US Forces in Iraq ‘on Standby’ to Go Fight in Gaza, Docs Show
US soldiers monitor as they train Iraq’s 72nd Brigade in a live-fire exercise in Basmaya base, southeast of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on January 27, 2016
The US has at least 2,500 troops in Iraq and at least 900 more in Syria, ostensibly keeping them there to ‘train, advise and assist’ Iraqi forces and ‘prevent a terrorist resurgence’ in the oil and food-rich Syrian territories it occupies. But amid the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis, it turns out the US presence has another purpose.US troops in Iraq are “on standby” to deploy to Palestine and Israel if needed to support Washington’s top Middle Eastern client state.That’s according to documents seen by The Intercept, including a US Air Force personnel memo.
US forces are to remain “on standby to forward deploy to support troops in the case of on [the] ground US involvement in the Israel Hamas war,” the memo says. A second personnel-related document indicates that the order refers to US troops deployed in Iraq in 2023.
The documents do not explicitly confirm US intent to send troops into battle in the IDF-Hamas conflict raging in Gaza, but do cast a different complexion on regular assurances by the White House and the Pentagon that Washington has “no plans or intentions” to put boots on the ground in the Palestinian-Israeli crisis.The Biden administration’s assurances regarding US troop deployment plans were first questioned in mid-October after the White House posted and then deleted a photo on social media showing the president shaking hands with members of Delta Force – the US Army’s main special operations force, during a visit to Israel.In November, local media reported that US forces had been dispatched to guard Israel’s top secret nuclear facilities, and that an estimated 2,000 troops were on the ground in the country in total, including military personnel, advisors and technicians. US officials confirmed in late October that commandos were on the ground “helping the Israelis to do a number of things,” including identifying hostages, but emphasized that they have not been involved in combat operations.
MilitaryUS, Iraq to Reportedly Hold Talks ‘Soon’ on Ending American Foothold26 January, 04:14 GMTAfter being withdrawn in 2011, US troops were redeployed into Iraq in late 2014, and illegally entered Syria a year later, during the Western-led anti-terror coalition’s campaign against IS (ISIS, ISIL)* jihadists which emerged in the region as a result of the US invasion of Iraq, and a CIA dirty war in Syria from 2011 onward. IS was ultimately defeated in late 2017, but US forces never left, with then-President Donald Trump reneging on promises to bring “all” US forces in both countries home amid resistance (and outright sabotage) by the Pentagon.The Biden administration continued its predecessor’s illegal occupation of Syria, and renamed the combat mission in Iraq to an ‘advise, assist and training’ operation in late 2021, keeping troops on the ground while handing some bases back to Iraqi forces. Iraq and the US began formal talks on ending US forces’ presence in the country late last week, with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and senior Iraqi and US military officials meeting in Baghdad to discuss the potential pullout.In a related development, a Baghdad government-allied Shia militia engaged in a large-scale, months-long campaign of rocket and drone attacks against US forces in the region moved to halt its operations “to avoid any embarrassment for the Iraqi government” on Tuesday. The announcement came after a deadly drone strike in Jordan which killed three US service members over the weekend.
WorldNumber of Injured Soldiers in Attack on US Base Near Jordan Rises to 34 – Central Command29 January, 07:50 GMT* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.
