Trump's administration revealed it would be withdrawing about 2,200 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq this month. A top military commander announced the order on Wednesday and said that the 5,200 soldiers would be reduced.
Military footprint
Officials said the order is part of United States President Trump's efforts to reduce American troops' military footprint in Iraq and Afghanistan before the November elections. General Frank McKenzie, the top U.S. commander, stationed in the Middle East, the withdrawal was enabled due to Iraq's improvement of its security forces.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the United States government planned to withdraw one-third of its troops in Iraq last month. General McKenzie's announcement marked one of the U.S.'s most massive troop withdrawal since Former President Barack Obama left only 1,000 soldiers in the country in 2011.
The U.S. commander said that the move was made as a commendation of the Iraqi forces' improvements. McKenzie said the order was also a result of continuous consultation and coordination with the Iraqi government and coalition partners. The withdrawal of the troops will be conducted within September.
McKenzie noted the reduction of military footprint in the country would allow them to consult and help Iraqi partners hunt down the Islamic State (ISIS) within the nation and ensure their complete defeat.
President Trump made similar announcements to pull American soldiers from several other countries, including Germany, Syria, and Afghanistan. United States officials suggested further reduction of troops in Afghanistan in particular, where the war has lasted for 19 years.
Withdrawing forces
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the training and advising of Iraqi forces to decline in recent months. Other coalition members have also decided to cut back their troops due to the global health crisis, as reported by CNN.
American soldiers began withdrawing from the Middle Eastern country's bases in March, giving control to Iraqi security partners. Pentagon officials said at the time that the order was part of a consolidation with Iraq mirroring the success of driving back ISIS instead of the ongoing rocket attacks of Iran-linked militias.
In late August, McKenzie said that the threat of Shiite militant groups on U.S. soldiers took away resources meant to fund the fight against ISIS and strengthen Iraqi defenses.
On Wednesday, Commander McKenzie reiterated that justification and said that the Middle Eastern country's security forces had increased their capability of fighting against ISIS.
However, the U.S. commander noted that they were forced to prioritize their own troops using resources that would otherwise have been used to support Iraq due to Iran's threat over the last seven or eight months.
According to Aljazeera, Trump promised in 2016 to end the wars in the Middle East but kept American soldiers deployed in several countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, although at smaller numbers.
On Tuesday, Trump said during a campaign speech that his administration had avoided having the U.S. partake in new wars and is planning on bringing its soldiers back home. The Republican leader added they had spent hundreds of billions of dollars in their efforts in the Middle East.
