Peshmerga Represented in US-Iraq Military Talks

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan 24) – Monday marked the first day of a two day meeting of the US-Iraq Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue (JSCOD.) This is the second time that the JSCOD has met.. The first time was in August 2023.

The JSCOD sessions are being held at the Pentagon and include Peshmerga representation, as well as that of other Iraqi military units, Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder (US Air Force) explained.

“Today, the Pentagon is hosting the 2024 U.S.-Iraq Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue,” Ryder said in introductory remarks at the start of his press briefing on Monday.

The JSCOD lasts for two days, Monday and Tuesday, Ryder added, as he explained that “the Iraqi delegation will include participants from Iraq’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces, CounterTerrorism Service, and the Kurdish Peshmerga.” 

“The U.S. delegation will include participants from the U.S. Central Command, the [Pentagon] Joint Staff, State Department, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, and the National Security Council,” he also explained. 

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that while the Pentagon was hosting the talks, the State Department would be represented by Victoria Taylor, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran, and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Alina Romanowski. 

Ryder attributed the meeting to the visit to Washington in April of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. It marked Sudani’s first visit to the U.S. capital and his first meeting with a U.S. president. 

Read More: U.S. Seeks to Broaden Ties with Iraq, as PM Sudani Makes First Visit to Washington

Indeed in a joint statement, issued after their meeting, Biden and Sudani affirmed “their further intent to convene later this year the U.S.-Iraq Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue for talks on the future of the bilateral security partnership.” 

Their statement explained that their governments would “determine when and how the mission of the Global Coalition in Iraq would end, and transition in an orderly manner to enduring bilateral security partnerships, in accordance with Iraq’s Constitution and the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Framework Agreement.” 

That agreement was icconcluded between Baghdad and Washington in November 2008, as the presidential term of George W. Bush, who launched the war that overthrew Saddam Hussein and his regime, was drawing to an end.

And that is the focus of the JSCOD meetings on Monday and Tuesday.

Ryder further explained, “Our convening of this dialogue this week reflects both nations’ commitment to strengthen the bilateral security relationship based on the work of the Higher Military Commission over the past several months, and in recognition of the upcoming ten year anniversary of the Global Coalition’s military mission in Iraq.”

Ryder promised that he would have more to say about the JSCOD meetings, following their conclusion on Tuesday.