Shafaq News– Baghdad
The withdrawal of US forces from Iraq risks creatingserious security gaps, Iraqi lawmaker and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) figureMahma Khalil warned on Sunday, criticizing “government miscalculations” ofregional realities.
Speaking to Shafaq News, Khalil argued that while Iraqseeks full sovereignty over its security institutions, a continued GlobalCoalition presence would have strengthened deterrence and protected fragilegains, stressing, “Successive governments since 2003 failed to capitalize oncooperation with the Coalition to build resilient state institutions, unlikeGulf states that secured strategic security partnerships with Washington.”
Questioning official assertions of readiness, he pointedto shortcomings in air defense, intelligence, and early-warning systems, while cautioningthat rising tensions in eastern Syria between Kurdish-led Syrian DemocraticForces (SDF) and government troops could spill over, raise the risk of ISISprison breaks, and directly threaten Iraq. “Such threats require coordinationwith the Global Coalition.”
Earlier today, Iraq’s Higher Military Commission confirmedthe withdrawal of all Global Coalition advisers from Iraqi bases and commandcenters, including Ain al-Asad Air Base, which is the second-largest airbaseafter Balad, and the Joint Operations Command, transferring full control toIraqi forces. About 2,500 US troops remain in the country, under an agreementreached in August 2025 that sets September 2026 as the deadline for a completeUS military withdrawal.
: The US exits Iraq: A withdrawal heralds a sovereign future
