Pentagon says it is not currently planning to withdraw its troops from Iraq, despite Baghdad's announcement it would begin removing the US-led military coalition.

https://www.israelnationalnews...redirect_source=pitc

The Pentagon said on Monday it was not currently planning to withdraw its roughly 2,500 troops from Iraq, despite Baghdad's announcement last week it would begin the process of removing the US-led military coalition from the country, Reuters reported.

"Right now, I'm not aware of any plans (to plan for withdrawal). We continue to remain very focused on the defeat ISIS mission," Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder was quoted as having told a news briefing, using an acronym for Islamic State. He added that US forces are in Iraq at the invitation of its government.

Ryder said he was also unaware of any notification by Baghdad to the Department of Defense about a decision to remove US troops, and referred reporters to the U.S. State Department for any diplomatic discussions on the matter.

The comments come several days after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office announced the moves to evict US forces following a US drone strike in Baghdad that was condemned by the government.

The Pentagon said the strike killed a militia leader responsible for recent attacks on US personnel.

Sudani's office released a statement saying a committee would be formed to "put arrangements to end the presence of the international coalition forces in Iraq permanently."

The US strike on Thursday, which was pre-authorized by President Joe Biden and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before Austin was admitted to a hospital, followed dozens of attacks on bases in Iraq and Syria which host US troops.

These attacks have been on the rise since the Israel-Hamas war began in October. The US military has come under attack at least 100 times in Iraq and Syria since that time and has retaliated by striking Iranian-linked sites in both Iraq and Syria.

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We continue to remain very focused on the defeat ISIS mission

I don't see much focusing or defeating going on. Trump had them, maybe not totally defeated, at least run out of areas they formerly controlled.

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Originally posted by wcb6092:
Pentagon says it is not currently planning to withdraw its troops from Iraq

Yet, DoS has told "non-essential" embassy personnel and their families to prepare for departure from post. Sounds to me like the Pentagon's announcement is meant to mask the real situation. They're clearing out, probably sooner than later.

US had done what it could to create a democratic country but in the Arab world that doesn't work. It's a central powerful individual of the appropriate Muslim faction that ruthlessly rules top down. Time to realize the experiment was noble but a failure. Time to have the US pull out.

Shrapnel Struck Garrett in the Head

U.S. forces in the Middle East have come under fire from Iranian proxy militias some 115 times since the autumn, usually eliciting a tepid American response. But as that tally mounts, Americans might dwell on the reality that U.S. sons and daughters are in repeated danger, ducking explosive drones and rockets. One of them was Army pilot Garrett Illerbrunn.



Chief Warrant Officer 4 Illerbrunn from the Army’s 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade was one of three service members wounded in a Christmas Day attack on Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq. “During the drone attack,” an online fundraiser organized by family friends says, “a piece of shrapnel struck Garrett in the head, lodging from about his temple to almost the back end of his ear” and “hitting the motor function area of his brain.”

His wife and son were visiting relatives for the holidays when they received the news that all military families dread. His wife traveled to be with him at a military medical facility in Germany, where he has been in a coma.

“Garrett is currently still in a coma but after an attempt to take off sedation, there was some response in facial movement,” a “beacon of hope for his recovery,” the fundraiser’s organizers wrote online this week.

The military publication Stars and Stripes cited a hospital statement that he’s in “stable” condition and receiving treatment. The fundraiser notes he’ll have a long road to recovery after returning for further care in the U.S. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum says he’s been in contact with the family, as CW4 Illerbrunn hails from his state’s small town of Langdon.

The U.S. conducted strikes in the aftermath of the attack on Erbil, but will that stop Iran and its militias from trying to kill more Americans? These pages have been calling on the Commander in Chief to reestablish deterrence in the Middle East. What that phrase means in practice is making sure that no enemy thinks it can harm an American in uniform without paying a fearsome price.

FROM THE WSJ

https://www.wsj.com/articles/g...-erbil-iraq-8f295dff

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US had done what it could to create a democratic country but in the Arab world that doesn't work.

Agreed. They have never known western-style democracy and, having been given a taste of it, still have no interest in having it. Some people just need a boot firmly planted on their necks at all times.

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making sure that no enemy thinks it can harm an American in uniform without paying a fearsome price

If they cannot act like decent civilized human beings, this is what we are left with (for our own survival). Especially if we remove the "in uniform" part of the phrase.

There was a time when the rest of the world understood this maxim, IMO that is what MAGA is all about.

