American President Apparently Non-Committal:
Iraqi President Asks Trump to Reduce U.S. Troops
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Iraq likes what U.S. troops are doing there, President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday at talks with the Iraqi president about the future of the mission, which has been in doubt since a U.S. drone strike martyred an Iranian commander in Baghdad.
Iraqi President Barham Salih’s office said he and Trump had discussed reducing the number of foreign troops in Iraq at a meeting on the sidelines of an economic summit in Davos, Switzerland.
Asked before the meeting about the prospect of a U.S. withdrawal, Trump said: "We’re talking about a lot of different things and you’ll be hearing whatever we do. But they like what we’re doing and we like them, and we’ve had a very good relationship.”
The United States has around 5,000 troops in Iraq, deployed the country since 2014 under the pretext of helping fight against the Daesh terrorist group. While Iraq announced "great victory” over the Takfiri group in July 2017, the United States has refused to withdraw from the Arab country despite rising opposition.
Calls for a withdrawal have specially mounted since Jan. 3, when Trump ordered a drone strike at Baghdad airport that martyred General Qassem Soleimani, the most prominent anti-terror commander in the Middle East. The Iraqi commander of anti-terror forces was also martyred in the terrorist attack.
Iraq’s parliament responded with a vote to demand the U.S. forces leave, prompting an angry Trump at one point to threaten to impose sanctions on Iraq unless it allows U.S. troops to stay.
Trump struck a more conciliatory tone on Wednesday, noting also that the U.S. presence was much smaller than during the 2003-2011 U.S. occupation.
"We’re down to 5,000 so we’re down to a very low number — historically low — and we’ll see what happens.”
Asked about his earlier threat to impose sanctions on Iraq, Trump said: "We’ll see what happens, because we do have to do things on our terms.”
Salih’s office said in a statement: "During the meeting, reducing foreign troops and the importance of respecting the demands of Iraqi people to preserve the country’s sovereignty were discussed.”
Tehran responded to the assassination with a ballistic missile attack on two military bases housing U.S. forces on Jan. 8.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi asked Washington to prepare for a U.S. troop withdrawal in line with the request by Iraq’s parliament, but Trump’s administration has so far rebuffed the call to withdraw.
Washington has said it is exploring a possible expansion of NATO’s mission in Iraq, a plan to "get burden-sharing right in the region”.
The White House appeared to have confused Iran and Iraq in a YouTube video Wednesday, and suggested that Donald Trump met with the Iranian president.
A video of a meeting between Trump and President Salih, was titled "President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Iran” on the White House’s official YouTube channel.
The title was the result of a mix-up by the White House, which appeared to have confused the two countries.
In the video, which shows a press conference after the meeting, Trump does identify Salih accurately. He begins the video saying that it is "great to be with the president of Iraq”.
"We’re obviously working on a lot of things together,” he says. "We’re working on military, we’re working on Isis – we have a whole host of difficult things to discuss, and some very positive things also.
Members of the press asked Trump whether he was planning to move troops out of Iraq but neither president gave any indication that would happen.
Iraqi President Barham Salih’s office said he and Trump had discussed reducing the number of foreign troops in Iraq at a meeting on the sidelines of an economic summit in Davos, Switzerland.
Asked before the meeting about the prospect of a U.S. withdrawal, Trump said: "We’re talking about a lot of different things and you’ll be hearing whatever we do. But they like what we’re doing and we like them, and we’ve had a very good relationship.”
The United States has around 5,000 troops in Iraq, deployed the country since 2014 under the pretext of helping fight against the Daesh terrorist group. While Iraq announced "great victory” over the Takfiri group in July 2017, the United States has refused to withdraw from the Arab country despite rising opposition.
Calls for a withdrawal have specially mounted since Jan. 3, when Trump ordered a drone strike at Baghdad airport that martyred General Qassem Soleimani, the most prominent anti-terror commander in the Middle East. The Iraqi commander of anti-terror forces was also martyred in the terrorist attack.
Iraq’s parliament responded with a vote to demand the U.S. forces leave, prompting an angry Trump at one point to threaten to impose sanctions on Iraq unless it allows U.S. troops to stay.
Trump struck a more conciliatory tone on Wednesday, noting also that the U.S. presence was much smaller than during the 2003-2011 U.S. occupation.
"We’re down to 5,000 so we’re down to a very low number — historically low — and we’ll see what happens.”
Asked about his earlier threat to impose sanctions on Iraq, Trump said: "We’ll see what happens, because we do have to do things on our terms.”
Salih’s office said in a statement: "During the meeting, reducing foreign troops and the importance of respecting the demands of Iraqi people to preserve the country’s sovereignty were discussed.”
Tehran responded to the assassination with a ballistic missile attack on two military bases housing U.S. forces on Jan. 8.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi asked Washington to prepare for a U.S. troop withdrawal in line with the request by Iraq’s parliament, but Trump’s administration has so far rebuffed the call to withdraw.
Washington has said it is exploring a possible expansion of NATO’s mission in Iraq, a plan to "get burden-sharing right in the region”.
The White House appeared to have confused Iran and Iraq in a YouTube video Wednesday, and suggested that Donald Trump met with the Iranian president.
A video of a meeting between Trump and President Salih, was titled "President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Iran” on the White House’s official YouTube channel.
The title was the result of a mix-up by the White House, which appeared to have confused the two countries.
In the video, which shows a press conference after the meeting, Trump does identify Salih accurately. He begins the video saying that it is "great to be with the president of Iraq”.
"We’re obviously working on a lot of things together,” he says. "We’re working on military, we’re working on Isis – we have a whole host of difficult things to discuss, and some very positive things also.
Members of the press asked Trump whether he was planning to move troops out of Iraq but neither president gave any indication that would happen.