No Matter What Biden Calls U.S. Troops in Iraq, Iran Is Gunning for Them

U.S. soldiers in Bradley tanks patrol an area near Syria's northeastern Semalka border crossing with Iraq's Kurdistan region on Jan. 12. DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Now comes the hard part for U.S. President Joe Biden’s Iraq policy.

At the White House last week, he told Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi that U.S. combat troops would be withdrawn from Iraq by year’s end. At the same time, U.S. forces serving in noncombat roles—training, advising, and providing intelligence to Iraq’s security forces—would remain.