Kurdish leader calls US withdrawal from Iraq "shameful"

Authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan have described the planned withdrawal of US troops from Iraq as “shameful”, the Financial Times reports.

Almost all remaining US troops are due to leave Iraq by September 30.

The US State Department said Iraqi security forces, including Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, had shown an “increase in capability”. It said the withdrawal marked an important new stage in relations between Iraq and the US.

But Masrour Barzani, leader of the Kurds in northern Iraq, criticised the decision, saying Washington was leaving its allies without protection from Iranian attacks.

Iraqi Kurdistan has faced at least 1,000 Iranian drone and missile strikes since the start of the US war against Iran in February, he said.

“The threat is real — we are vulnerable, we are being attacked,” Barzani said. He described being left without a proper defence system as "shameful."

The Kurdistan Regional Government has no air defence systems of its own and is unable to buy such weapons, according to Barzani.

He said the lack of access to weapons capable of countering missiles and drones was making the region “vulnerable” and “weakened”.

Barzani also warned that further instability, particularly while powerful Iraqi Shia militias linked to Iran refuse to disarm, could undermine Iraq’s federal system and threaten Kurdish autonomy from Baghdad.

Experts cited by the Financial Times said the reduction in the US military presence could leave Barzani with no choice but to reach an agreement with Iran.

He also warned that Washington risked repeating the events of 2011, when the US withdrew combat forces from Iraq under President Barack Obama, leaving a security vacuum that contributed to the rise of Islamic State.

The US returned to Iraq in 2014 to lead a coalition against Islamic State, which defeated the group in 2018.

By Aghakazim Guliyev