By AFP
The US military informed its counterparts in Baghdad on Monday it was preparing for “movement out of Iraq,” a day after the Iraqi parliament urged the government to oust foreign troops.
The head of the US military’s Task Force Iraq, Brigadier General William Seely, sent a letter to the head of Iraq’s joint operations command, a copy of which was seen by AFP.
The letter said forces from the US-led coalition in Iraq would “be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement.”
“In order to conduct this task, Coalition Forces are required to take certain measures to ensure that the movement out of Iraq is conducted in a safe and efficient manner,” said the letter, dated Monday.
As the letter was signed by a US official, it was not immediately clear whether it applied to forces from the 76 countries that make up the international coalition.
A US defense official and an Iraqi defense official confirmed the letter was real and had been delivered.
#Breaking: US military tells Iraqi Joint operations command that they are preparing to move out. pic.twitter.com/yqoFiEIHBD— Mustafa Salim (@Mustafa_salimb) January 6, 2020
It said helicopters would be traveling in and around the Green Zone as part of the preparations.
AFP could hear helicopters flying low over Baghdad throughout the night on Monday.
Some 5,200 US soldiers are stationed across Iraqi bases to support local troops preventing a resurgence of the Islamic State group.
They make up the bulk of the broader coalition, invited by the Iraqi government in 2014 to help combat the jihadists.
On Sunday, Iraq’s parliament voted in favor of rescinding that invitation and ousting all foreign troops.
It came in reaction to a US precision drone strike on Baghdad that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and top Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, among others.
On Monday, Iraqi premier Adel Abdel Mahdi met with the US Ambassador Matthew Tueller, telling him it was “necessary to work together to withdraw foreign forces from Iraq.”
Citing a vote in the Iraqi parliament, the head of US forces in Iraq has informed the government in Baghdad that the US-led coalition will be leaving the country, in a letter that contradicts President Trump's earlier statements.
“In due deference to the sovereignty” of Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force Iraq will be “repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement,” Marine General William H. Seely III wrote in a letter to the Iraqi Defense Ministry on Monday, which has surfaced online.
#Breaking: US military tells Iraqi Joint operations command that they are preparing to move out. pic.twitter.com/yqoFiEIHBD
— Mustafa Salim (@Mustafa_salimb) January 6, 2020
“We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure,” Seely wrote, explaining that the process will involve increased helicopter traffic into and out of Baghdad’s “green zone,” mainly during the night-time, with the Coalition seeking to “minimize and mitigate” disturbances to civilians.
There was initially some confusion about the letter's authenticity, with the Pentagon declining to confirm it was real However, US Army public affairs officer Rick Dickson stated shortly after the news broke that the letter is "official and accurate."
The Iraqi parliament adopted a resolution on Sunday seeking to “end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil,” prompted by last week’s US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and a number of Iraqi Shia militia officials at the Baghdad International Airport.
US President Donald Trump responded by threatening sanctions and saying the US will not leave until the Iraqis “pay us back” for an airbase that he said cost billions of dollars to build.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo likewise dismissed the non-binding resolution, saying that he was “confident that the Iraqi people want the United States to continue to be there to fight the counterterror campaign.”
The US-led coalition forces were sent to Iraq in 2014, to help the government in Baghdad confront Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorists that had taken a significant portion of Iraqi territory, all of which has since been liberated.
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Update # 1 — 4:09 P.M.: Department of Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Monday disputed a letter indicating the U.S.-led military coalition against ISIS will leave Iraq, stating there is “no decision whatsoever to leave” the country.
Update # 2 — 4:34 P.M.: Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the letter is a “mistake” and a “poorly” worded draft. He added it was being worked on with Iraq and reiterated that U.S. troops will remain in the country.
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