CENTCOM general: US, Iraq Working on 5-Year 'Enhanced Cooperation' Plan

Sputnik
Sat, 11 Mar 2017 15:35 UTC

© Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse

American marines of the USMC (US Marine Corps) put a flag on a antenna of a HMMWI (Hight Mobility Multi Wheeled Vehicles) in the north of the desert Kuwait near the Iraqi border 15 March 2003

CENTCOM commander Gen. Joseph Votel said that the United States and Iraq were working on a five-year plan to keep US forces in Iraq after the defeat of Daesh.

The United States and Iraq are working on a five-year plan to keep US forces in Iraq after the defeat of Daesh terrorist group, Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Gen. Joseph Votel said on Thursday.

"We are working with the GoI [government of Iraq] to finalize a five-year plan to ensure enhanced cooperation," Votel said in written testimony for the US Senate Armed Services Committee.

Votel emphasized that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was a willing partner and had clearly stated a desire for continued US support after Islamic State is defeated.

The Pentagon maintains US troops are supporting Iraqi forces in an advise and assist role in counter-Daesh operations at the invitation of the government.

In October, then-State Department spokesman John Kirby said there was no agreement between the two governments on a sustained US troop presence after Daesh is defeated.

Comment: Votel doesn't miss a chance to beef up US interference in other countries:

From RFL/RE

The head of the U.S. military's Central Command says more U.S. troops will be needed on the ground in Afghanistan in the fight against the Taliban and other forces.

General Joseph Votel told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on March 9 that he thinks "it will involve additional forces to ensure that we can make the advise-and-assist mission more effective."

Votel told the Senate panel he was working on a new strategy aimed at breaking what he described as a "stalemate" in Afghanistan against the Taliban.

Votel's comments echo similar remarks he made on February 24 about the situation in Syria, when he indicated further U.S. troops would be needed in the battle to fight so-called Islamic State (IS) militants there.

On March 9, the Pentagon said it was deploying a "temporary force" of 400 additional U.S. ground troops to Syria in order to help defeat IS in Raqqa, the militants' self-proclaimed capital.