Expectations reined in for Iraq-US strategic dialogue

BAGHDAD－After months of tensions, Baghdad and Washington were expected to open strategic talks on Thursday in a bid to reset ties－but even with a new US-friendly Iraqi premier, a major breakthrough is seen as unlikely.

Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, top-level talks expected to take place in Baghdad have been demoted to a brief online kickoff session, as Iraq faces a spike in cases as well as a looming financial crisis.

That has tempered expectations for the first strategic dialogue between Iraq and the United States in a decade, which will chiefly address the future of the US-led military coalition, as well as economic and cultural ties.

"The entire US-Iraq bilateral relationship will not be fixed in a single day," said Robert Ford, an analyst at the Middle East Institute and a US diplomat in Baghdad during the last round of strategic talks in 2008. Those discussions ironed out the US drawdown from the occupation that began after the 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

"But for once, we seem to have the right people in the right place at the right time," he said.

Bilateral ties had been at their "coldest" in years, Iraqi and US officials said, following deadly rocket attacks on US military and diplomatic sites since last year.

Tensions skyrocketed following a US strike on Baghdad in January that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, prompting Iraqi lawmakers to vote in favor of ousting all foreign troops. Washington then threatened crippling sanctions.

But the tensions have calmed substantially since Mustafa al-Kadhimi－an ex-spy chief with close ties to the US and its allies in the region－took the reins as Iraq's prime minister in May.

Two Iraqi officials said Kadhimi has been invited to the White House this year, a diplomatic olive branch his predecessor Adel Abdel Mahdi had never received.

"There was a lack of confidence in the relationship with the previous government, and we're not there anymore," one of the officials said.

Further troops drawdown

The opening session of the talks was expected to include a range of diplomatic, military and economic staff from both countries that will split into follow-up committees.

The main topic was expected to be the fate of US-led troops, deployed in Iraq from 2014 to head a military coalition fighting the Islamic State terror group.

"Whatever comes out of the dialogue is going to set the future of our strategic relationship," a top US official from the coalition said.

The coalition has already consolidated to just three bases in recent months, down from a dozen, and the talks would likely bring a further drawdown.

Kadhimi said on Wednesday that the strategic dialogue between Iraq and the US is mainly aimed at serving the country's interests and enabling it to achieve its sovereignty, adding that the IS will never again overrun Iraqi territory.

More than 5,000 US troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against the IS militants, mainly providing training and advising Iraqi military forces.

Agencies - Xinhua