US To Withdraw Additional Troops from Afghanistan, Iraq in Coming Days

By Staff, Agencies

US President Donald Trump is poised to announce the pullout of more American troops from Iraq on Wednesday, and from Afghanistan in the coming days, a US official reportedly told the media on board Air Force One.

The report comes amid Trump’s row with Pentagon’s top brass, who he accused of doing the bidding for the US military-industrial complex. In a widely-publicized remark on Monday, Trump said that top people in the Pentagon might not be “in love” with him “because they want to do nothing but fight wars”

The expected drawdown goes in line with Trump’s previous decision to reduce the number of troops in both war-torn countries. Last month, US War Secretary Mark Esper revealed that the number of US troops stationed in Afghanistan would be slashed to less than 5,000 in the coming months.

Trump himself used to say that he wants to cap the US contingent on the ground in Afghanistan to no more than 4,000 troops.

“We’re going down to 4,000, we’re negotiating right now...I don’t want to tell you [when]. But I’ve always said we will get largely out," Trump said last month, noting that he expects between 4,000 and 5,000 troops to be in Afghanistan by the Election Day.