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U.S. cuts troops in Iraq on Trump pledge to stop 'endless wars'

66 Comments
By Paul HANDLEY

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66 Comments

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I don't like him, nor do most with an education or sense, but this is one thing he should follow through on (not just mouth it pre-election time).

8 ( +13 / -5 )

bobToday  07:17 am JST

Promises made, promises kept.

So we'll be seeing that wall that Mexico will pay for in the next 54 days?

7 ( +16 / -9 )

"Oh, yeah. I told my sucker base I would reduce troops overseas. Better get on that 2 months before the election after increasing then during my term."

Suckers.

4 ( +15 / -11 )

He's in office for 4 years and he's doing this now? How convenient.

4 ( +14 / -10 )

Good. Blessed are the peacemakers.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Kinda agree. unlike Obama who constantly had seek out conflicts during his term, Trump instead heavily focus on cleaning up their mess and not interested in getting in new conflicts.

Not the best president but at least he made great changes and try to shift his country to be more self sufficient one.

2 ( +13 / -11 )

@Hiro

Kinda agree. unlike Obama who constantly had seek out conflicts during his term, Trump instead heavily focus on cleaning up their mess and not interested in getting in new conflicts.

You do realize that both Iraq and Afghanistan were started under Bush, a Republican, and that Obama reduced the number of U.S. troops in war zones from 150,000 to 14,000

It’s also a fact that Trump has dropped more bombs and missiles than G.W. Bush or Obama did in their first terms, and there are still roughly as many US troops overseas as when he was elected.

I’m not sure your idea that Obama actively looked for war or that Trump has done so much to end them is correct.

In fact under Trump has been steadily pushing the US closer to war with North Korea, Russia, and China.

I think you might consider a re-evaluation of your opinion.

2 ( +9 / -7 )

So much military intervention in conflicts around the world took place during the Bush and Obama globalization years that now it's quite refreshing that the US strategic profile is more skewed toward peace than armed conflict.

Unfortunately, liberals, moderates and globalists hate that.

2 ( +8 / -6 )

Currently the biased and partial journalists are increasing attacking to Trump by fabricated story and there're no shortage of supporting each other claims in news. The Democrat supporters are determinated to destroy President Trump reelection chance whatsoever.

I am not Trump supporter but I don't have trust in the US journalism. They always lie. The US news agencies' journalists always fabricate story or invent the story to demage someone or govenment or country. Majority of journalists are biased and partial. The truth may hurt some ethical reporters but majority of journalists behaving like that. My apology to honest and ethical journalists.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Good news. Good for Iraq, good for America.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Trump pledge to stop 'endless wars'

I agree. The US must find ways to build a strong economy without having to continue to rely on wars for oil.

But a Trump 'pledge' has to be questioned. How's that Trump Wall coming along, and has Mexico paid for it. How's that better than Obamacare Trump healthcare coming along.

Not a word Trump says can be believed.

1 ( +14 / -13 )

But a Trump 'pledge' has to be questioned. How's that Trump Wall coming along,

Why? The wall is coming along fine, I thought liberals were the anti-war party and they should be happy that this President wants to end all of these wars that the establishment just seems so happy to hold on. I think it’s a great thing that he wants to bring our troops home and Democrats should jump with adulation about that.

and has Mexico paid for it. How's that better than Obamacare Trump healthcare coming along. 

Not a word Trump says can be believed.

Interesting, the Democrats especially in California have never cared about illegal immigration as long as I can remember, Democrats have tried hard to stop this President from building the wall and the President wasn’t going to let these people stop him and he was going build it no matter what and if the Dems care so much about healthcare, why would they keep premiums high and not get rid of the mandate, it’s supposed to affordable, that’s in the name, but it wasn’t. Remember, “If you like you’re doctor, you can keep him.” I think it’s Democrats that shouldn’t be believed.

1 ( +9 / -8 )

The timing is of course comical and Trump is a pathological liar.