Having served in both Iraq and Afghanistan it pains me greatly to see all the blood sweat and tears not to mention money we poured into these efforts be in vain.

But it is absolutely true these cultures simply don’t “get” the concept of fair and open elections and a democratic process. Some places simply need dictatorship to exist.

I thought we would have better luck in Iraq where at least some of the people are educated, but maybe not.

Part of the problem is a fundamental flaw in our COIN ( counterinsurgency ) strategy which simply put, if you give them western culture and values ( material things, economic prosperity education etc) they will see how much better life can be live$ and will therefore abandon their fundamental culture and beliefs. This is certainly not the case

^^^^^

Well…when a culture thinks that it’s still normal in the 21st century to use their bare hand to wipe their a** after punching a grumpy.

Need I go on?

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Originally posted by captain127:
Part of the problem is a fundamental flaw in our COIN ( counterinsurgency ) strategy which simply put, if you give them western culture and values ( material things, economic prosperity education etc) they will see how much better life can be live$ and will therefore abandon their fundamental culture and beliefs. This is certainly not the case

I think part of the issue during our 20-years, besides weak political-will is many of the senior officers weren't committed to the overall strategy. What I saw from afar, was many generals who fundamentally didn't understand the entire concept and theories of counter-insurgency warfare thus, they maintained a business-as-usual attitude, plowing ahead with only what they knew and not adjusting methodologies and procedures to evolve with the overall mission.

Obviously there was a lot more to this but, the overall nuance of the mission-type, was completely lost on much of leadership. Civilian leaders, particularly those in Senior Executive Service positions, like many generals, were over their head in understanding the mission and their place in it.

Why did the Bush administration believe that a democratic form of government could be imposed in a low trust society like Iraq?

Is there a cogent reason(s) as to why we are still there?

Silent

If we’re going to leave, we need to do it right; take every last weapon we brought with us. The minute we are gone, Iraq will either be at war with Iran, or they will combine power. Neither is good for decent Iraqis or Persians desiring peace, but it is up to THEM to take back their countries, not ours.

'no plans to withdraw'

/sarc on

"Winging it worked so well in Afghanistan we've decided that is now our standard approach. The prior focus on planning disengagements is just a vestige of last-century thinking."

/sarc off

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Originally posted by Silent:

...Is there a cogent reason(s) as to why we are still there?...

I do not know the mission in Iraq, but it is possible they're conducting intel work against ISIS (that junior varsity team...) and Iran?

No plan needed. We’ll just pull out on a whim and leave a pantload of money and equipment there for our enemies. People, too.

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Originally posted by joel9507:
"Winging it worked so well in Afghanistan we've decided that is now our standard approach. The prior focus on planning disengagements is just a vestige of last-century thinking."

The DoD MO the last three years...what could go wrong - SECDEF is hospitalized and nobody knew to include his boss, his #2 was on vacation off-shore and his Chief of Staff is down with the flu, otherwise everything is going fine.

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Originally posted by Sigmund:

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Originally posted by Silent:

...Is there a cogent reason(s) as to why we are still there?...

I do not know the mission in Iraq, but it is possible they're conducting intel work against ISIS (that junior varsity team...) and Iran?

Yes to both.

Large Rocket Barrage Slams Into US Base In Iraq, Injuring Americans

https://www.zerohedge.com/geop...q-injuring-americans

A missile barrage has reportedly struck the Al-Asad Airbase — a U.S. military facility maintained in Iraq since 2003 — according to Reuters accompanied by videos on X alleging to show the missiles raining down:



US personnel suffered minor injuries and a member of Iraq’s security forces was seriously wounded in an attack on Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base on Saturday, a US official said, citing initial assessments, which are subject to change.

At least a dozen missiles were fired at a military base used by US-led coalition forces in western Iraq, a US defense source and Iraqi police told AFP.

Al-Asad was the second largest base constructed during George Bush’s "Operation Iraqi Freedom," — wherein ‘freedom’ in Neocon-speak of course refers to 300,000 dead Iraqi civilians — an operation which ostensibly ended in December of 2011.

More at link

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Originally posted by egregore:

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US had done what it could to create a democratic country but in the Arab world that doesn't work.

Agreed. They have never known western-style democracy and, having been given a taste of it, still have no interest in having it. Some people just need a boot firmly planted on their necks at all times.

Yep. The middle east needs Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi. And we need to stop meddling in regime change politics.

It’s being reported that the Iranian militia shot down an MQ9 Reaper

That’s is going to be a checkmark in the - column