US-Iraq ties not limited to the fight against ISIS: former coalition spox
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US and Iraq has mutual interests in various sectors and their relations are not limited to the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), Colonel Myles Caggins, former spokesperson for the anti-ISIS coalition told Rudaw on Thursday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced the official ending of the 84-nation Coalition’s combat mission in Iraq last week, saying that their new role is to advise and assist local security forces.
In an interview conducted on December 30, Caggins told Rudaw's Bestoon Khalid that all the indications from leaders in Washington show that the US is committed to its physical presence in Iraq and northeast Syria “for the foreseeable future.”
“The United States in Iraq has a bilateral security arrangement and relationship. This extends beyond just military operations against ISIS.This is also a partnership that is economic partnership, cultural exchanges. That is an area that will continue to grow,” added the Colonel.
Caggins was the spokesperson for the Coalition from August 2019 to September 2020. He is currently a visiting military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York City where he analyzes US-Kurdish security partnerships and public information warfare.
The US is building a new consulate in Kurdistan Region’s capital city of Erbil. Consul General Robert Palladino said in September that it is the “biggest” consulate in the world.
Caggins told Rudaw that the massive building “will provide even a greater resource for these types of exchanges and cooperation that will grow the relationship - a relationship that is built on mutual trust, mutual interest and also shared values.”
The Coalition was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria. Its mission has been “degrading and ensuring Daesh’s enduring defeat,” it says on its website, using Arabic acronym for the extremist group.
Strategic Dialogue between the US and Iraq began under the administration of former President Donald Trump in June 2020, with the first round of talks under Joe Biden’s administration being held in April. In the last round, a joint statement from both countries said that the US will move its remaining combat troops out of Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi announced the official ending of the 84-nation Coalition’s combat mission in Iraq last week, saying that their new role is to advise and assist local security forces.
In an interview conducted on December 30, Caggins told Rudaw's Bestoon Khalid that all the indications from leaders in Washington show that the US is committed to its physical presence in Iraq and northeast Syria “for the foreseeable future.”
“The United States in Iraq has a bilateral security arrangement and relationship. This extends beyond just military operations against ISIS.This is also a partnership that is economic partnership, cultural exchanges. That is an area that will continue to grow,” added the Colonel.
Caggins was the spokesperson for the Coalition from August 2019 to September 2020. He is currently a visiting military fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York City where he analyzes US-Kurdish security partnerships and public information warfare.
The US is building a new consulate in Kurdistan Region’s capital city of Erbil. Consul General Robert Palladino said in September that it is the “biggest” consulate in the world.
Caggins told Rudaw that the massive building “will provide even a greater resource for these types of exchanges and cooperation that will grow the relationship - a relationship that is built on mutual trust, mutual interest and also shared values.”
The Coalition was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria. Its mission has been “degrading and ensuring Daesh’s enduring defeat,” it says on its website, using Arabic acronym for the extremist group.
Strategic Dialogue between the US and Iraq began under the administration of former President Donald Trump in June 2020, with the first round of talks under Joe Biden’s administration being held in April. In the last round, a joint statement from both countries said that the US will move its remaining combat troops out of Iraq.