
Biden to announce end of combat mission in Iraq as he shifts US foreign policy focus
CNN
President Joe Biden will agree Monday to formally conclude the US combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, another step toward winding down the two prolonged military engagements that began in the years following the September 11 terror attacks.
Biden is expected to seal the agreement during Oval Office talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, his first meeting with the politically embattled leader since taking office. Unlike Biden's decision to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan, the end of the combat mission comes at Iraq's urging. The country is caught in a balancing act between anti-American factions in the country, Iranian-backed militias and the stabilizing presence of the American military.
The alleged drug traffickers killed by the US military in a strike on September 2 were heading to link up with another, larger vessel that was bound for Suriname — a small South American country east of Venezuela – the admiral who oversaw the operation told lawmakers on Thursday according to two sources with direct knowledge of his remarks.

The two men killed as they floated holding onto their capsized boat in a secondary strike against a suspected drug vessel in early September did not appear to have radio or other communications devices, the top military official overseeing the strike told lawmakers on Thursday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of his congressional briefings.











