US and Britain to 'Reduce Troops' in Iraq Under Plan to Defuse Regional Tensions
US and Britain to 'Reduce Troops' in Iraq Under Plan to Defuse Regional Tensions by Colin Freeman – The Telegraph
The Western troop presence in Iraq is to be scaled down under a plan to defuse regional tensions over America's killing of Iranian general Qassim Soleimani.
Rather than bowing to Iranian demands for a pull-out of all coalition forces, diplomats are working towards a compromise deal whereby the foreign troop presence will simply be reduced.
They hope that will satisfy demands from pro-Iranian factions in Iraq's parliament, which voted two weeks ago for foreign troops to leave after Mr Soleimani's death in a US drone strike on January 3.
The plan follows concerns among Western military chiefs that an immediate pull-out would hamper the ongoing mop-up operations against Islamic State remnants in Iraq…