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U.S. Air Strikes Stage-Setting For U.S. Withdrawal From Iraq?

The President has expressed interest in the air strikes in Iraq and Syria serving as a basis for the United States military to depart Iraq; the government of Iraq would request the departure and the Trump Administration would accept the request. 

There is opposition to this scenario within the Trump Administration, but the President is focusing upon campaign promises- and ending the United States presence in Iraq is on the list. 

There is a United States Embassy in Baghdad- a 104-acre series of structures completed in 2009 at a cost exceeding US$850 million- the most expensive embassy in the world. By 2012 there were a reported 16,000 employees; today it has a small percentage of that number. In May 2019, the United States Department of State ordered all non-emergency, non-essential personnel to depart the embassy and the consulate in Erbil, Iraq.

With a withdrawal there would be tactical issues with supporting the Kurds in Syria and protecting oil assets in Syria and striking targets throughout the region; but, that could be accomplished from other platforms in the region. 

The President remains fixated and resolute upon departure.