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1 1 (September 10, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveqos0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ ~ ~Research Service Iraq: Attacks and U.S. Strikes Reopen Discussion of U.S. Military Presence Updated September 10, 2024 After a months-long pause (Figure 1), recurrent attacks on facilities in Iraq hosting U.S. personnel and U.S. defensive measures could affect U.S.-Iraqi talks on the future of U.S. forces in Iraq. Iran-backed armed groups attacked U.S. personnel in Iraq more than 60 times between the October 2023 onset of the Israel-Hamas war and February 4, 2024, and, in response, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. air strikes in Iraq and in neighboring Syria. Iraq's government, citing risks to Iraq's security from the attacks and U.S. counter-strikes, announced in January 2024 that it seeks to end the presence in Iraq of the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State (IS, aka ISIS/ISIL) and to engage in bilateral discussions about the future of the U.S. military presence. Attacks recurred in April, July, and August 2024, including an attack that wounded U.S. personnel on August 5. A U.S. defensive strike on July 30 marked the first such U.S. strike since February 2024. At July 2024 Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue talks, the two governments decided to begin work on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide an enhanced framework for their bilateral security relationship. Press reports indicated the July 30 U.S. strike killed members ofthe state-affiliated 47th Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) brigade, which reportedly consists of members of the Iran-backed, U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH). An Iraqi official called the U.S. strike a heinous crime and said it could embroil Iraq in regional conflict. In September, a press report citing an unnamed senior U.S. official said the United States and Iraq have reached an unannounced agreement that would see some U.S. forces withdraw from Iraq in 2025, with a residual force remaining in the Kurdistan Region until 2026 to support operations in Syria, with a bilateral security cooperation mission continuing thereafter. In June 2024, President Biden cited the Iraqi government's invitation for U.S. forces and the coalition to remain in Iraq in his semiannual war powers report to Congress. As of December 2023, U.S. Central Command reported that approximately 2,400 U.S. military personnel were deployed in Iraq and 800 in Syria. The U.S. military presence in Iraq and U.S. military access to Iraq's airspace and land border with Syria facilitate U.S. military operations in Syria. U.S. forces warn the IS attacks have increased during 2024 and report that Iran-backed groups' attacks since October 2023 have required resource reallocation and greater force protection. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12309 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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