{"id":95799,"date":"2026-05-03T15:49:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T15:49:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/95799\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T15:49:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T15:49:43","slug":"united-states-faces-crossroads-in-iraq-as-new-prime-minister-is-appointed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/95799\/","title":{"rendered":"United States faces crossroads in Iraq as new prime minister is appointed"},"content":{"rendered":"

However, as the US seeks to put on a positive face regarding the incoming prime minister, the US is also announcing new rewards for information on several key Iraqi militia leaders.<\/p>\n

Iraq has a new prime minister<\/a> and president almost six months after it held elections in November 2025.<\/p>\n

The US mission in Iraq \u201cextends its best wishes to Prime Minister-designate Ali Al-Zaydi in his efforts to form a government capable of achieving the aspirations of all Iraqis for a brighter and more peaceful future,\u201d the US Embassy & Consulate in Iraq said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

As the US seeks to put on a positive face regarding the incoming prime minister, however, it is also offering new rewards for information on several key Iraqi militia leaders.<\/p>\n

Those militias are linked to Iran, and they carried out attacks against US forces and diplomats. They also attacked the autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe express our solidarity with the Iraqi people in their pursuit of shared goals, including safeguarding Iraq\u2019s sovereignty, enhancing security to combat terrorism, and building a prosperous future that delivers tangible benefits for both Americans and Iraqis,\u201d the US Embassy & Consulate in Iraq said.<\/p>\n

The US now has to decide what comes next. Will the Iranian militias really be reined in? There\u2019s no evidence the $10 million rewards<\/a> for several of their leaders will have an effect. The leaders apparently are still out in public, and the largest militia, the Badr Organization, is still operating without US sanctions.<\/p>\n

US funding in Iraq<\/p>\n

Questions remain about US funding for the Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq and also for continued work with Iraq. Ostensibly, the US has been supporting anti-ISIS operations in Iraq, even though those operations largely ended in 2018.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, the US sees a reason to continue to have good ties with Iraq. The US has invested large sums of money in a new consulate in the Kurdistan Region, for instance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe United States\u2019 Fiscal Year 2027 defense budget outlines a significant restructuring of its counter-ISIS campaign, including changes to financial assistance for Kurdish Peshmerga forces and Iraq,\u201d Kurdistan Region-based news channel Rudaw Media Network reported. \u201cThe Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund (CTEF) request totals $303.1 million, aimed at supporting vetted partner forces across Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria in ongoing operations against Islamic State (ISIS) remnants and networks.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Iraq, it appears $118m. will go toward existing partner forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the Peshmerga Ministry \u2013 the Kurdistan Region\u2019s equivalent of a defense ministry \u2013 is slated to receive $0 in direct funding in the proposed 2027 budget, marking a notable shift in the structure of CTEF support,\u201d the Rudaw report said.<\/p>\n

This will harm salaries for Peshmerga, and it could weaken the Kurdistan<\/a> region, which is an island of stability and a close partner of the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsked about the issue, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson [South Carolina] underlined to Rudaw the importance of ties with Erbil and Kurdish allies,\u201d Rudaw reported. Wilson said, \u201cpersonally, I\u2019ll be working with the administration [on this matter]\u2026 the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Kurdish people are very important. We want their sovereignty to be maintained within Syria and Iraq. This will be considered.\u201d<\/p>\n

US Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton said that the US \u201cmust support our allies,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

US Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Arizona) asked US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on Thursday: \u201cGiven Iraq\u2019s close ties to Iran and the growing challenges we\u2019re facing with their government, does [the secretary of war] believe the $118 million we\u2019re providing them for counter-ISIS operations is a wise use of American taxpayer dollars?\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, Hegseth said the US was paying close attention to the new government in Iraq. Some of Iraq\u2019s efforts have been successful, and some have not, he said.<\/p>\n

The US has left bases in Syria over the past year. Now it will face a major test about what comes next in Iraq.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"However, as the US seeks to put on a positive face regarding the incoming prime minister, the US…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1711,94,3571,3378,33694,2078,1690],"class_list":{"0":"post-95799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iraq","8":"tag-baghdad","9":"tag-iraq","10":"tag-kurdish-peshmerga","11":"tag-kurdistan-region","12":"tag-militia-leaders","13":"tag-northern-iraq","14":"tag-the-united-states"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116511438529351176","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}