[ad_1]
Trump orders the withdrawal of troops; shortly thereafter, the rockets land near the US embassy.
| Reading time: 4 minutes
Blackhawk helicopter at the US military base Salman Pak in southern Baghdad – Military device shipped back to US.
Source: AFP / ALI YOUSSEF
Two rockets landed near the US embassy in Baghdad. Shortly before, Donald Trump had created facts and had withdrawn more troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
IThe Iraqi military reported that four rockets landed near the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday. At least two people were injured in the attack in the heavily fortified so-called Green Zone of the Iraqi capital. All four rockets were fired from Baghdad’s Al-Amin al-Thanija district. Observers saw the incident as the end of an informal ceasefire announced by Shiite militias in October.
Two Iraqi security officials said the missiles fell 600 meters from the US embassy. They were intercepted with an air defense system, C-RAM, which was installed by US security forces this year.
In October, Iranian-backed Shiite militias announced that they would temporarily suspend attacks on the US presence in Iraq. The condition is that the forces of the US-led coalition withdraw from Iraq.
Recently, the current president of the United States, Donald Trump, ordered the withdrawal of more American troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. By January 15, the number of soldiers will be reduced to about 2,500 each, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller said at the Pentagon on Tuesday. The partial withdrawal would be implemented immediately before the inauguration of the elected president of the United States, Joe Biden. The swearing-in is scheduled for January 20.
The Defense Department did not provide information on how many US soldiers are currently stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the US broadcaster CNN, there are currently 4,500 US troops in Afghanistan and 3,000 in Iraq. Miller said the United States is entering a new phase in the fight against international terrorism. The announcement had been expected since several US media reported Monday on the preparations.
The partial deduction follows Trump’s electoral loss to Biden. Shortly after, the incumbent president removed Defense Secretary Mark Esper, which in turn led to the replacement of high-ranking positions in the Pentagon with Trump supporters. Former Army Officer Douglas Macgregor was appointed Senior Advisor to Executive Minister Miller. Macgregor is known as a critic of the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The United States signed an agreement with the Islamist Taliban militants in late February that promises the gradual withdrawal of all US and NATO forces by the end of April 2021. The Taliban pledged to enter into peace talks with the Kabul government, that started in September. However, the process was stalled in the dispute over procedural issues.
It was Trump’s campaign promise
Trump had already promised to bring troops home in the 2016 election campaign. In particular, he lobbied for a withdrawal from Afghanistan. According to US media reports, he has recently become increasingly frustrated with the pace of the withdrawal.
In early August, the United States informed its NATO allies that it wanted to reduce its troops from around 12,000 to less than 5,000 by the end of November. In mid-September, Trump announced that the strength of the troops should be quickly reduced to less than 4,000. Almost four weeks before the US elections in early November, Trump even announced on Twitter that the soldiers should be back in the United States by Christmas.
The war in Afghanistan is the longest in American history. US soldiers have been in the country since 2001. After the September 11 attacks of that year, US-led troops marched there. It is not yet clear what effect the recent US cuts could have on the Bundeswehr’s engagement. Currently, around 1,000 soldiers are stationed in northern Afghanistan. The current Bundestag mandate provides for the use of up to 1,300.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed on Monday that the alliance will continue to train, advise and support Afghan security forces. At the same time, if the United States fully withdraws, NATO would have to end its operation because the other allies are militarily incapable of continuing it alone.
The Bundestag only extended the deployment of German soldiers in Iraq for another 15 months at the end of October. By doing so, Germany is contributing to the fight of an international coalition against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia. A maximum of 500 soldiers can be deployed.
[ad_2]
