The Pentagon will reduce presence in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 troops this month, it announced on Wednesday in a long-anticipated move. The withdrawal is touted as acknowledging Baghdad’s progress in building its own forces.
The US recognizes “the great progress the Iraqi forces have made,” Marine General Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, said during a visit to Iraq as he announced the relocation of American troops.
The drawdown in Iraq was long unticipated and likely to be confirmed soon by Donald Trump along with a similar move in Afghanistan. The US president has long expressed desire to reduce foreign deployments. He reiterated the promise to reduce military presence in Iraq last month during a visit to the country.
The announcement is likely to fuel heated political debate in the US, where Trump stands accused of being disrespectful to the national military. Last week a story in the Atlantic magazine claimed he called American soldiers killed in World War I “losers” and “suckers” as he refused to visit a military cemetery in France.
Trump angrily rejected the accusations and went on an Eisenhower-esque verbal attack against top military commanders accusing them of cozying up to defense contractors.
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