US announces further drawdown of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq before Biden takes office
US announces further drawdown of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq before Biden takes office - CNNPolitics
(CNN)Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced Tuesday that the US will withdraw thousands more US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by January 15, 2021 -- just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office, confirming plans first reported by CNN on Monday.
And then.....
Iraqi military says four rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone
The US embassy's C-RAM system, or "Counter rocket, artillery, and mortar" defense weapon, was activated in response to the inbound rocket fire.
The timing seems clearly intentional, given international headlines at that very moment circulated the US announced plans to reduce its troop levels in Iraq.
Trump ordered the Pentagon to accelerate a drawdown of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq to 2,500 , as the president works to deliver on his longtime pledge to exit from "endless wars" before he leaves office January 20. Current estimates put US troop levels in Iraq at over 3,000.
In both Iraq and Afghanistan Trump's advisers have reportedly been urging the commander-in-chief to avoid pulling everyone out, reducing US presence down to 'zero'. It seems every time the White House pushes for a sizeable Mideast troop exit, a series of conflict incidents serves to keep the US bogged down and present.