Has Trump abandoned Iraq? Harris to Shafaq News: Its position is pivotal, and we are awaiting five guarantees from Baghdad.
The US Chargé d’Affaires in Baghdad, Joshua Harris, asserted that Iraq remains central to US policy, downplaying talk of Baghdad’s regression to the margins under President Donald Trump, as some observers have suggested.
In an exclusive interview with Shafaq News Agency, to be published later, Harris said, “The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, puts America’s interests first, and this is an effective principle that is applied here and around the world.”
Since the beginning of Trump’s second term, the US administration has not appointed a new ambassador to Baghdad, a move politicians and research centers have viewed as a sign of declining US interest in Iraq, increasingly tied to the Iranian issue or any potential deals related to the nuclear agreement.
But Harris stressed in the interview that “Washington is focused on its own interests and protecting Iraq’s interests simultaneously.”
He added that the administration is working with a “team of professionals” focused on making America “more secure, stronger, and more prosperous,” explaining that this vision is reflected in bilateral partnerships that “meet the needs of both countries, the United States and Iraq.”
Harris also noted that Washington wants to see an Iraq that is “future-oriented, sovereign, secure within its borders, a fundamental contributor to regional stability, and more prosperous through development and economic participation.”
The current US position comes at a particularly sensitive time, as Iraq lies in the midst of a tense region, coinciding with the withdrawal of coalition combat forces and the ongoing debate over the balance of its regional and international relations.
Since the fall of the former Iraqi regime in 2003 through a Western coalition led by Washington, Iraq has remained a key issue in American policy, whether under Bush, Obama, or Biden.
Successive US administrations’ interest in the Iraq file has been divided around several tracks. The Bush Jr. administration (2003-2008) dealt with Iraq through a large-scale military presence, along with attempts to rebuild the political system.
While the Obama administration (2009-2016) adopted the option of a complete withdrawal in 2011, which led to a security vacuum that ISIS exploited to expand, forcing Washington to return militarily as part of the international coalition in 2014.
The Biden administration (2021-2024), for its part, focused on reducing the direct combat presence and limiting itself to an advisory and training mission, within the framework of understandings with Baghdad, but it remained cautious regarding Iranian influence.
Shafaq.com