US Dismisses Iraq Call to Work on Troop Withdrawal Plan
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iraq’s caretaker prime minister urged Washington to work out a road map for an American troop withdrawal, but the US State Department rejected the request, saying the two sides should instead talk about how to “recommit” to their partnership.
In a phone call Thursday night, Adel Abdul-Mahdi told US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that recent US actions were unacceptable breaches of Iraqi sovereignty and a violation of their security agreements, his office said, according to AP.
He urged Pompeo to “send delegates to Iraq to prepare a mechanism” to carry out the Iraqi Parliament’s resolution on withdrawing foreign troops, according to the statement.
“The prime minister said American forces had entered Iraq and drones are flying in its airspace without permission from Iraqi authorities, and this was a violation of the bilateral agreements,” the statement added.
Abdul-Mahdi signaled he was standing by the push for US forces to leave despite signs of de-escalation by Tehran and Washington after Iran retaliated for its top commander General Qassem Soleimani’s assassination by the US.
The US State Department dismissed Abdul-Mahdi’s call, claiming US troops are crucial for the fight against Daesh and it would not discuss removing them.
Pompeo indicated Friday the troops would remain, adding that the US would continue its mission to help train Iraqi security forces and counter the terror group.
In an editorial of the terror group’s weekly propaganda al-Naba publication on Thursday, Daesh praised the assassination of Gen. Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), saying they “died” at the hands of its “allies” - a clear reference to the US.
Many believe that Washington created the Daesh terrorist group and helped it rise and commence its reign of terror and destruction in Syria and Iraq in 2014.
On January 3, 2016, Donald Trump, then a US presidential candidate, said during a campaign stop in Biloxi, Mississippi, that Democratic presidential candidate “Hillary Clinton created” the Daesh Takfiri group “with (then president Barack) Obama”, stressing that “they created” the terror group.
Later, on August 10 of the same year, Trump reiterated what he had said several months ago, stressing that Obama was “the founder” of Daesh, whose co-founder “would be ‘Crooked’ Hillary Clinton.”
Furthermore, there are multiple reports of American aircraft airlifting Daesh commanders from various parts of Syria to safe places.