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U.S. troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan on May 1. However, frank McKenzie, the top commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and commander of U.S. Central Command, said again that the U.S. military has no plans to withdraw its 2,500 military personnel in Iraq simultaneously, and that other NATO troops in Iraq will not withdraw because the Iraqi government wants NATO troops to remain in place to help fight extremist groups.
However, Mr Mackenzie’s remarks were met with an immediate backlash from the Iraqi side. Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s armed forces, said Iraq does not need U.S. or other forces and that it already has enough military strength to defend its country and its people.
