Trump wants U.S. military in Iraq to 'watch Iran' - CBS interview

By Doina Chiacu

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump holds a news conference to mark six months since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, in the White House East Room in Washington, U.S., June 29, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said it was important to keep a U.S. military presence in Iraq so that Washington can keep a close eye on Iran "because Iran is a real problem," according to a CBS interview to be broadcast on Sunday.

 

The Republican president lamented "endless wars" in Syria and Afghanistan in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" and made clear he wants to reduce the costly U.S. military presence in those countries despite warnings against such moves from his military advisers and spy chiefs.

 

The United States could rely heavily on intelligence work in Afghanistan, he said, and respond to developments in Syria from U.S. bases in neighbouring Iraq.

 

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have sent weapons and thousands of soldiers to Syria to help shore up the rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a 7-year civil war there.

 

Trump said the United States has spent a "fortune" on the Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq, which he visited in December, and that the United States should hold on to it.

 

"One of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem," he said in the CBS interview.

 

Asked if that meant he wanted to be able to strike against Iran, Trump said, "No, because I want to be able to watch Iran. All I want to do is be able to watch."

 

The president defended his decision in December to withdraw troops from Syria but refused to provide a timetable for the pullout, which drew criticism from members of his own Republican Party and concerns among some allies.

 

In a rebuke, the Republican-led U.S. Senate advanced largely symbolic legislation on Thursday opposing plans for any abrupt withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan.

 

Trump initially said the withdrawal from Syria should be immediate but he has since said it would be gradual.

 

Some of the forces moving out of Syria will go to Iraq, where they can monitor any resurgence of Islamic State or other militant group and "ultimately some will be coming home," Trump said.

 

He said U.S. forces could be deployed again if there is a resurgence of militant groups like al Qaeda. "We'll come back if we have to," he said.

 

Trump said on Thursday he would bring U.S. troops home if a peace deal was reached to end 17 years of war in Afghanistan.

 

He told CBS he would be open to keeping a small number of troops there as well as intelligence operations to monitor for "nests" of militant activity, according to the interview taped on Friday.

 

Trump did not say whether he trusted Afghanistan's Taliban insurgent group but said he believed they want peace.

"They're tired. Everybody's tired," Trump said. "I don't like endless wars."

 

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-04

30 minutes ago, webfact said:

"All I want to do is be able to watch."

Didn't Chauncey say the same thing?

41 minutes ago, quandow said:

Didn't Chauncey say the same thing?

And you can only do that by being there.

1 hour ago, ballpoint said:

And you can only do that by being there.

I see what you did there!

????

Does he think US military doesn't watch Iran? Did Putin tell him that? Maybe he should talk to Intelligence.... nah

"because Iran is a real problem,"  Bizarre most of the globe would remove the word Iran and insert Trump.

Amazing how Americans allow a fool to be their President. Dangerous joke. Start a war to distract from the real threats to him and 1 joker can have this power? Even after all the top Intel chiefs disagreed with him. In public. 

I don't think he actually knows why the military is there or what they are doing. He makes it up as he goes along.

He should stay in Afghanistan then, so he can watch it from the other side too.

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Trump said the United States has spent a "fortune" on the Al Asad Air Base in western Iraq, which he visited in December, and that the United States should hold on to it.

Would it surprise Trump that it's Iraq who decides if the US should hold onto it?

Probably.

Hey he’s like really smart and a stable genius after all lol what a dumpster fire!

Let him do what he wants. He is the president. Remember the guy from escape from new york? "I have this watch on, that means I'm the president". 

I am from the USA. 

The idiot president is a disgrace. 

Many  voters in the USA are misinformed (watching too much Fox entertainment), and angry at something so they voted for the  populist who gave them feel good solutions to complex problems. 

The USA voters got what they voted for .an idiot president. 

Unfortunately the big bully in the white house impacts the rest of the world. 

Valdimir Putin's boy is doing his job of creating discord.   

15 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Would it surprise Trump that it's Iraq who decides if the US should hold onto it?

Probably.

It might also surprise Trump (but not any of US intelligence agencies including the military) that there is a Shia-led Iraqi government. Notably, all of Iraq’s former prime ministers, Ibrahim Jaafari, Ayad Allawi, Nouri al-Maliki, and the current prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, are former Shia exiles. https://carnegie-mec.org/2018/03/01/transnational-politics-of-iraq-s-shia-diaspora-pub-75675

Also, there is a Shia-led Iranian government. For now Iraq Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr favors (much to the consternation of Iran) an independent Iraq free of political manipulations by both the US and Iran.

• But Trump's continued treatment of Iraq as if it were a vassal of the US, not consulting with and having the support of the Iraq government regarding continued US troop presence in Iraq and remembering that Suni-led Saudi Arabia is a major US ally in the region, Iraq may align itself more with the Iranian foreign policies in the region to the detriment of US foreign policy and security.

As another key region power Turkey is also aligned with Iran with regards to US continued presence in the region, Trump's unilateral security decisions in the region can further isolate effectiveness of US foreign policy in the region. The result is emergence of Russia as the key superpower to dominate the region.

<deleted>??

like Iraq is US soil!

so if US gets a war with Iran, it looks like Iraqi people will suffer as front line?? and nothign happens to US lands and people!

Basically, using Iraq 'as a springboard to attack its neighbors.'

But Iraqis are not OK with this and threatened to kick US troops out:

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/04/iraqi-president-to-trump-.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/04/politics/trump-iraq-iran-comments/index.html

 

 

 

 

On 2/5/2019 at 10:52 AM, Galactus said:

<deleted>??

like Iraq is US soil!

so if US gets a war with Iran, it looks like Iraqi people will suffer as front line?? and nothign happens to US lands and people!

Basically, using Iraq 'as a springboard to attack its neighbors.'

But Iraqis are not OK with this and threatened to kick US troops out:

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/04/iraqi-president-to-trump-.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/04/politics/trump-iraq-iran-comments/index.html

 

 

 

 

 

Reading them two links, the only actual reference to "kick US troops out" is a comment by Iraq's deputy parliament speaker. Most higher up officials' comments were way more moderate than that.