US plans to reduce military presence in Iraq

The Pentagon will reduce US military personnel in Iraq to 3,000 later this month from 5,200 at present, partially meeting an Iraqi parliament request for a full withdrawal of US troops.

"This decision is due to our confidence in the Iraqi Security Forces' increased ability to operate independently" against the remnants of Islamist group Isis, general Frank McKenzie, the senior US military commander in the Middle East, said yesterday.

The US administration initially rejected calls to remove the US troops made by the Iraqi parliament in January, after the US and Iran targeted each other's forces in Iraq in a series of missile strikes. The US State Department has said continued presence of US troops is vital for continued cooperation with Iraq on energy and other areas and has called on Iraqi prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to assert control over Iran-backed militias in the country. But the Pentagon since January has consolidated US troops into fewer bases and indicated agreement with a partial withdrawal.

The decision may also be a nod to domestic US politics. President Donald Trump, who is fighting for re-election, is renewing his pledge to end US presence in "crazy endless wars" in the Middle East. Trump, who recently came under criticism over his alleged remarks disparaging US troops and veterans, said on 7 September that the top military leaders "are not in love with me" because "they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy."

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who said last month that continued US presence in Iraq was key for the Opec producer's security, defended the partial withdrawal today. "The decisions the president has made about the number of troops we will have there reduces American risk for our young men and women and reduces the cost to American taxpayers," Pompeo said in a televised interview.

Trump's administration deployed 14,000 personnel and missile defense systems in the Middle East last year after its policy of "maximum pressure" against Iran resulted in attacks on oil tankers and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region.

Between 500-1,000 US troops remain in Syria, despite Trump's announcements, twice in 2018-19, that the US military will leave that country. Trump said he was persuaded to leave a contingent of US troops in Syria to protect the country's oil installations. The US administration recently authorized an unnamed US oil company's exploration deal in the part of northern Syria under the control of US-backed Kurdish forces.

By Haik Gugarats