CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress
INSIGHTi
Iraq: Attacks and U.S. Strikes Reopen Discussion of U.S. Military Presence
Updated August 6, 2024
After a months-long pause (Figure 1), the recurrence of attacks on facilities in Iraq hosting U.S. personnel and U.S. defensive measures could affect U.S.-Iraqi talks on the future of U.S. forces in Iraq. Iran-backed armed groups attacked U.S. personnel in Iraq more than 60 times between the October 2023 onset of the Israel-Hamas war and February 4, 2024, and, in response, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. air strikes in Iraq and in neighboring Syria. Attacks recurred in April, July, and August 2024, including an attack that wounded U.S. personnel on August 5. A U.S. defensive strike on July 30 marked the first such U.S. strike since February 2024.
Iraqi security officials visited Washington, DC, in July 2024 for Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue talks, and the two sides “decided to begin work on a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide an enhanced framework for their bilateral security relationship.” Press reports indicated the July 30 U.S. strike killed members of the state-affiliated 47th Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) brigade, which reportedly consists of members of the Iran-backed, U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH). An Iraqi official called the U.S. strike “a heinous crime” and said it could “significantly undermine” joint diplomatic and military efforts and could embroil Iraq in regional conflict. Following the August 5 attack that wounded U.S. personnel, an Iraqi official said Iraq was pursuing the perpetrators and said Iraq rejects “all reckless actions and practices targeting Iraqi bases, diplomatic missions, and the whereabouts of the international coalition’s advisers, and everything that would raise tension in the region.”
The attacks and U.S. strike may affect talks that began in January on the “evolution” of the coalition mission to “enable the transition to an enduring bilateral security partnership.” That month, Iraq’s government, citing risks to Iraq’s security from the attacks and U.S. counter-strikes, announced it seeks to end the presence in Iraq of the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State (IS, aka ISIS/ISIL) and to engage in bilateral discussions about the future of the U.S. military presence.
In June 2024, President Biden cited the Iraqi government’s invitation for U.S. forces and the coalition to remain in Iraq in his semiannual comprehensive war powers report to Congress. As of December 2023, U.S. Central Command reported that approximately 2,400 U.S. military personnel were deployed in Iraq and 800 in Syria. The U.S. military presence in Iraq and U.S. military access to Iraq’s airspace and land border with Syria facilitate U.S. military operations in Syria, where IS insurgents have been more active.
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IN12309
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U.S. forces report that attacks since October 2023 have required resource reallocation and greater force protection.
Attacks, U.S. Strikes, and Iraqi Responses
Following the U.S. killing in Iraq of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-Qods Force commander Qasem Soleimani and an Iraqi security official (both U.S.-designated terrorists) in January 2020, Iraq’s parliament voted to direct the Iraqi government to expel foreign forces and deny foreign access to Iraqi airspace, territory, and waters. Iraq’s then-caretaker government did not do so, and its successors engaged U.S. counterparts in talks that led in December 2021 to an announced end to U.S. combat operations and a transition to training and advisory support. Intermittent attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq continued through early 2023, with some attributed to Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups. President Biden directed strikes following some attacks on U.S. personnel in Syria and Iraq, and the Administration has stated its intent to defend U.S. personnel with “proportional” responses.
Figure 1. Attacks on U.S. Personnel and U.S. Strikes in Iraq and Syria
Since October 17, 2023, and as of August 6, 2024
Source: CRS, using U.S. Department of Defense announcements and media reports. On October 24, 2023, the Department of Defense acknowledged 13 attacks on U.S. forces since October 17, 2023. Notes: KH = Kata’ib Hezbollah. HN = Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba. CRS cannot validate attack and strike details.
From October 2023 to February 2024, observers documented more than 150 claimed attacks by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” on U.S. and other targets in Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Jordan, including the January 28 attack in Jordan that killed and injured U.S. servicemembers. Reportedly, U.S. response strikes destroyed facilities of the IRGC and of an Iran-backed Iraqi group in Syria and Iraq, and killed some members of Iraqi groups inside Iraq. Iraq’s government has described attacks on U.S. forces as hostile acts while saying U.S. strikes on Iraqi territory violate Iraqi sovereignty. Dozens of U.S. strikes on February 2 targeted militia groups in Iraq, prompting Iraq’s government to summon the U.S. chargé d’affaires and submit a letter of protest over what it described as “a new act of aggression.” After a U.S. strike on February 7 killed a KH leader, relative calm prevailed, but subsequent attacks and the U.S. strike on July 30 suggest that previous patterns could resume.
Some members of Iraq’s parliament call for the expulsion of U.S. forces. Iraq’s parliament could play a role in ratifying any future bilateral security agreements.
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IN12309 · VERSION 10 · UPDATED
Possible Considerations for Congress
In December 2023, Congress authorized U.S. counter-IS partnership programs in Iraq and Syria through December 2024. Members of Congress may consider how potential changes to the U.S. and/or coalition presence in Iraq may affect U.S. interests in the region; whether changes should be made to patterns of U.S. assistance to Iraqi and Syrian partners; whether additional consultation with the executive branch or oversight is warranted; and how attacks on U.S. personnel and U.S. strikes comport with the War Powers Resolution and the 2001 and 2002 legislative authorizations for the use of military force.
In considering possible outcomes of regional security developments and U.S.-Iraqi talks, executive branch requests for regular and supplemental funding, and defense authorization provisions in 2024, Congress may assess the following:
• How essential is the U.S. and coalition military presence in Iraq? How does the U.S. military presence in Iraq relate to U.S. efforts to counter and deter Iran? How does it affect risks of wider conflict?
• How might changes to the U.S. and/or coalition presence in Iraq affect • U.S. operations in Syria? U.S. embassy security? the NATO mission in Iraq?
• Iraq’s security and regional security?
• relationships between Iraqi groups and the Iraqi government, including the Kurdistan Regional Government and U.S.-supported peshmerga forces?
• How if at all should U.S. defense and foreign assistance funding and authorities evolve?
Author Information
Christopher M. Blanchard Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs
Disclaimer
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