File image.
The United States military has begun drawing down its last remaining forces in Iraq stationed near Erbil International Airport in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Al-Monitor reported on July 31, citing well-placed sources with close knowledge of the process.
The sources told the news website that Patriot air-defense systems, which detect and shoot down incoming missiles, drones, and other airborne threats, have already been removed from the military compound.
The pullout started last week and is ongoing, with the bulk of American forces and their heavy equipment already gone, the sources said.
“All” of the Patriot systems have been redeployed to an undisclosed destination, the sources added, noting that other defensive weapons systems remain in place.
Regional officials described the pullout as “routine” and consistent with the U.S. commitment to withdraw all its forces from Iraq by the September 30 deadline agreed with Baghdad.
The removal of the Patriots leaves Kurdistan completely exposed to Iranian missile and drone attacks, which have repeatedly targeted Iranian Kurdish opposition armed groups in the region since the start of the American-Israeli war on the Islamic Republic.
The report notes that the Kurds benefited immensely from the Patriot deployment and that the systems’ removal raises questions about American stockpiles of interceptors and how the U.S. military is now prioritizing their deployment to protect troops elsewhere in the region.
“The Kurdistan region is not a priority; the Gulf and Jordan clearly are,” one of the sources told Al-Monitor.
These systems were targeted more than once during the 13-day confrontation between the U.S. and Iran earlier this month, with satellite images revealing damage at their deployment site inside the military compound in Erbil.
The removal of the Patriots from Kurdistan will play in Iran’s favor in every possible way, suggesting the U.S. was forced into this decision by the recent strikes.
With the systems gone from the region, the U.S. will have less early warning of Iranian strikes targeting its forces in Jordan or heading toward Israel. For Iranian Kurdish opposition armed groups, the withdrawal leaves them completely exposed to the Islamic Republic.
In addition, the decision to remove the systems indicates that the U.S. is serious about withdrawing from Iraq and that the withdrawal will include Kurdistan.
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a us agreement to withdraw with baghdad suggests a loss of leverage. this keeps the iraqi post conflict status unknown. u.s. commitment is still a unknown. how large is the mossad infiltration of iraq ? us military re supply abilities are weakening ? the us and israel are always up to something. too much oil revenue to just sacrifice.
the beginning of the end of uncle sams occupation of the middle east. 🫡🇮🇷🫡
nice hebrew withdrew peniz from my anuz after jizz pumped inside derp incel
get them out before you lose them
trumpy the pedophile in charge leaving with his tail between his legs….