GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

To Leave or Not to Leave: The U.S. Security Dilemma in Iraq

Feb 6, 2020 | 11:00 GMT

In this March 18, 2018, file image, members of the U.S. Air Force carry the flag-draped transfer case holding the remains of Air Force Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso of Commack, New York, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Raguso was killed in a helicopter crash in western Iraq.

More than 4,500 American service members have been killed in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. Security issues and conditions in Iraq will dictate whether U.S. forces will remain and, if so, what will be their size and mission.

(ALEX WONG/Getty Images)

The United States does not have attractive options as far as its military presence in Iraq, but it has workable ones to achieve its strategic and security goals....