Ahead of a meeting with President Biden in Washington, Prime Minister al-Kadhimi maintained that “there is no need for any foreign combat forces on Iraqi soil”, adding: “the war against IS and the readiness of our forces requires a special timetable, and this depends on the negotiations that we will conduct in Washington”. “What we want from the U.S. presence in Iraq is to support our forces in training and developing their efficiency and capabilities, and in security cooperation”, he asserted. “Iraq has a set of American weapons that need maintenance and training. We will ask the American side to continue to support our forces and develop our capabilities”.