Al-Qaim is in a flashpoint area along the Iraq-Syria border.
The US army is taking out of al-Qaim and two other crucial military bases in Iraq in the coming weeks.
The decision to leave 3 of its eight bases in Iraq is an indication the US is wanting to drastically lower its footprint in the country.
It comes in the middle of heightened tensions with the Iraqi government and Iran.
A ceremony will happen this week at al-Qaim, where the US will formally hand over devices to the Iraqi army to assist it make sure security in the area.
It will end any US existence along the Iraqi side of the border with Syria.
The base is developed on the ruins of one the Iraq’s oldest train stations, near a tiny town of the exact same name along the Euphrates river.
The area was the top place in Iraq to fall into the hands of the Islamic State group (IS) in 2014 and among the last taken back by Iraqi forces in November 2017.
The al-Qaim area was the top place in Iraq to fall to IS and among the last taken back.
After the triumph versus IS in the area, Iranian-backed militia groups took control of both sides of the border.
Although Iraqi security forces have likewise had a presence around al-Qaim, it is now primarily under the control of among those militia groups, the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF),
I have taken a trip to al-Qaim with US forces twice in the past two years and have witnessed how the atmosphere around the base has gradually changed.
In December 2017, both Iraqi and US flags might be seen flying as US-led coalition and Iraqi forces interacted to eliminate IS.
At that time, PMF-affiliated groups, especially Kataib Hezbollah and al-Tofof Brigades, both with close ties to Iran’s Islamic Transformation Guard Corps (IRGC), were also fighting IS on both sides of the border.
It was an unpleasant scenario for both sides but they had a common enemy to defeat. The Iraqi army served as a go-between, often co-ordinating parallel operations against IS.
‘ We will make them leave’
However during m