Saairun Alliance parliament member Ali Ghawi on Monday said that the
US Embassy in Baghdad is pressuring the Iraqi government and a number of
political blocs and government figures to maintain the presence of US forces in
Iraq.
Ghawi, however, did not provide any evidence supporting
his claim.
The top Pentagon official assured Iraqi
leaders earlier this month that the US will stick to its limited military
role in Iraq, a message aimed at recent talk by some Iraqi politicians of
forcing a US troop withdrawal.
Pat Shanahan, the acting
secretary of defense, said that in talks with Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi,
he stressed US respect for Iraqi sovereignty, an issue that has become a
hot-button topic among Iraqis since President Donald Trump suggested
using Iraq as a base for monitoring neighboring Iran and
for potential attacks against remaining elements of ISIS group in Syria.
"I wanted to make clear to
him (Abd al-Mahdi) that we recognize our role," Shanahan told reporters
later after he flew to Brussels, Belgium. "We understand that we're there
by invitation, and that we jointly share the resources and that we clearly
recognize their sovereignty."
Shanahan said he did not raise
the possibility of moving additional US troops into Iraq to offset the coming
withdrawal of American forces from Syria.
The US has about 5,200 troops in Iraq as trainers and
advisers to Iraqi security forces in their battle against insurgent elements of
ISIS group that once controlled large swaths of Iraqi territory. He said they
discussed "how we can generate more capacity and capability in the Iraqi
security forces."
Shanahan, who had not
previously been to Iraq and is on the second leg of his first international
trip as the acting Pentagon chief, said he was mindful of Iraqi parliamentary
proposals to "restrict the number of US forces in Iraq." He said he
also emphasized to Abd al-Madhi the role security plays in Iraq's economic
future.
"We really talked about
that economic security," Shanahan said.
Trump upset Iraqis by saying
earlier this month that US forces should use their Iraqi positions to keep an
eye on neighboring Iran. That is not the stated US mission in Iraq, and Iraqi
officials have said Trump's proposal would violate the Iraqi constitution.
Trump also has angered Iraqi
politicians by arguing that he would keep US troops in Iraq and use the
country as a base from which to strike extremists in Syria if necessary, after
the 2,000 troops now in Syria depart in coming weeks.
Curbing foreign influence has
become a prominent topic in Iraq after parliamentary elections
last year in which Shiite politicians backed by Iran made significant gains.
Meanwhile, Shiite militias that fought alongside US-backed Iraqi government
troops against ISIS in recent years, gained outsized influence along the way.
US forces withdrew from Iraq
in 2011, but they returned in 2014 at the invitation of the government to help
battle ISIS group after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the
country, including Iraq's second largest city, Mosul.
