As the tremors unleashed by the assassination of Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani continue to reverberate across the region, Iraq’s Kurds are quietly weighing the opportunities and risks posed by the demise of Iran’s most influential soldier and strategist ahead of a potential trip to Washington by Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani at the invitation of US President Donald Trump.
A resolution passed by the Iraqi parliament Jan. 5 urging the country’s caretaker government to kick out around 5,000 American troops has added a new layer of uncertainty, and as some Iraqi Kurds see it, a chance to advance their long-cherished dream for an independent state with US help.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper has denied reports that the United States was pulling out of Iraq; his statement came in response to a leaked letter addressed to Iraq’s Defense Ministry from Marine Brig. Gen. William Seely that speaks of "onward movement” of US forces in “due deference to the sovereignty of the Republic of Iraq, and as requested by the Iraqi Parliament and the Prime Minister.”
But administration sources, speaking not for attribution, told Al-Monitor the possibility of a US withdrawal is real because of the Iraqi government’s sharply hostile tone, albeit under Iranian pressure, and mounting force protection worries amid Iranian calls for revenge.
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