US forces ‘to start withdrawing from 15 bases in Iraq’

[SocalDinar]

US forces ‘to start withdrawing from 15 bases in Iraq’

 

February 10, 2020 at 12:57 pm | Published in: Asia & Americas, Iraq, Middle East, News, US

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greet members of the US military during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq on December 26, 2018. - [SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images]

 

February 10, 2020 at 12:57 pm

 

47 SHARES

US forces have started to withdraw from 15 bases across Iraq according to a report by Sky News Arabia.

France, Germany and Australia have also submitted requests to the joint special operations command to set up the withdrawal of their own forces from the country, the chair of the Iraqi parliamentary defence committee, Badr Al-Ziyadi, is reported to have said by Bloomberg

 

 

Iran aide: US presence in Iraq, Syria is over

“The next government is responsible for setting a timetable, whether for the exit of foreign forces or the presence of military bases in some areas, especially in the Kurdistan region,” added Al-Ziyadi. “There is no movement or sorties of the coalition forces at the moment.”

However, a correspondent for Israel’s state-owned Kan tweeted that a US official told him the reports were not accurate and that the US is “continuing our fight with the Iraqi military against [ISIS]”.

Amichai Stein

 

✔@AmichaiStein1

 

 

US official tells me reports US Military is withdrawing from from 15 bases in #Iraq "Isn't accurate. We are continuning our fight with Iraqi millitary against ISIS" https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1226800136099069952 …

سكاي نيوز عربية-عاجل

 

✔@SkyNewsArabia_B

 

مراسلنا: بدء انسحاب القوات الأميركية من 15 قاعدة في العراق

 

7

02:05 - 10 Feb 2020

 

 

 

 

 

The report follows the claim by Ali Akbar Velayati, the senior foreign policy adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Saturday that the American era in the region, especially in Syria and Iraq, has come to an end.

Velayati’s comments were made during a ceremony commemorating the 40th day after the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani of the Quds Force, which he said paved the way for the imminent US withdrawal from the region.

Ayad Allawi condemns Iran’s interference in Iraqi government’s formation

The deputy head of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, was killed alongside Soleimani. Following mass demonstrations against the US military presence in Iraq, this prompted the Iraqi parliament to vote for the US to initiate plans for a withdrawal.

The US has rejected the request, with US Special Envoy to the anti-Daesh coalition, James Jeffrey, insisting that the agreement to station US forces is between Washington and the Iraqi government, not the parliament.

The new Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, is currently supported by influential Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, who advocates an independent Iraq.

Iran also supports Allawi, who is working towards US withdrawal from Iraq, which would likely lead to stronger ties with Tehran and Damascus at the expense of Washington and its regional allies.

Although not popular with anti-government protestors, Allawi has pledged to work with the UN to implement their demands.

 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200210-us-forces-to-start-withdrawing-from-15-bases-in-iraq/

 

US Begins Troop Withdrawal From 15 Bases in Iraq

 

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  U.S Army paratroopers prepare to board an aircraft bound for the U.S. Central Command area of operations from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, U.S. Jan. 4, 2020. | Photo: U.S. Army/Reuters

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Published 10 February 2020 (2 hours 27 minutes ago)

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On Jan. 5, the Iraqi Parliament convened to vote on a resolution that called for the expulsion of the U.S. Armed Forces from the country.

The United States has started withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, Al Arabiya TV reported Monday citing Iraqi parliament member from the National Security and Defense Commission Ali al-Ghanimi.

 

According to the lawmaker, U.S. troops are beginning to leave 15 military bases in the country and will confine their presence to two big bases, the one near the city of Erbil in northern Iraq and Ain al-Asad airbase in the Anbar province some 180 kilometers west of Baghdad.

Those two bases were struck on Jan. 7 by dozens of Irani missiles in a retaliatory offensive for the killing of Major-General Qassem Soleimani. Although the U.S. reported that no personel was injured at the time to downplay the strike, up until Monday there are over 100 cases of soldiers with traumatic brain injuries. 

With regards to the reports of a withdrawal, there have been no official comments from the U.S. as of yet but Iraq’s lawmakers and the country’s government continues to uphold their decision to expel all foreign forces from Iraq.

On Jan. 5, the Iraqi Parliament convened to vote on a resolution that called for the expulsion of the U.S. Armed Forces from the country. Since it was passed in the absence of several leading parliamentary factions, they argue this resolution is illegitimate and unbinding and its legality is yet to be confirmed by the country’s Federal Supreme Court.

 

However, right after the decision, backed by millions in Iraq, U.S. President Donald Trump warned the country that they could face sanctions if they force the U.S. military to withdraw. The Pentagon has continuously refused to abide by Iraq’s decision. 

The U.S. military has had a military presence inside of Iraq since the 2003 invasion that led to the overthrow of then-President Saddam Hussein and his government. While former President Barack Obama did ‘officially’ end the Iraq War in 2010, some 5,200 troops remained in an advisory role.

These troops are based in several parts of the country, including the Al-Anbar and Nineveh provinces that border neighboring Syria. The U.S. has used these bases in Nineveh and Al-Anbar to reinforce and resupply their forces inside Syria as they continue operations against the Islamic State group. https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/US-Begins-Troop-Withdrawal-From-15-Bases-in-Iraq-20200210-0008.html

[SupraRacer]

24 minutes ago, SocalDinar said:

“The next government is responsible for setting a timetable, whether for the exit of foreign forces or the presence of military bases in some areas, especially in the Kurdistan region,” added Al-Ziyadi.

