Reconsidering America’s Presence in Iraq after Zainab Essam Al-Khazali’s Death

On September 21, a 15-year-old girl was shot and killed in Baghdad, Iraq while working on her father’s farm. Despite Baghdad previously being labeled as the most dangerous city on Earth for terrorist attacks, Zainab Essam Al-Khazali was not killed by an Islamic State militant or a member of another terrorist group, but by American troops conducting a routine military drill.  These are the same troops which first mobilized in 2014 to protect Iraqis from the looming terrorist threat of the Islamic State. Her tragic, senseless death raises critical questions: Why has the United States government refused to acknowledge her death in any way? Why did the American military conduct an exercise in a populous area? And, most of all, why are U.S. troops still present in Iraq after the Iraqi Parliament voted them out years ago and multiple American presidents have pledged military withdrawal? 

The United States has maintained a continuous military presence in Iraq since a U.S.-led coalition invaded the country in 2003 to overthrow Saddam Hussein. After a brief hiatus from 2011 to 2014, the U.S. military formally reentered Iraq in 2014 on “Operation Inherent Resolve” to fight Islamic State forces upon request from the Iraqi government. Efforts began after the Islamic State launched the Northern Iraq Offensive in August 2014. In response, the U.S. began supplying Kurdish Peshmerga forces with weapons on August 5, and began direct airstrikes three days later. The operation continued for nearly seven years, and U.S. aid to the Iraq Security Forces totaled $3.5 billion throughout the conflict, with over 189,000 officers trained. 

The U.S.-led coalition has been criticized for committing human rights violations during “Operation Inherent Resolve” and compounding Iraq’s existing humanitarian crisis. Poorly targeted coalition airstrikes led to many civilian casualties, and Amnesty International alleged in 2014 that the coalition kidnapped Sunni civilian men to use as forced labor in the fight against the Islamic State. Finally, U.S.-backed prisoner abuses date back to the early stages of the Iraq War in prisons like Abu Ghraib – in 2004, Amnesty International uncovered photos of U.S. troops abusing prisoners of war in the same suburb of Baghdad where Zainab lost her life.

Despite the United States formally withdrawing from Iraq in December 2021, nearly 3000 military personnel remain in the country in an advisory role to provide air support and military aid. However, their presence has been contentious. In January 2020, U.S. assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani caused widespread outrage in Iraq. Major political figures called for the U.S. Embassy to be closed and diplomatic relations halted. The Iraqi military launched retaliatory airstrikes on U.S. forces in Iraq, and the Iraqi Parliament voted unanimously to expel all American troops from the country, later revising their statements to include all foreign troops. While several NATO countries withdrew their troops due to safety concerns, the Trump administration threatened Iraq with sanctions if any further action was taken against U.S. forces, thus, cementing their presence. 

Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter prohibits the use of force except in “intervention by invitation,” when a country requests the military presence of another country. This rare case would apply to the 2014 American entry into Iraq because the Iraqi government requested help in the fight against the Islamic State. But after the vote by the Iraqi Parliament in 2020 asking U.S. troops to leave, their presence became illegitimate under this charter. However, despite a strong opposition wing within Iraq, anti-American sentiment is not universal, largely dependent on ethnic and religious identity. The vote to expel U.S. troops was led by Shia lawmakers, with most Sunni and Kurdish representatives abstaining from the vote. U.S. troops continue to train with the Iraqi military and recently signed a bilateral defense agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government to bolster security and military training operations. 

Proponents of U.S. military presence in Iraq often cite reasons such as countering Iranian influence, preventing terrorist attacks, and protecting the security of Israel and other US partners in the region. However, natural resources, particularly oil, serve as another key factor. Iraq is home to oil reserves totaling over 140 billion barrels, the fifth largest proven oil supply globally, with a large portion located in the Kurdistan region. Upon entering the 2003 Iraq War, former U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz pledged to support Kurdistan’s energy sector, telling a Congressional panel that Iraq’s oil and gas resources “could bring between $50 billion and $100 billion over the course of the next two or three years.” 

But nearly two decades later, it is evident that the Iraqi people did not benefit as foreign powers descended upon their oil reserves. While the oil-rich Kurdistan region has seen more economic development than the rest of Iraq, fraud, corruption and mismanagement have led to nearly $20 billion per year in oil revenue smuggled out of the country, with little benefit to the Kurdish residents working to source the oil. Kurdistan’s Ministry of Natural Resources has been accused of working with foreign powers to send oil money to international tax havens, flipping assets, and producing massive profits for multinational companies based in North America and Europe. 

While the Islamic State remains a threat in Iraq, they have no consistent territorial holds, and the Iraqi government has developed effective containment policies for terror cells. Operating with the goal of completely eradicating all Islamic State adherents and ideology will result in an indefinite U.S. presence in Iraq. Furthermore, while American troops have helped foil and respond to some Islamic State attacks in Iraq, they are increasingly being targeted by Iranian drone strikes, which have killed U.S. servicemembers as well as Iraqi citizens fighting alongside the U.S. in Kurdistan. These attacks signify a larger balance of power the U.S. seeks to maintain in the region — Iraqis are paying a violent price as the U.S. aims to counter Iranian influence. 

If the U.S. decides to completely withdraw troops from Iraq, lessons must be learned from its 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan. The 2021 withdrawal resulted in the Taliban seizing power from the Afghan National Army within days of the U.S. military’s departure and created an unresolved humanitarian disaster. Additionally, the withdrawal broke promises made to Afghan civilians who aided American forces — many people were left behind and susceptible to persecution by the Taliban due to past U.S. ties. If American troops leave Iraq, the U.S. must prioritize the protection of Iraqis who have fought alongside them, and ensure that any stabilization money given to the Iraqi government is used for its intended purpose — during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban seized millions of dollars in cash, gold, and weapons left behind by U.S. forces. 

The question of American military presence in Iraq extends far beyond a pure military partnership.Twenty-first-century Iraq has experienced immense exploitation for military, economic, and geopolitical gain, and the people and government of Iraq should decide the next steps regarding the American military. After 19 years of nearly continuous U.S. military presence, Iraq has limited the influence of the Islamic State, but is still experiencing domestic turmoil, a Parliamentary crisis and extreme corruption in the public and private sectors. Solutions to these challenges should be led by the Iraqi people, not a foreign power with conflicting interests and little investment in the future of Iraq.