Aftandilian Publishes Op-Ed on U.S. Troop Levels in Iraq
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent Op-Ed on what United States troop levels in Iraq will look like following the ongoing conflict with the Islamic State in the country.
Aftandilian’s Op-Ed, entitled “US Likely to Keep Thousands of Troops in Iraq Post-ISIS,” was published in The Arab Weekly on June 4, 2017.
From the text of the article:
During the 2016 US presidential campaign, candidate Donald Trump espoused two seemingly contradictory policies vis-à-vis the Middle East — avoiding military entanglements and defeating the Islamic State (ISIS).
The first position was related to his denunciation of the Iraq war of 2003, which he called a “dumb” war that should have never been fought. The second position was related to his pledge to protect the US homeland from ISIS and ISIS-inspired terrorists.
Today, after a relentless assault by Iraqi government troops, Shia militias and Kurdish peshmerga — aided by US advisers and air strikes — ISIS is on the verge of losing Mosul, its last stronghold in Iraq. One would think Trump, as US president, would be eager to bring US troops home once Mosul falls and ISIS is defeated in Syria.
There are reports, however, that suggest that the Trump administration will likely keep several thousand US troops in Iraq post-ISIS. That decision is probably due to the assessment of US Defence Secretary James Mattis, who has been given significant leeway by Trump to chart US security policy in the region.
Aftandilian spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999).