, Pentagon officials expected Iraq’s military level to remain at the current level of about 2,500 and said some US military roles would be redefined.

But while giving Arkadimi temporary political cover, reclassification of the U.S. military rather than drawdowns is likely to dissatisfy militias and political parties seeking the withdrawal of all troops, Iraqi officials said. I am.

Mohammad Arlebayer, a political spokesman for Acai Afru Alhak, one of the largest militias supported by Iran, said: 16 seats in the Iraqi parliament.

Those militias and many Iraqi politicians associated with them argue that the real purpose of the US military in Iraq is not a threat from Islamic State, but to counter Iran.This year’s Iran was carried out Increasingly sophisticated Attacks, including drone attacks on Iraq’s US targets, and the US have launched coordinated retaliation attacks.

During his visit to Iraq, Tanasis Cambanis, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, an American think tank, said, “How do you think dialogue with the United States will maintain a useful presence at no high political cost? Can you do it? ” week. “The interests of both sides are not really in agreement, as the United States does not intend to consider the United States to continue to be attacked by these militias that the Iraqi government cannot reduce.”

Iraqi officials say Iran has denied responsibility for the attack, but its leaders have also told the United States that they have killed General Sreymani and Iraqi deputy commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who oversees the militia. He revealed that he intends to retaliate against him.

The United States has been increasingly focused on military protection over the past year, withdrawing from vulnerable bases in Iraq and strengthening its presence in three Iraqi military installations.

Islamic State can no longer occupy territory, but the group continues to launch volatile attacks, such as market bombings, pointing out the weaknesses of Iraqi security forces.

“In Iraq, ISIS has been defeated as a serious military threat, but its radical ideology remains alive,” said a former U.S. Army Brigadier General and former State Department employee, currently operating in Iraq. Mark Kimmitt, who consults with American companies, said. “But deradration is not part of the US mission.”

The U.S. occupation of Iraq not only defeated the dictator in 2003, but also disbanded the army, hollowed out government agencies, and brought back Iraqi asylum seekers to the border between denominations and ethnic groups that plagued the country to this day. It upset the country by helping to build a political system in line.

For years, the system has awarded government ministries to political parties that suck up money for public services.

Due to the fall in oil prices last year Iraq found himself As ministry parties create jobs for their supporters, they are struggling to meet their huge government salaries, which have tripled since 2004.

“We are now talking about repairing damage from the former administration, al-Qaeda, ISIS and the damage caused by the dominant political class,” said Luayal-Khatteeb, a former technocratic power minister. .. “If this turmoil continues, it will lead to the destruction of the country.”

Jane Arraf reported from Baghdad and Eric Schmidt from Washington. Falih Hassan contributed to the report from Baghdad.