{"id":68231,"date":"2020-08-30T15:31:56","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T15:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/30\/us-plans-further-troop-reductions-in-iraq-by-november\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:47:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:47:21","slug":"us-plans-further-troop-reductions-in-iraq-by-november","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/08\/30\/us-plans-further-troop-reductions-in-iraq-by-november\/","title":{"rendered":"US plans further troop reductions in Iraq by November"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The United States plans to reduce its military force in Iraq from the current 5,200 to about 3,500 by November, U.S. officials said Friday. The cut would be in line with President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated call to bring troops home<\/a> and his reelection campaign pledge to end what he calls \u201cendless wars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan to shrink the U.S. force in Iraq was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Officials who confirmed the plan spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter not yet publicly announced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

American troops are in Iraq to train and advise Iraqi security forces battling the Islamic State group, but the relationship has been rocky at times in large part because of periodic attacks by Iran-backed militia groups that are not fully controlled by the Iraqi government. U.S. troops, after invading Iraq and toppling President Saddam Hussein in 2003, had withdrawn from the country only to begin returning in 2014 after IS militants swept across the Syrian border and took control of large swaths of Iraqi territory. <\/p>\n\n\n\t