Bringing troops out of this basket case of a country would be a good thing.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Regardless of how you feel about President Trump, he deserves serious consideration for a Nobel Peace Prize. The only wars he has started have been trade wars and not the shooting variety. That's a good thing because when the United States gets involved militarily overseas (especially in the Middle East), it invariably becomes a never-ending quagmire (giggity) and a huge waste of resources.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Putin and the jihadists must be thrilled by this news. Bonespurs rides again!

If there are still any these jihadists you fear so much still left anywhere, then what was the point of the last 20 years of warring and meddling? Iraq is not an American state you know. Its not even close enough to be a threat even if the place starts crawling with jihadists.

As for Putin, his backyard is pretty big. And that backyard used to all belong to the Soviet Union. Somehow, America survived. Go figure.

Maybe America does not really need a finger up every backside on the planet? Maybe.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

First President in 40 yrs NOT to start a war! He’s a DEAL maker, NOT a WAR maker!!!!

And he was accused by the Dems of being a war mongering hawk during 2016 campaign!

1 ( +5 / -4 )

Donald Trump's war-cry......RETREAT!!!!!

Cut and ran from serving his country in 1968....still cuts and runs in 2020....

About the only thing Trump is consistent on - other than marital infidelity...

1 ( +5 / -4 )

So Iraq is led by a political party that was started by Ayatollah Khomeini while in exile from Iran, and the Afghan government has basically made a power sharing deal with the Taliban. All those deaths and money wasted to give Iran and the Taliban what they wanted. Sad to say but Orange man right....cut your losses and mind the door on the way out.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

It is a nice move and I don't question it, but I do question the timing. He had four years to do this, but why now, just before the election? Everyone will remember that he cut back troops, and then, if Biden is elected, possibly a few months into office, if jihadists become stronger and attacks are made on Americans and American interests, Trump will claim, it wasn't my fault, I helped to bring back troops. Yeah, sure, that makes sense.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Reduction of troops is fine and all, but if there's a resurgence in radicals, they'll have to increase the numbers again. Unfortunately for the wars America started in the Middle East, we have to be in it to win it.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

A cut in troops in Iraq is not withdrawal from Iraq. Iraq is not the world and American has troops and bases all over the world. What causes contrived American wars is not troops in Iraq but rather the MIC which is in America.

This is a bit like your husband promising to reduce his reliance on the TV so as to finally wash the dishes. His action? Turn the volume down on the TV and vaguely promise some more action later. I cannot believe anyone is even giving this rubbish a single star.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

No new wars under Trump is good, but the US empire still has military troops stationed in roughly 150 countries. The Trump/Qanon believers claim the troops haven't been brought back to the US because of a force they call 'the deep state' backed by RINOs and Democrats supported by something the far right call 'the media'.

I might believe Trump opposes the big war industries after I see his latest tax info to see how many shares he has in any of them, and then see which of them got even more billion dollar contracts while he was in the White House.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

he cited the number of deaths in the state of Michigan by mistake).

Please respect old people. Sometimes they are a bit fuzzy. BTW, effects of SARS-CoV-2 on US military is highly classified.

i hope these moved soldiers know that Iran is Persian and not Arabic?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So if he really wanted to get the Military home by now there was nothing stopping him...

Except the hawks of the GOP and the Dems for some odd reason...still wondering what happened to them that they now love war, but hey....

You understand their feelings. You were a big supporter of Bush 2 ( who you and your still unnamed non-partisan historians regard as a success ) and his failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not all Republicans joined what you called a ‘lunatic fringe’ of Trump supporters.

Many Republicans did screaming 180s on their principles ( free trade, cutting the debt, military interventions etc. ) when joining the ‘lunatic fringe’, but others didn’t join

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I like what Trump has achieved in the ME and I'm interested to see what Trump has in store for the next 4 years. He should get the Nobel not because it has much meanings anymore as some others have gotten it for doing nothing but he still should get it.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Biden continuing to lie about the military.

Former Vice President Biden said today that more than 6,000 members of the US military have died due to the coronavirus. The actual number is seven according to the @DeptofDefense

The difference there being that Biden's campaign immediately acknowledged that he had mispoke and that the military toll was 7, not 6,000 (he cited the number of deaths in the state of Michigan by mistake).

