U.S. troops withdrawal from Syria highly beneficial for Iraq, says expert
American Special Forces soldiers in February in northern Syria. “Our boys, our young women, our men — they’re all coming back, and they’re coming back now,” President Trump declared in a video posted Wednesday evening on Twitter.CreditCreditMauricio Lima for The New York Times
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – An Iraqi military expert has said that U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria will help Iraq to keep a tight grip on the border with Syria, where the Islamic State militants are still active.
Speaking to Arabic-language Almaalomah news website, Safaa al-A’sam said the U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria “will give Iraq the chance to fight terrorist gangs scattered on the joint border (with Syria) and eliminate 3,000 Islamic State terrorists.”
A’sam further pointed out that the U.S. was always reluctant to allow Iraq to launch airstrikes or artillery shelling on the positions of Islamic State inside the Syrian territories.
“The U.S. army has established more than 14 military bases in Iraq, including two under-construction bases in Al-Khazar in Mosul and another in Al-Tanf in Al-Anbar,” the expert concluded.
Last week, Trump ordered the withdrawal of 2,000 American troops from Syria, bringing a sudden end to a military campaign that largely vanquished the Islamic State.