The Gaza crisis may have forced US President Joe Biden to review his plan to withdraw US forces from Syria and Iraq, but there still remains a strong possibility he will revive his plans if he succeeds in winning re-election in November’s presidential poll.
At the start of this year, the Biden administration gave every indication that it was determined to make further cuts to Washington’s military presence in the region by withdrawing its military presence in both Iraq and Syria.
After becoming president, one of Biden’s first acts was to end the US combat mission in Iraq by the end of 2021, with remaining US troops serving in an advisory and assistance role.
The US combat mission formally concluded on 9 December 2021, with 2,500 US troops remaining in the country.
Biden’s determination to end Washington’s military involvement in Iraq surfaced again in January when US officials held the first round of talks with the Iraqi government to discuss the future of US and other allied troops based in the country.
There were even suggestions that the Biden administration was thinking of withdrawing the 900-strong US force based in Syria, where they are involved in monitoring Iran’s terrorist activities in the country, as well as guarding thousands of battle-hardened IS fighters captured after the fall of Raqqa.
Read more: The dangers of a US withdrawal from Syria
Plan interrupted
Biden’s withdrawal plans, though, were thrown into disarray after an Iranian-backed militia attacked a US military base in northern Jordan in late January, killing three military personnel and wounding many others.
