I was not consulted on Syria pullout, CENTCOM chief Votel says
- by Cecilia Wilkerson
- in World News
- — Feb 6, 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump spent much of his 2019 State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night urging lawmakers to overcome partisan gridlock and touting the strength of the U.S. economy under his administration. "We expect Iran to fully respect the sovereignty of Iran and other regional states" they said.
Votel also said that "a key task" that the U.S. was looking at was "the protection of those who have fought valiantly with us and ensuring that they remain safe as our diplomats and United Nations and others pursue a political solution here in Syria", referring to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. He said the Iraqi constitution forbids the use of Iraq as a base to threaten the interests or security of neighbouring countries.
"Don't overburden Iraq with your own issues", Salih said during a forum in Baghdad. "We're going to keep watching and we're going to keep seeing and if there's trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we're going to know it before they do".
"Great nations do not fight endless wars", Trump said in his annual State of the Union address to Congress, in which he also said US troops had almost defeated Islamic State militants in Syria and it was time to bring them home.
Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at the accusations Wednesday morning, tweeting that "Iranians - including our Jewish compatriots - are commemorating 40 yrs of progress despite U.S. pressure, just as @realDonaldTrump again makes accusations against us".
"I want to be able to watch Iran", he said. It's perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up.
He appeared to be referring to the Al-Asad air base in western Iraq, where he paid a brief visit to United States forces in December.
According to The Daily Beast, anti-American Iraqi lawmakers, led by political leader Muqtada Sadr, were already planning to vote on a parliamentary measure that would call for the expulsion of US forces.
The Syrian Democratic Front is a Kurdish-led coalition of fighting forces that the US military is helping to battle ISIS and other jihadist groups in Syria.
In June, the usa and Turkey agreed to a deal called the "Manbij Roadmap" in order to prevent a Turkish invasion of the strategic Kurdish city of Manbij.
The Republican-led Senate on Monday backed a resolution that broke with Trump by opposing plans for any abrupt withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
US-backed Syrian forces seized a number of oil fields and gas plants from ISIS in 2017, including the Conoco natural gas facility, an important source of revenue for terrorists, and the al-Omar oil field, the country's largest and most profitable.
President Donald Trump is expected to declare near-total triumph over the Islamic State group in Syria in his State of the Union address Tuesday, but US defense officials are increasingly fearful that the militants are simply biding their time until the Americans leave the battlefield as planned. A US-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign.
Salih's comments came hours after Trump appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation" claiming troops were in Iraq to keep tabs on Iran. Qais al-Khazali, head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, or League of the Righteous, also suggested US troops may eventually be driven out by force if they do not yield to the will of the Iraqi people.