 

This right there tells me this is a farce fake news story.  Just another Irainian puppet thinking they know what is going on.

 

SR

[SocalDinar]

4 minutes ago, SupraRacer said:

 

This right there tells me this is a farce fake news story.  Just another Irainian puppet thinking they know what is going on.

 

SR

A lot of truth to that.

 

U.S. Central Command Denies Report of Troop Pullout From 15 Iraqi Bases

Verity Ratcliffe, Bloomberg News

 

U.S. soldiers in Iskandariya, Babil Province Iraq. Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images , Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Central Command denied reports about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from 15 bases in Iraq.

“Reports that the U.S. has pulled out of 15 bases in Iraq are not correct,” Centcom media relations officer Major Beth Riordan said in a statement.

Abu Dhabi-based Sky News Arabia earlier reported that the U.S. is pulling out from 15 bases in Iraq and that France, Germany and Australia had submitted a similar request.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/u-s-central-command-denies-report-of-troop-pullout-from-15-iraqi-bases-1.1387795

[SocalDinar]

Iraq denies MP’s claim that France, Germany and Australia requested to withdraw troops

https://www.thenational.ae/world/mena/iraq-denies-mp-s-claim-that-france-germany-and-australia-requested-to-withdraw-troops-1.977124

A member of the country’s security and defence committee claimed an official letter had been submitted by Paris, Berlin and Canberra

 

A French soldier engaged in Operation Chammal stands guard in front of a wheeled 155mm gun-howitzer Caesar system on February 9, 2019, near Al Qaim in Iraq. AFP

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command has denied a claim by a member of its security and defence committee that France, Germany and Australia asked Baghdad to prepare for their forces to leave.

The office of Badr Al Ziyadi told The National on Monday that Paris, Berlin and Canberra had officially submitted a letter to set a timetable for the exit of their troops.

“Their request has been to set up a timetable for the withdrawal of their troops. The next government will take the responsibility of setting the timetable and the exit strategy for foreign troops.”

But Major General Tahsin Al Khafaji, the spokesperson of the Joint Operations Command, denied that the three nations had submitted any such request.

When contacted again by The National, Mr Al Ziyadi’s office said the request was only made verbally by commanders from the three countries to the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, and not communicated by letter.

There was no immediate confirmation of the verbal request from Paris, Berlin or Canberra, and the proposed timetable for the withdrawal remains unknown. The National has contacted the French, German and Australian foreign ministries for comment.

Mr Al Ziyadi is a member of parliament from the Sairoon bloc headed by the populist cleric Moqtada Al Sadr.

 

 

Mr Al Sadr's Mahdi army fought American and British forces in Baghdad and the city of Najaf following the US-led invasion in 2003. Last month, his supporters staged a march in Baghdad to demand that US troops leave Iraq along with other foreign forces. They also want Iraq’s security agreements with the US to be cancelled, and the closure of Iraqi airspace to American military and surveillance aircraft.

Germany has a training mission in Iraq and its Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer made a surprise visit to Baghdad on January 15 to meet Iraqi military chiefs amid uncertainty over Berlin’s military presence in the country.

Questions about the presence of foreign troops in Iraq comes at a time of heightened tensions between the US and Iran following the assassination of Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in a US drone strike at Baghdad International Airport last month.

The killing prompted mass protests in Iran and revenge attacks against US bases in Iraq.

 

 

Suleimani is believed to have ordered the brutal crackdown on mass protests in Baghdad and southern cities that threatened the rule of the government.

The Iraqi parliament voted last month to call for the withdrawal of US forces from the country. Germany said it would reduce its troop numbers in Iraq for security reasons following the death of Suleimani. Canada said it would move some of its 500 troops in Iraq to Kuwait.

The US sent a letter to the Iraqi military joint operations command last month concerning a possible withdrawal of its troops from the country, but it did not state that all of its troops would be immediately withdrawn.

[pontiyak]

Groundhog Day....

The US and Iraq have been down this road before.

The US pulled out and ISIS wrecked havoc in Iraq, and the US had to come back in and save the day...AGAIN !!

ISIS was partially funded by Iran...DUH,!!!...  even though certain segments of Iran's military helped to defeat ISIS.

 

Iran is playing both sides of the equation in an attempt to take over Iraq.

 Iran has wanted to own and control Iraq for over 50 years....

Have we all forgotten the Iran/Iraq wars ?

 

The more things change the more they stay the same...

 

The best things in life RV.

 

yak.

 

[Donziman]

This is about a story told to Iran's old leader Ayatollah Khomeini to make him 

feel good. These so called advisors tell the man what he wants to hear.

[jcfrag]

I call " BS" on this news! Even the pic of the soldiers leaving is Fort Bragg North Carolina. Even the pic is phony...almost as phoney as this news..... Iranian mullahs just showed their arse again! 

What is going on in their country with their protestors these days? Did Iran finally manage to toally close down all contact of the Iranian citizens with the world???

[ronscarpa]

.....HERE WE GO AGAIN....Iran sowing seeds of confusion & disinformation...!