The White House on Thursday nominated Tracey Ann Jacobson as the new US ambassador to Iraq, as Washington and Baghdad prepare to begin talks on the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/us-news/2024/01/25/isis-us-iraq-troop-withdrawal/" target="_blank">possible end of the anti-ISIS coalition</a> in the country. Ms Jacobson, a career member of the foreign service, was most recently interim charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Ethiopia. She has also been ambassador to Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Kosovo. Ms Jacobson was also deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Riga, Latvia, and held positions at the State Department and the National Security Council. Her appointment comes at a delicate moment in US-Iraq relations, as the countries have announced they will soon begin formal talks that could end the presence of the American-led anti-ISIS military coalition. About 2,500 US troops are stationed in Iraq in an advise-and-assist capacity. A series of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/iraq/2023/11/22/us-continues-iraq-air-strikes-hitting-major-base-of-iran-backed-militias/" target="_blank">strikes against Iran-backed militias</a> in the country has led to increasing calls for the Americans to leave.
