Washington and Baghdad have agreed on removing US combat forces from Iraq but have not established a timetable, and American troops could remain in an advisory capacity.
Wednesday's joint announcement came at the end of a strategic dialogue between high-ranking officials from the two countries, led by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Fuad Hussein.
“Based on the increasing capacity of the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces], the parties confirmed that the mission of US and coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq, with the timing to be established in coming technical talks,” the statement read.
The statement reaffirmed the countries' “mutual intention to continue bilateral security co-ordination and co-operation".
The announcement did not refer to the future posts of US advisory troops supporting the ISF in their counter-ISIS mission.
Instead, it focused on the mission largely shifting from combat to training and assisting since the collapse of ISIS's so-called caliphate.
“The transition of the US and other international forces away from combat operations to training, equipping and assisting the ISF reflects the success of their strategic partnership and ensures support to the ISF 's continued efforts to ensure ISIS can never again threaten Iraq’s stability.”
Most of the 2,500 US troops stationed in Iraq are there in an advisory capacity. It is unknown how many American combat troops remain there.
It is also unclear whether Wednesday's announcement has significant ramifications for future US troop levels.
The mission has for a long time been largely "advise and assist", Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said after the announcement.
“There was no specific agreement of a certain date or a number of troops by a certain date,” Mr Kirby said.
“It was a reaffirmation of what we always believed about the mission there – that it wouldn’t be a permanent one.
“Both sides agree that the mission is still important and that we’re going to continue as we always will, in any operational environment, to review and look again at our footprint and our force posture, and determine whether it is appropriately sized and scoped to the mission.
“The invitation by the Iraqi government is still in place," he said.
"We’re continuing as we have been before today’s talks to continue talking about what that mission and what that footprint is supposed to look like.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi echoed a similar line in an exclusive interview with The National published on Tuesday.
He said the US troops in Iraq were there to “training, equipping and providing intelligence support for the Iraqi forces. We believe the Iraqi forces are ready for this transition".
Mr Al Kadhimi, who initiated the request for the dialogue, faces intense pressure from Iran-backed factions, including rogue militias, as well as the Sadrist movement to remove US forces from the country.
Iran-backed militias have resumed repeated attacks on US forces in Iraq since President Joe Biden took office in January.
The attacks prompted Mr Biden to launch an air strike on two Iraqi militias stationed in Syria in February.
“This is a first Biden step in what will be a long series of similar discussions,” said Douglas Silliman, former US ambassador to Iraq and the president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.
“They’re going to find some sort of medium solution that both Washington and Baghdad can be happy with.
“Although I’m certain that nothing that comes out of this is going to meet the expectations of the resistance fronts and the militia groups that have been attacking American and coalition and Iraqi forces over the past several months."
Mr Biden has echoed former president Donald Trump’s words with repeated vows to “end endless wars”, reflecting the will of an American public that is increasingly sceptical of foreign military entanglements.
A YouGov poll commissioned by the Charles Koch Institute last year found that about three quarters of Americans favour withdrawing US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Whether those words are from Donald Trump or Joe Biden, there's public support to reduce the number of Americans in harm's way," Mr Silliman said before the announcement.
"The Biden administration is focused more right now on the [May 1 Afghanistan withdrawal] deadline that's coming up very quickly.
"They will settle for meeting Kadhimi halfway in showing good faith and reducing American combat forces on the ground.”
He was optimistic about the Iraqi Security Forces’ increased ability to battle ISIS and other terrorist groups over the past two years, saying Baghdad launched more air strikes last month than US-led coalition forces.
“The Iraqi Security Forces have become more confident at counter-insurgency operations,” Mr Silliman said.
“They have done a better job developing their own intelligence cycle and locating threats, going in to neutralise, collect intelligence and then trying to turn that into more operations in the future.”
But Bilal Wahab, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the ISF was overall in a worse position than it was in 2014 when ISIS swept across the country and Syria.
Mr Wahab said that any premature withdrawal could lead to a similar situation, similar to president Barack Obama’s 2012 withdrawal of US troops from Iraq after a failure to reach an agreement with former Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al Maliki.
“The Iraqi top brass says that the readiness of the Iraqi military today is worse than it was in 2014, which means that the prime minister cannot say we don’t need the Americans," Mr Wahab said.
“We can’t stand on our feet and fight ISIS."
The US was eager to play down the language on American forces in the joint statement, seeking instead to highlight the myriad other issues addressed in the communique.
The joint statement indirectly praised Iraq’s efforts to lessen its reliance on Iranian natural gas for its electricity sector and its deepening ties with the Gulf states, including the UAE.
“The United States expressed its support for Iraq’s efforts to reform is power sector so that its citizens have cheaper and more reliable electricity and fewer shortages,” the statement said.
“Both countries affirmed their support for Iraq diversifying its sources of energy by building grater ties to its neighbours in Jordan and in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including by moving forward with electric grid interconnection projects.”
Mr Kadhimi visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia last weekend, securing more than $6 billion in investments from the countries.
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 849Nm
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Price: from Dh437,900
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
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Veil (Object Lessons)
Rafia Zakaria
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Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
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General Classification:
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2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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FIGHT CARD
Welterweight Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Tohir Zhuraev (TJK)
Catchweight 75kg Leandro Martins (BRA) v Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR)
Flyweight Corinne Laframboise (CAN) v Manon Fiorot (FRA)
Featherweight Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Bogdan Kirilenko (UZB)
Lightweight Izzedine Al Derabani (JOR) v Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG)
Featherweight Yousef Al Housani (UAE) v Mohamed Arsharq Ali (SLA)
Catchweight 69kg Jung Han-gook (KOR) v Elias Boudegzdame (ALG)
Catchweight 71kg Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) v Jerry Kvarnstrom (FIN)
Featherweight title Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) v Alexandru Chitoran (ROU)
Lightweight title Bruno Machado (BRA) v Mike Santiago (USA)
TO ALL THE BOYS: ALWAYS AND FOREVER
Directed by: Michael Fimognari
Starring: Lana Condor and Noah Centineo
Two stars
Results
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How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
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More from Neighbourhood Watch:
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
