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President Trump announced Aug. 28 that the U.S. is reducing its military presence in Iraq by about 30%, although rocket attacks from Shiite militia groups in Iraq are making it harder for the U.S. to stabilize the area. 

“Unlike previous administrations, I have kept America out of new wars. Our troops are coming home,” Trump said during his nomination acceptance speech at the RNC. 

The United States will go from housing 5,200 troops in Iraq to 3,500. Trump said he dreams in the near future that all American troops will be out of Iraq. 

“We are reducing troop levels as the Iraqi capability to defeat ISIS remnants and prevent its resurgence improves, said Navy Commander Jessica McNulty, a Pentagon spokeswoman to the Wall Street Journal. “Any reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq will be determined through careful coordination with the Government of Iraq, as well as with our Coalition and NATO partners, and calibrated to our shared security interests and progress in the campaign against ISIS.”

In March, the Pentagon and Trump started pulling troops out of Iraq, claiming victories over ISIS in the region. But in August, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said that the U.S. is concerting efforts at Iran, the larger threat at the moment. 

"As I look at the theater, we remain focused on Iran as our central problem. This headquarters focuses on Iran, executing deterrence activities against Iran, and doing those things,” said McKenzie at an U.S. Institute for Peace event.

McKenzie says that an ultimate and clear-cut defeat of ISIS is unlikely, because ISIS is an ideology that has enraptured so many pockets of people around the globe. McKenzie does not anticipate the U.S. having an enduring presence in Syria, but said that the U.S. involvement in Syria is not a military decision, but a political decision. 

“I don’t think we’re going to be in Syria forever. I don’t know how long we’re going to be in Syria,” McKenzie said.

In October 2019, President Trump pulled a significant amount of troops out of Iraq. He promised during his 2016 campaign to end war in the Middle East and to defeat ISIS. 

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