US General Sends Letter to Iraq Announcing Troop Withdrawal, Pentagon Quickly Corrects That It Was a 'Mistaken Message'
(Baonghean.vn) - Immediately after the letter from a US general to Iraqi authorities about the US beginning to withdraw troops from Iraq appeared in the press, US generals called it "a mistake".
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| US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper. Photo: AP |
On the night of January 6, a letter from Major General William Seely, commander of US special forces in Iraq, to Baghdad officials appeared in the media. The content of the letter said that the US began withdrawing troops from Iraq at the request of local authorities.
However, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley later confirmed that the letter sent was just an unsigned draft.
"It was a mistake, a real mistake, a draft letter without a signature... It should not have been sent," General Milley told reporters, adding that the letter mentioned a troop withdrawal but that this would not happen.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper immediately had to speak up to clarify that Washington had no plans to withdraw troops from Iraq as stated in the letter mistakenly sent to Iraqi officials, and called the letter "a mistake", a draft, and should not be made public.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump threatened Iraq with sanctions if Baghdad asked US troops to withdraw.
In another development, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova believes that it is very interesting that the US has realized that the document on withdrawing troops from Iraq was a mistake, and Washington's security network has no chance to blame Russian "hackers".
"I suggest replacing the word 'mistake', otherwise tomorrow the US will start again with Russian 'hackers'" - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova wrote on her personal Facebook page.