When Trump lies on the other hand, you never get a correction like that. The lie becomes the new truth.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

The difference there being that Biden's campaign immediately acknowledged that he had mispoke and that the military toll was 7, not 6,000 (he cited the number of deaths in the state of Michigan by mistake).

and what happens when he makes these same mistakes/gaffes with Xi or Putin that he consistently makes almost daily?

The man talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk..

Said right after he just did what he said he would do? seems like he is walking it, no?

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Yeah the U.S troops are leaving, but what they didnt mention was that they are being replaced by private contractors who dont have to follow Geneva conventions or international laws.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

and what happens when he makes these same mistakes/gaffes with Xi or Putin that he consistently makes almost daily?

He corrects himself like normal people do. Its way better than trying to bend reality to fit your mistake like the current guy.

Thats why when you accidentally list Alabama as a state in the path of a hurricane, for example, it makes more sense to just say “Oh, sorry, not Alabama” and then move on instead of carrying the charade that Alabama is at risk so far that you find yourself on TV holding up a weather map that has been clumsily altered with a magic marker circling Alabama. It makes you look like an idiot and its stuff like that which explains why Xi and Putin have zero respect for Trump or the country he leads right now.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I wonder if Trump would have voted for the war back then, if he'd been able to, which he wasn't, because he has no background in politics or international affairs. Where was he back then, I wonder - at a party of Epstein's?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

You understand their feelings. You were a big supporter of Bush 2

Still am.

and his failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I was for him crushing Al Qaida and ISIS NOT nation building.

Not all Republicans joined what you called a ‘lunatic fringe’ of Trump supporters.*

Many Republicans did screaming 180s on their principles (

As did liberals and so many of them voted for the war like Biden, so.....but yeah, lunatic fringe....

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

"Trump's doing Putin's bidding"

That could well be. Trump's cutting the number of US forces abroad (for now, - maybe) and his antagonism toward former allies in Europe will probably make it easier for the Russian Federation's Eurasian Economic Union to continue to expand.

Russia can continue to use oil, gas and coal as leverage. And Russia's backed by one of the globe's two largest nuclear weapons arsenals plus a military with ample recent experience fighting for greater control of oil, gas and their shipment.

-2 ( +8 / -10 )

While the usual suspects continue to cry that the Orange Man Bad is worse than Hitler, Trump has become the first President in decades to not involve the United Sates in any new and useless wars.

It is ironic that the Republican in this election is the anti-war politician while Biden voted for the Iraq War and supported the Obama Administrations war against Libya resulting in a failed terrorist state. Trump even criticized the Generals for embracing the military industrial complex. Trump has made the Democrats into the globalist, big business, supporters of the surveillance state party. Amazing.

-2 ( +9 / -11 )

@justasking: He's in office for 4 years and he's doing this now? How convenient.

Well the last guy didn’t- he actually surged troops into Afghanistan.

Just saying...

-2 ( +8 / -10 )

With time running out and his back against the promised but unbuilt Trumpwall the whacko is desperately scrambling to shore up his wavering base by angling for grunt votes while making his Hail Mary bid for that elusive Nobel the undeserving Obama got. But with November coming over the hill and Covid heading him off at the pass... "it's now too little, too late, Kemo Sabe!"

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

The timing is of course comical and Trump is a pathological liar.

No, Trump has been trying to bring the troops home since he's been in office, but the Washington war machine and the weak knee spineless politicians in Washington seems they prefer the troops to remain, as to why, we can guess. Those are the people that are the chronic liars.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

A cut in troops in Iraq is not withdrawal from Iraq. Iraq is not the world and American has troops and bases all over the world. What causes contrived American wars is not troops in Iraq but rather the MIC which is in America.

And yet the Pentagon and fools like John Kerry are fighting the President to keeping troops in these countries.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Endless wars doesn’t include the one he started with a country with 1.3 billion people and a 5000 year history?

