The Iraqi Prime Minister believes that the US should reduce its military presence in the country, as the Islamic State terrorist group will be defeated in the very near future.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi speaks in Washington, DC, April 16, 2015 (Photo: AFP Photo / Jim Watson)
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called on Washington to reduce the number of its troops in the Arab country, as the Pentagon started to build up its military presence despite the fact that the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group is going to face a crushing defeat in the near future.
“As we are crushing Daesh [IS], it is clear that there is a need to reduce the number of our allies who are helping us,” the Middle East Eye news portal quoted his words.
The remarks were made just before al-Abadi’s meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington.
“Daesh [IS] is about to collapse and is on the verge of defeat. Their family members are fleeing,” the Prime Minister said.
At the same time, he noted that Baghdad wants the US side to continue to train the Iraqi forces and increase efforts in this direction.
“We have to strengthen our armed forces and security forces and this will need a lot of help from our allies to give proper training,” al-Abadi said.
In 2011, the US withdrew its forces from Iraq, but later dispatched to the country several thousands of troops as part of the coalition’s forces, which mainly support Iraqi Kurds in their autonomous regions. Currently, there are about 5,000 US servicemen in Iraq.
Last week, it was reported that the Pentagon was going to dispatch 2,500 servicemen from the 82nd Airborne Division to Kuwait, from where they will be sent to Syria and Iraq to allegedly fight against the IS.
On Tuesday, al-Abadi said that the military operation on liberation of the western part of Mosul from the IS is “in its last stage.”
Interesting. I was wondering why full brigade of 82nd was deploying to Kuwait. Maybe they will just fly around the area and make Iran worry a bit? This could be their mission.
They may well be waiting for ISIS to take Deir Ezzor. Looks like ISIS will not take DE at the moment, but if they do, I would guess 82nd would be straight in with air support to claim DE as US territory.
Mr. Prime Minister: your suggestion is wishful fantasy. Just look at the US military personnel deployed in Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea. The war in your country is far from being won and finished. The US military will cling to it like a leech for the next 100 years. Without continuous war, provocations and ongoing equipment upgrades, US foreign policy would be extremely boring. The boys and girls at the US State Department and the Pentagon do not want that. It justifies their existence.
That won’t happen because Iraqis will resist the American occupation for the second time. They already proved they could do it once.
the more they stay in Iraq and other parts of the worlds the more they will suffer, more important then that is that most of iraqis dont want them to be there.
The US will for sure stay in order to build up against Iran in the future. That’s also a reason why they support the Kurds who couldn’t be autonomous without the US. Support the weak side and they will be forever dependent on you.
Then the Iraqis will turn on US forces
This is only a lip service. But the americans should leave Iraq immediately after the liberation of Mosul. They should leave Iraq to the Iraqis.
Brave words for a man in Washington ! But suggesting they stay to “train troops” , only gives them a reason to stay and “help” . Their help , is destabilization.
After returning , make a correcting statement , with Syria and Iran .