US has not abandoned Iraq, says former official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States has not abandoned Iraq during its ongoing political crisis, a former US official said on Thursday, noting that parties in Baghdad need to reach an agreement to prevent further chaos in the country.

Iraq is in a deepening political impasse triggered by the parliament’s failure to form a government due to disputes between the major blocs of the legislature over the mechanism of its formation.

“A lot of people who have said that the United States has abandoned Iraq, [and] is starting to abandon the Middle East… The United States is not abandoning anybody. They are realigning, not their necessarily priorities, but their main objectives,” Vincent Campos, former public diplomacy officer at the US State Department told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda on Thursday, adding that Washington constantly conducts an assessment to determine the right level of needed engagement.

Campos emphasized the need for the political parties to affirm their commitment to efforts aimed at the progress of the country and preventing it from sliding into further disarray.

“They [parties] all need to come to an agreement. We do not want chaos, we want progress. Once they agree on that, and they all have to agree on that, and they all really need to affirm their commitment to work towards that end, then you can start looking at the objectives that must be met along the way in order to save Iraq from falling into further chaos,” he added.

Iraq was plunged into mayhem after powerful Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr said he was quitting politics, leading to deadly clashes between his supporters and rivaling pro-Iran militias, claiming the lives of at least 30 people and injuring 500 others.

US President Joe Biden called on the political actors in Iraq to partake in a national dialogue to overcome the ongoing political crisis in the country, offering Washington’s support in the efforts to de-escalate the political instability in the region.