The United States President Donald Trump has said on Monday that it was important for the American military to show their presence in Iraq in order to keep a close eye on Iran as “Iran is a real problem”.
According to CBS News “Face the Nations” interview, to be broadcasted on Sunday, the US president bawled the “endless wars” in Afghanistan and Syria, and also made it clear that he wants to deduct the costly American military presence in both countries (Syria and Afghan) despite warnings against such actions from his own military adviser and the soy chief.
The US could rely on intelligence work in the war-torn Afghan country, Trump said and responded to the developments in Syria from the American bases in Iraq.
Iraqi revolutionary guards have yet sent thousands of soldiers and weapons to Syria in order to help bolster the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s rule during a 7-year civil war in the region.
Trump said Washington has spent “fortune” on Assad’s air base in western Iraq when he visited there in the month of December last year, and that it should hold on to it for longer.
According to Reuters news reports, in the CBS interview, Trump said: “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.”
When asked if that meant that he wanted to be able to strike against Iran in Iraq, Trump said: “No, because I want to be able to watch Iran. All I want to do is be able to watch.”
Initially, Trump said the pullout from Syria should be much immediate but since he has stated it would be gradual. Some of the American forces will move out of Syria and will deploy in Iraq to monitor any resurgence of the Islamic State or al-Qaeda militant group and “ultimately some will be coming home,” Trump said.
Trump said forces could also deploy again if there detects any movement of militant groups such as al-Qaeda. He said, “We’ll come back if we have to.”
He also told CBS that he would be keeping a small group of its troop in Afghanistan and also intelligence operations to monitor militant activity. Though, he did not say whether he has trust on Afghan’s Taliban insurgents groups but said he believed that they also want peace. “They’re tired. Everybody’s tired,” Trump said. “I don’t like endless wars.”