The Pentagon has no plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, senior defense officials say, despite Iraqi Parliament vote to kick foreign forces out of the country and a decision by the U.S. and NATO to suspend operations against ISIS there.
The non-binding vote followed the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and sparked outrage in Tehran as hundreds of thousands of mourners took to the streets with the Iranian government vowing to take revenge against the United States.
"It was a mistake, an honest mistake, a draft unsigned letter because we are moving forces around, and we have increased helicopter movement in Iraq between Baghdad and Taji and other camps and stations, and we're bringing in people from Kuwait and all this other types of stuff," Milley said."So we're moving forces all over the place.""Nobody's leaving. There's no onward movement," the general added later.
U.S. Army paratroopers assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division board an aircraft bound for the U.S. Central Command area of operations from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Jan. 5, 2020.Soleimani was the leader of Iran's Quds Force, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American troops in Iraq over decades.
After NATO announced that it was suspending its training mission, the U.S.-led coalition said in a statement on Sunday that it would also"pause" its ongoing operations against ISIS in Iraq due to the need for personnel to be"fully committed to protecting the Iraqi bases" that have been targeted by Iranian-backed militia forces -- attacks which continued over the weekend.
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