Trump to announce further troop withdrawal from Iraq

US President Donald Trump is set to announce a further withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, a senior government official has revealed.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters about the move last night on the presidential jet Air Force One. As well as the withdrawal from Iraq, he added that the administration might also announce a pull-out from Afghanistan.

It was not made clear how many troops will be withdrawn, but the move comes after another anonymous US official told Reuters last month that the government was seeking to reduce the number of US forces in Iraq by approximately a third.

Earlier in August, a top US general reported that US forces are set to be cut in Iraq and Syria over the next few months. This was followed by Trump telling Iraqi President Mustafa Al-Kadhimi that US-led coalition forces would leave the country within three years.

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The withdrawal plans are seen as attempts by Trump to show that he is fulfilling his election promises of four years ago to withdraw the US military from the Middle East and the “endless wars” he talked about in the 2019 State of the Union address. His efforts are expected to serve his current election campaign as he seeks a second term in office

Following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and the suppression of the resultant insurgency, the US limited the number of its troops in the country and has gone through a gradual withdrawal process. When the terror group Daesh emerged and took over large swathes of Iraq and Syria in 2014, however, the US military boosted its presence and deployed around 5,200 personnel to fight the extremists.

With the territorial defeat of Daesh, Trump again announced last year that US troops would withdraw from Iraq, and began the process earlier this year. The Iraqi parliament voted for the withdrawal of US forces following America’s assassination of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad at the beginning of this year.

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