NATO, in close coordination with the United States, wants to decide on the future of its suspended training mission in Iraq. The alliance is “in close and regular contact with our friends in the United States government,” said General Stuart Peach, chairman of the NATO Military Committee, in Brussels today. The NATO chiefs of staff met there for a two-day meeting.
You should also consider US President Donald Trump’s call for NATO to become more involved in the Middle East. NATO has been training security forces in Iraq since 2017. The deployment last included around 500 armed forces, most of them from Canada. After the killing of Iranian general Kassem Soleimani in early January by a US drone attack in Iraq, the parliament in Baghdad demanded that all foreign troops be withdrawn. Like the German Bundeswehr, NATO subsequently suspended the training of Iraqi security forces.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has since emphasized that NATO is ready to resume the training mission. This makes the alliance dependent on the approval of the Iraqi government.
