MESOP NEWS TODAYS TOP OF THE AGENDA / 1 May 2018

U.S.-Led Coalition Winds Down Combat Operations in Iraq

The coalition fighting the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Iraq closed its Baghdad headquarters on Monday. U.S. Central Command said the move comes in response to the “changing composition and responsibilities of the coalition,” which was formed four years ago.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis did not specify changes to U.S. troop levels in the country, which stand at several thousand (WaPo), but said their mission would shift from “enabling combat operations” (Military Times) to developing the self-sufficiency of Iraqi forces. Some opponents of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is seeking reelection on May 12, have called for all U.S. troops to leave. Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State (WSJ) late last year.

ANALYSIS

“Experts say while it’s likely that troop numbers in Iraq will decrease, those resources will likely spread out to assist nearby missions in the region—from the Arabian Peninsula to Afghanistan and missions in Africa,” Todd South writes for the Military Times.

“The last Iraqi parliamentary elections took place in 2014, shortly before ISIS seized one-third of Iraq’s territory. Since then, the ISIS advance and the subsequent war to defeat the extremist group has transformed the fortunes of Iraqi political actors—but no one quite knows by how much,” Nussaibah Younis writes for the Defense Post.

“ISIL was able to succeed because of the breakdown of the state and the weakness of its security sector. Now, ISIL is gone, but state weakness is manifesting itself in a very different way,” Renad Mansour writes for War on the Rocks.