Today, Saturday, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command confirmed that the date for the withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraq is fixed and not subject to extension anymore.
The spokesman for the Leadership of Operations, Maj. Gen. Tahsin al-Khafaji said - according to what was reported by the National Iraqi News Agency - that "the date for the withdrawal was previously set and will be on December 31.
He stressed that the date for withdrawal is not extendable according to the agreement between the Iraqi and American sides."
He noted that the tasks of the American forces will shift after this date to include consulting, training, equipping, and exchanging intelligence information
On the ninth of September last year, a senior US administration official told reporters that President Donald Trump would announce the withdrawal of more US forces from Iraq very soon.
The decision comes as Trump, a Republican, faces backlash from a report he says has spoken disparagingly of American war dead.
On the twenty-ninth of August 2020, US officials said, the United States of America (USA) intends to reduce its forces stationed in Iraqi territory to about a third of the forces.
The newspaper "The Wall Street Journal", on the authority of the officials, that the US President is expected to announce the reduction of forces in Iraq to 3 thousand and 500 soldiers.
The newspaper pointed out that the USA refuses to set a timetable for reducing the approximately 5,200 American troops now in Iraq.
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