US SecDef disavows letter saying US forces would quit Iraq
BREAKING NEWS
Sputnik
January 6, 2020
US-Led Coalition Tells Baghdad It Will 'Move Out' of Iraq - Official Letter
[Pundita Note: I can't find the Reuters source story for this Sputnik report -- Reuters may have deleted it, given that the Pentagon hasn't yet verified the letter (see copy of letter below) according to this RT report. My guess is that a source high up in the Iraqi government showed the letter to journalists who posted a copy at Twitter.
UPDATE 3:50 PM ET: The report is now posted as the Drudge headline, and links to the Reuters report. "The authenticity of the letter, which was addressed to the Iraqi defence ministry's Combined Joint Operations Baghdad, was confirmed to Reuters independently by an Iraqi military source."]
Following approval of a non-binding resolution by Iraq's parliament calling for US forces to leave the country, US Army commanders announced they were drawing up preparatory plans for their departure.
"We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure," the letter says, according to Reuters. US forces will re-position themselves over the coming days and weeks in preparation for the move, the letter states.
The lawmakers' request comes on the heels of a January 3 drone strike at Baghdad International Airport in which US forces killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani as well as the leader of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. The two commanders helped lead the fight against Daesh in the 2014-17 Iraqi Civil War that saw the terrorist group expelled from the country.
At its height, Daesh controlled significant amounts of northern Iraq, including its third-largest city of Mosul, and was advancing on Baghdad.
MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW...
Copy of letter via "international correspondent" Yosef Yisrael at Twitter. There's at least one other posting of the letter.
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