The United States on Wednesday announced a sharp cut in troop numbers in Iraq, as President Donald Trump pledges to end the country's "endless wars" with just two months to go before the election. Trying to respect.
The Pentagon's image in Iraq has been
reduced’ from 5,200 troops to just 3,000 and the expected parallel announcement
on Afghanistan comes as Trump struggles to stay in power. Does.
White House spokesman Kelly McKinney
rejected suggestions that the announced withdrawal was an election move, saying
"now is the time" because Iraq is stable and its security forces are
fully prepared.
"The end of wars that never end. We
often hear this. We often do not see what is really done," he said.
"It's a fact: President Trump has
broken the 39-year-old wave of US presidents. He will either start a war or
bring the United States into an international armed conflict."
The head of the US Central Command,
General Kenneth McKenzie, said in Baghdad that the withdrawal was "due to
our confidence in the ability of Iraqi security forces to operate
independently."
That would take the US presence there to
its lowest level since Trump's predecessor Barack Obama cut troops for a token
force in 2012 in a previous attempt to end the nine-year war.
But Obama was forced’ to overthrow by the
rise of the Islamic State group (IS), and the number of troops inside Iraq was
increased to more than 5,000 as part of an international coalition to fight jihadists.
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- 'Bring them home' -
Due to the threat of Covid 19 and rocket
attacks by Iraqi-linked Iraqi armed groups on Iraqi operations, some troops had
only moved to bases in the Gulf region.
But, as Democrat Joe Biden fights for
re-election, Trump has sought to honor his repeated pledges during his 2016
campaign to end American wars abroad and bring back servicemen.
"We've stopped the United States from
new wars and we're bringing our troops back home, we're bringing them back from
all these remote places," Trump said in a campaign statement Tuesday in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Said in the speech.
"We've spent hundreds of billions of
dollars, and what will we get out of it?" He added: "Biden voted for
the Iraq war."
Recalling Obama's 2014 coup in Baghdad,
some Iraqis were skeptical.
But others insisted that the United States
had to withdraw altogether.
"We do not want to completely sever
ties with the United States," said Ali Suleiman, executive of the Hashed
al-Shabi, a government-sponsored network of militants under the influence of
pro-Iranian forces.
"But if it doesn't go away
completely, we will fight it," Solomon said.
- Cuts in Afghanistan -
Trump has also called for the withdrawal
of US troops from Afghanistan, where he had more than 12,000 troops under his
control to put pressure on the Taliban and IS.
That number dropped to 8,600 in July after
an agreement was reached’ between Washington and the Taliban in February, and
is expected to be closer to 4,500 in October.
McKenzie has said that if a peace
agreement is reached’ between the Taliban and the Afghan government, it could
all end by May 2021.
But pressure on the Pentagon to deviate
sharply in the Middle East and Afghanistan has strained relations with defense
chiefs, who have spoken out against the Taliban, remnants of Islamic State and
Iranians seeking land after the US departure. Are worried
- Focus on voters -
Trump believes it is possible to advance
his position among voters, fed up with the conflict that began nearly two
decades ago, following the September 11, 2001, attacks by al Qaeda.
But even Trump's support has waned because
of hateful remarks about the military.
Last week, Atlantic Magazine reported that
in 2018, Trump cited American Marines buried in World War I cemeteries in
France as "defeated" and "soccer" when killed in action.
The White House has denied the
allegations, but the reporter cites a number of first-hand sources, and has
been supported’ by other publications.
Then on Sunday, Trump suggested that the
Pentagon leadership support wars to keep defense contractors in business.
"I'm not saying the military loves
me, the soldiers are," Trump said in the White House.
"The Pentagon is probably not the top
people, because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all the amazing
companies that make bombs and planes and everyone else are happy."
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