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Oh, oh, the theory that Trump will (or Pence, or the Generals will lead him to) decided to start a war with Iran suddenly got a lot more credible. 4 or 5 thousand Americans taken as POWs or as War Criminals for the ICC to try are more embarrassing than propaganda tools, but 2 thousand or less can be portrayed as a cause that a 'real' American has to fight for.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

'Reduce in 5,200 military personnel to just 3,000 in Iraq, and an expected parallel announcement on Afghanistan, comes as Trump strives to cast himself as a peacemaker..'

Is he aiming for a Nobel Peace Prize that has been controversial and largely downgraded? Or trying to appear as a peace lover to draw in some last minute votes?..

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

your president has the power to pull troops when he wants doesn't he his executive order powers would allow him to do that would it not?

Trump couldn't even get the Pentagon to deploy the National Guard to stop the thugs destroying our cities, even Lindsey Graham was pushing against bringing the troops back, so they're equally as bad when it comes to this issue.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Trump pledge to stop 'endless wars'

....and THAT is why his supporters support him.

Now lets watch the media erupt in defense of more international warmongering.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Promises made, promises kept.

While the usual suspects continue to cry that the Orange Man Bad is worse than Hitler, Trump has become the first President in decades to not involve the United Sates in any new and useless wars.

Indeed, yesterday President Trump was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize after orchestrating the unprecedented thawing of relations between Israel and the Arab world. But not a mention of that on JT for some reason.

Simply put, the most successful US President in our lifetimes. Not that you're going to hear about it....

-3 ( +13 / -16 )

Neocon globalist invasions and meddling under Dubya Bush, neoliberal globalist drone strikes, CIA "color" revolutions, and troop surges under Obama. Pick your poison.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Putin and the jihadists must be thrilled by this news. Bonespurs rides again!

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

@black are they back on American soil?

@Northernlife How come they didn't return to American soil during Obama's eight years?

And how come he didn't close Gitmo like he promised on Day 1? Jeez...

Xi and Putin have zero respect for Trump or the country he leads right now.

Yeah, right, tell us another one, rainyday. No, on second thought don't bother.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

During the 2016 election the left leaning press, politicians, academia, etc were all intentionally falsely claiming that President Trump was going to be a warmongerer.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

During the 2016 election the left leaning press, politicians, academia, etc were all intentionally falsely claiming that President Trump was going to be a warmongerer.

If we had a Democrat or a establishment Republican in the WH we would be at war with some country right now. Neither side cared in truth about our troops, but Trump wanting peace and wanting to stop wars, the man gets attacked from surprisingly, the Dems the most dovish and weakest party ever.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

He does, but if the top officials Aka: the war loving people don't want and that is what we are seeing then there's not a lot he can do at least for now.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

So if he really wanted to get the Military home by now there was nothing stopping him...

Except the hawks of the GOP and the Dems for some odd reason...still wondering what happened to them that they now love war, but hey....

hes the boss right its his call no matter anyone else says..

Yes, but if the establishment pushes back, it makes it harder, much harder...

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

so he should let our troops stay in danger for 2 more months because......election?

wouldnt you criticize that too?

so he brings them home, why is he doing it right before the election!!??

doesnt bring them home and someone gets hurt, he left them there to avoid being criticized before the election.

Luckily Trump doesnt care and does the right thing. Which is obvious when the main complaint from liberals is just the timing of it. because you know it makes Trump look good to do it (and its the right thing to do too)

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

so when should he have done this? what would have satisfied you for the timing? Or is it not really even about the timing at all, just you are afraid this action that needs to be taken anyway will help him win again?

@blacklabel 2 months before an election when he had how many years really man come give me a break..nobody can be that daft now can they..

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

Biden continuing to lie about the military.

Former Vice President Biden said today that more than 6,000 members of the US military have died due to the coronavirus. The actual number is seven according to the @DeptofDefense

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Guess that announcement seals his next term as Potus.

-8 ( +8 / -16 )

Best president ever.

How's that Trump Wall coming along, and has Mexico paid for it.

It's coming along, and with the USMCA that Trump negotiated and was held up by the Democrat-run House for a year, we got a better trade deal with jobs coming back.

Like I said, best president ever.

-11 ( +15 / -26 )

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