News / Military

Trump to announce troop drawdown in Iraq

Wednesday, 09 September 2020 8:09 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 09 September 2020 8:28 AM ]

US soldiers gather at a military base north of Mosul, Iraq, January 4, 2017. (Reuters photo)

US President Donald Trump plans to further reduce the number of American troops in Iraq, according to a senior administration official.

Trump is slated to issue an announcement on Wednesday which will also be followed by another one in the coming days on a further drawdown of US forces in Afghanistan, the official told reporters on Tuesday.

Last month, a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the number of US troops in Iraq would be reduced by about a third in the coming months.

Calls for a complete withdrawal of American troops peaked and US-Iraq tensions rose after Washington’s assassination of Iranian top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani.

Assassination of Iran's general proves US leads global terrorism: FM

The Iranian Foreign Ministry says the US assassination of Iran’s top anti-terror commander General Soleimani proved that the US is lading sponsor of terrorism.

The US assassinated General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and a group of their companions in Baghdad on January 3. The operation was conducted with Trump’s authorization and the US Department of Defense took responsibility for the assassination.

Two days later, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved a bill, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States. However, Washington rejected the call to pull American forces out of the Arab country, claiming that their presence was "appropriate."

Iraqi lawmakers approve bill to expel US forces from country

The lawmakers, in line with their national and regulatory responsibilities, singed the four-point draft.

Now, Trump, who is trailing Democratic rival Joe Biden in polls ahead of the Nov. 3 election, is announcing the troops withdrawal apparently to convince voters that he is following through on promises to end what he has described as US endless wars.

There are currently 5,200 troops in Iraq and 8,600 troops in Afghanistan.

In an interview with Axios released last month, Trump said the United States planned to lower the number of American troops in Afghanistan to around 4,000.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in October 2001. Having failed to end the Taliban’s militancy, American forces have since remained bogged down in war-wracked country through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Trump.

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