CENTCOM officials say that the process has been considered for months, and confirmed Wednesday what the administration has said recently, that there will be a US drawdown in Iraq before the election. 2,200 troops will leave Iraq by the end of this month.
At times the Pentagon has resisted major troop cuts by the administration, but seems resigned to it this time, emphasizing that the US has made a “great sacrifice” in decades of Iraqi war, and vowing that the US would continue supporting the Iraqi government.
That is not a small point for them to emphasize, either. When the Iraqi parliament asked the US to withdraw, there was talk of the US cutting ties with Iraq entirely to punish them. That no longer seems to be contemplated.
With a pro-US premier now, Iraq isn’t pushing for an immediate pullout, and the US may want to lower troop levels this month, but probably won’t be out of Iraq entirely by the election either, leaving open whether the US is on their way out of Iraq until 2021.
Drip, drip, drip. Let’s just hightail from there, okay.
Nah we gotta let politicians get full political use outta our soldiers
How many private contractors will replace them!
USa employs private militias to fight wars in many nations guard embassies–often paid $100,000 annually…many deriving from former special forces in Peru, Colombia, Sudan, Ethiopia, etc
“That is not a small point for them to emphasize, either. When the Iraqi parliament asked the US to withdraw, there was talk of the US cutting ties with Iraq entirely to punish them.”
Along with Trump’s threats to sanction them worse than Iran. Cutting ties entirely would have been a good thing but to think that would be the extent of punishing them is dreaming.
Would they be crossing over to Syria to “protect” the oil wells ?
Fake News….! Only a voter lure scheme…!
will they be replaced by the numerous private militias employed by the US across the globe?