Pentagon shoots down letter announcing US pullout from Iraq

The Pentagon says an ‘unsigned draft’ should not have been sent and denied there had been a decision to leave Iraq.

‘It was a mistake, an honest mistake’: US Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley. Picture: AP

America’s military strategy in Iraq has been thrown into confusion as the Pentagon admitted a letter from a general informing the Iraqi government of an imminent US troop pullout was sent by “mistake”.

The latest developments came as a sea of black-clad mourners in Tehran paid homage to Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force who was killed in a US strike in Iraq on Friday.

The Pentagon plans to send B-52 bombers and more troops to the Middle East as anger simmered in Baghdad and Tehran.

US Brigadier General William Seely informed his Iraqi counterparts in a letter dated Sunday that American troops were preparing to leave Iraq.

“We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure,” said the letter, whose authenticity was confirmed by both Iraqi and US defence officials.

General Seely said the US-led coalition would “be repositioning forces”. “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.

It said helicopters would be travelling in and around Baghdad’s Green Zone where the US embassy is located as part of the preparations. Helicopters could be heard flying low over Baghdad throughout the night on Monday.

US Joint Chiefs chairman Mark Milley said on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) that the letter was a mere “draft” and “should not have been sent”.

“It was a mistake, an honest mistake, a draft unsigned letter, because we are moving forces around,” General Milley said in Washington.

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the letter was “inconsistent” with Washington’s position and denied there had been a decision to leave Iraq.

The US drone strike that killed Major General Soleimani, as well as Iraqi military commanders, has sparked fury in both Iran and Iraq, with Tehran vowing revenge.

Iraqi MPs on Sunday urged the government to oust all foreign troops from Iraqi soil.

Some 5200 US soldiers are stationed across Iraqi bases to support local troops preventing a resurgence of Islamic State.

They make up the bulk of a broader coalition, invited by the Iraqi government in 2014 to help combat the jihadists.

In an escalating war of words that has heightened international concern and rattled financial markets, US President Donald Trump threatened yet more “major retaliation” if Tehran hit back, including strikes on Iranian cultural sites. Writing in all capital letters, Mr Trump tweeted: “IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!”

General Soleimani’s successor said he would continue on his path. “The minimum retribution for us is to remove America from the region,” Brigadier General Esmail Qaani told state television.

World leaders, facing the prospect of a cycle of reprisals, pleaded for restraint. “Geopolitical tensions are at their highest level this century, and this turbulence is ­escalating,” UN Secretary-­General Antonio Guterres said.

Plans outlined on Tuesday by the Pentagon call for about 200 members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, based in Vicenza, Italy, to be sent to the Middle East.

Some of those troops would be assigned to provide additional sec­urity to the US embassy in Beirut, a defence official said.

They will join more than 10,000 US troops who have been moved towards the Middle East or placed on alert since General Soleimani was killed. Among them are about 5000 marines and sailors headed to the region aboard USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship, and its ready group, which includes the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Several hundred military personnel would be part of the deployment of a squadron of B-52 bombers, US officials said. The US had sent a group of B-52s to its air base in Qatar last year during a flare-up of tensions with Iran, but eventually withdrew the aircraft. Six B-52s are being returned to the region in coming days.

The new deployments will put the total number of US troops, airmen and sailors in the Middle East at more than 80,000.

Iraq requested in a letter to the UN that the Security Council condemn the US drone strike so that “the law of the jungle” was not ­allowed to prevail.

AFP, WSJ