The top US General said Monday that a letter suggesting the US would withdraw troops from Iraq was released by mistake and poorly worded
Monday, January 06, 2020
VietPress USA (Jan. 6, 2020): President Trump threatened Iraq with sanctions and a bill for billions of dollars if the U.S. is forced to withdraw its troops from the nation after the Iraqi parliament, responding to a U.S. airstrike that killed a powerful Iranian general on its soil, voted in favor of expelling American forces.
The nonbinding resolution—passed Sunday with the backing of Shiite politicians—urges Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi to rescind Iraq’s invitation to U.S. forces that helped rescue the country after Islamic State overran about one...
According to CNN, The top US general said Monday a letter suggesting the US would withdraw troops from Iraq was released by mistake and poorly worded, telling reporters "that's not what's happening."
But for over an hour, military officials in Washington and Baghdad were unable to offer a definitive answer about the letter's veracity or whether it indicated that US troops were, in fact, about to be moved out of Iraq, and the lack of clarity fueled significant confusion about its meaning.
In the end, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, was able to provide some clarity, telling reporters that the letter itself was a draft and its release was an "honest mistake."
The timing of the incident, however, was unfortunate, coming as military officials, along with other members of President Donald Trump's national security team, continue to face questions about the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.
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Pentagon gets signals crossed over Iraq withdrawal. Confusion ensues.
The future of the U.S. deployment to Iraq, which began with the Iraq War in 2003, remained in doubt Monday after a memo outlining plans to withdraw from the country circulated in public — and shortly afterward was disowned by the Pentagon.
After the American drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani at a Baghdad airport last week, the Iraqi Parliament passed a nonbinding resolution calling for an end to the deployment. The approximately 5,000 troops are mostly serving in a training and support mission for the Iraqi military in the fight against ISIS.
President Trump, who campaigned on ending the U.S. involvement in Iraq, demanded compensation for the military bases that the U.S. would leave behind and threatened to impose economic sanctions if Iraq failed to comply.
On Monday afternoon, a memo began circulating in the media, addressed to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense from Marine Brig. Gen. William Seely, commanding general of Task Force Iraq, stating that the United States would be “repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement.” The copy of the memo that was shared online was unsigned, although Seely’s name was typed at the bottom.
“We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure,” concluded the memo, whose authenticity was verified by multiple reporters in the region.
Shortly after the memo was circulated, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said it wasn’t accurate.
“There’s been no decision whatsoever to leave Iraq,” Esper said, adding, “There’s no decision to leave, nor did we issue any plans to leave or prepare to leave.”
After Esper finished addressing reporters, Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the letter was real but did not accurately reflect current Pentagon plans.
“It was a mistake, an honest mistake, a draft unsigned letter, because we are moving forces around,” Milley told reporters, adding, “It shouldn't have been sent.”
While it was unsigned, the letter was delivered to the Iraqis and leaked to media in the country by the prime minister’s office.
The confusion comes on the same day it was announced that Esper’s chief of staff, Eric Chewning, was leaving the Department of Defense, the latest official to leave the Pentagon. Questions remain about the circumstances of the strike against Soleimani, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it prevented an “imminent” attack but dodged questions on what exactly that meant. The New York Times reported that one intelligence official said that Soleimani’s travels were “business as usual” and that they were surprised Trump chose the most extreme option in response to the storming of the American Embassy in Baghdad three days earlier.
Trump has also promised sanctions against Iraq if U.S. troops are forced to leave and threatened to strike cultural sites in Iran, which could constitute a war crime.
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