The (U.K.) Daily Mail has the clearest explanation of the muddle as it stands at this moment:
"BREAKING NEWS: Chaos over U.S. troops in Iraq as Pentagon insists they WON'T withdraw despite general leading anti-ISIS coalition saying they'll move 'out of Iraq' in draft letter released by mistake amid anger over attack that killed Qassem Soleimani
- General in charge of U.S. coalition forces in Iraq tells military counterpart to prepare for helicopter flights as troops pull up stakes
- Letter says troops will soon begin flying out in transport helicopters under cover of darkness
- But defense secretary tells reporters that 'there's been no decision whatsoever to leave Iraq, period'
- Chairman of the joint chief of staff confesses that the letter was a draft released by mistake
- Donald Trump said Sunday that he would only withdraw troops if Iraq paid the U.S. for building and maintaining the main air base the coalition uses
- He also threatened greater sanctions than those he has imposed on Iran
- Iraq's parliament had passed a resolution, which is nonbinding, urging the government to evict American troops
- That was in response to Trump green-lighting a drone attack on an infamous Iranian military leader while he was in Baghdad, in Iraqi soil
- U.S. will send six B-52 bombers to the Diego Garcia air base on an island in the Indian Ocean, to prepare for the possibility of military action against Iran
Reports Monday that the U.S. would soon withdraw all its forces from Iraq were turned on their heads minutes later when U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters there were no plans to pull up stakes.
'There's been no decision whatsoever to leave Iraq, period,' Esper said, adding that he and his staff were 'trying to figure out' the meaning of a letter signed by a brigadier general that suggested the opposite.
'There are no plans to leave,' he emphasized, suggesting discussion of a massive troop movement could be merely a signal that forces are being repositioned inside Iraq's borders.
Separately, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told reporters that the letter was 'a draft. It was a mistake. It was unsigned. It should not have been released.'
The draft was 'poorly worded' and 'implies withdrawal. That is not what’s happening,' Milley declared.
The U.S. military had appeared to inform Baghdad that it was preparing for 'movement out of Iraq,' a day after the Iraqi parliament urged the government in a non-binding resolution to oust foreign troops.
The head of the Pentagon task force in Iraq, Brigadier General William Seely, sent a draft letter to the head of Iraq's joint operations command.
'Sir, in deference to the sovereignty of the Republic of Iraq, and as requested by the Iraqi Parliament and the Prime Minister, [the coalition] will be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement,' Seely wrote. He added: 'We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure.'
President Donald Trump said Sunday aboard Air Force One that troops would not leave Iraq unless the country compensated the U.S. for the costs associated with building and maintaining military facilities there.
'We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that's there. It cost billions of dollars to build. Long before my time,' he said. 'We're not leaving unless they pay us back for it.'
Trump also said he would punish Baghdad economically if U.S. troops were evicted.
'We will charge them sanctions like they've never seen before ever. It'll make Iranian sanctions look somewhat tame,' he warned.
Yet Iraqi premier Adel Abdel Mahdi met with the U.S. Ambassador Matthew Tueller on Monday, telling him it was 'necessary to work together to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq.'
On Sunday, Iraq's parliament voted in favor of the Baghdad government rescinding its permission for all foreign troops to remain in the country.
That came in reaction to a U.S. precision drone strike on Baghdad that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and top Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, among others.
The resulting chaos has made some in Iraq fear a new civil war, and drew millions to crowd streets in Tehran to see Soleimani's coffin paraded through the city.
And tensions betweeen Washington and Tehran aren't going away: The U.S. will send six B-52 bombers to the Diego Garcia air base on an island in the Indian Ocean, accordign to CNN, to prepare for the possibility of military action against Iran.
Gen. Seely wrote on Monday in order to reposition thousands of troops elsewhere, 'Coalition Forces are required to take certain measures to ensure that the movement out of Iraq is conducted in a safe and efficient manner.'
The letter was signed by a U.S. official on Pentagon letterhead, making it unclear whether it applied to forces from the 76 countries which make up the international coalition.
An Iraqi defense official confirmed the letter was real and had been delivered.
Officials said helicopters would be traveling in and around the Green Zone as part of the preparations.
Reporters could hear helicopters flying low over Baghdad throughout the night on Monday.
Some 5,200 U.S. soldiers are stationed across Iraqi bases to support local troops preventing a resurgence of the ISIS terror group.
They make up the bulk of the broader coalition, invited by the Iraqi government in 2014 to help combat the jihadists.
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