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Added on the 07/01/2020 20:37:41 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
The Pentagon has issued a notice to commanders known as a 'warning order.' According to CNN, officials say it's to begin planning to draw down the number of troops in Afghanistan to 2,500 troops and 2,500 in Iraq by Jan 15. US military commanders expect President Donald Trump to issue a formal order to begin further troop withdrawal before Trump leaves office on January 20th. The Pentagon appears ready to remove thousands more US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. However, it also indicates Trump may fall short of fulfilling one of his core promises to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan before he leaves office. Multiple top military officials, including former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, said conditions were not yet right for complete troop withdrawal.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper says the Pentagon fully expects that Iran will retaliate for the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike last week. SOUNDBITE
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin says that the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was an Israeli operation and his visit to Israel was not aimed at setting a timeline for the conflict. SOUNDBITE
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin calls on the Iran-backed movement Hezbollah to avoid provoking a wider conflict amid near-daily skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanon border since Israel's war with Hamas. SOUNDBITE
Russian President Vladimir Putin will succeed in his bid to seize Ukrainian territory if the United States halts support for Kyiv, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says at a Senate hearing on supplemental funding for national security priorities including Ukraine, for which $44.4 billion has been requested. "I can guarantee you that without our support, Putin will be successful," Austin says. SOUNDBITE
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