Fox News: The Pentagon still refuses to disclose the number of its forces stationed in Iraq
Fox News: The Pentagon still refuses to disclose the number of its forces stationed in Iraq
10-1-2024
Information/Translation…
The Pentagon is planning to reduce U.S. forces in Iraq, but is refusing to disclose their size, Fox News reported Tuesday. Officials declined to disclose the number of 2,500 troops that will remain in Iraq. The Pentagon has also completed plans to end the U.S.-led mission by next year, with many U.S. troops leaving bases they have occupied for the past two decades.
The report, translated by Al-Maalouma Agency, stated that “the Biden administration still insists that its plan is not a complete withdrawal from the country, but it has refused to disclose the number of the 2,500 troops currently stationed in Iraq that will remain, while the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, told reporters, “I think it is fair to say that our footprint will change inside the country.”
The report added that “American officials refused to describe the plan as a withdrawal, which raised confusion about the form of the American presence there in the coming months, while a senior official in the Biden administration said: “I would like to emphasize that this is an evolution of the military mission in Iraq.”
“We have a very effective ally there, the Kurds, the Syrian Kurds, who we don’t want to abandon,” said Ambassador James Jeffrey, the former presidential envoy for the coalition to fight ISIS in Iraq. “The American withdrawal will allow space for Russia and Iran to tighten their grip on the region,” he said, revealing that the American presence is not for ISIS but rather beyond its stated goals.
“US forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan have come under increasing attack since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza broke out nearly a year ago. Three US soldiers were killed in a drone attack last January on a US base in Jordan supporting operations in Syria. US forces have responded with periodic airstrikes in response, such as one in July near Baghdad, which drew sharp rebukes from the Iraqi public.”
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