U.S. troops not going to leave Iraq: Mark Esper
The United States has no plans to withdraw troops from Iraq.
This was stated by US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo, ArmyTimes informs.
Journalists asked the Ministry of Defense Head on the
letter, which said about the withdrawal of American troops. He said that at the
moment "we are trying to find out where it came from."
"There was no decision to leave Iraq. I do not know
what this letter is ... We are trying to find out where it comes from, what it
is. There was no decision to leave Iraq," said Esper.
Pompeo said he did not consider the Iraqi parliament voting
to be the final, official decision of the Iraqi government.
"We are confident that the Iraqi people want the United
States to continue to be there to fight terrorists. And we will continue to do
everything we need to ensure the security of America," said Pompeo.
Earlier it was reported that the US-led coalition of ISIS
was allegedly ready to leave Iraq within a few weeks.
It was not immediately clear if all roughly 5,000 U.S.
troops would leave Iraq.
Several helicopters could be heard flying over Baghdad on
Monday night. It was not immediately clear if this was a related development.
The letter said coalition forces would be using helicopters to evacuate.
“In deference to the sovereignty of the Republic of Iraq,
and as requested by the Iraqi Parliament and the Prime Minister, the coalition
will be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to
prepare for onward movement,” read the letter.
