'Washington (CNN) - President Joe Biden will agree Monday to formally conclude the US combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, another step toward winding down the two prolonged military engagements that began in the years following the September 11 terror attacks.
Biden is expected to seal the agreement during Oval Office talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, his first meeting with the politically embattled leader since taking office.
Unlike Biden's decision to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan, the end of the combat mission comes at Iraq's urging. The country is caught in a balancing act between anti-American factions in the country, Iranian-backed militias and the stabilizing presence of the American military.
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His own son Beau served as a reservist in the country before his death from brain cancer in 2015. Biden has said he suspects that exposure to toxins produced in military waste burn bits led to his son's condition.
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Like in Afghanistan, the results of the 18-year US presence in Iraq are mixed.
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"The goal is the enduring defeat of ISIS," the official said. "We recognize you have to keep pressure on these networks as they seek to reconstitute, but the role for US forces and coalition forces can very much recede, you know, deep into the background where we are training, advising, sharing intelligence, helping with logistics." '
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Biden to announce end of combat mission in Iraq as he shifts US foreign policy focus, July 26, 2021
ContextIt’s Time for the U.S. to Leave Iraq - '..the next country U.S. troops will leave will be Saudi Arabia.'(US troops leaving Saudi Arabia) - 'Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Saudi crown prince of drawdown in June 2 call..''..the U.S. out of the Middle East..''..the vital Afghan air force..''The interests of Pakistan and the United States in Afghanistan are the same. We want a negotiated peace, not civil war.' - Imran Khan'..deradicalize .. widows of IS fighters and help them and their children adapt to their new lives back home.'