Spotlight: Trump defends Syria withdrawal in surprise visit to troops in Iraq

    Source: Xinhua| 2018-12-27 12:45:05|Editor: Chengcheng
    Video PlayerClose

    WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The first visit of U.S. President Donald Trump to American troops deployed in the Middle East on Wednesday has been somehow clouded with secrecy.

    Yet so far a major topic for him in Iraq was no secret -- the justification of his controversial decision to withdraw troops from Syria.

    AN UNANNOUNCED VISIT

    Earlier in the day, several media outlets reported that a plane carrying Trump and First Lady Melania have traveled to an unspecific destination.

    The White House later confirmed Trump's hours-long visit to U.S. combat troops in Iraq on Twitter, as spokesperson Sarah Sanders said that the American first couple had traveled to Iraq on Christmas night to visit U.S. troops and military commanders to "thank them for their service, their success, and their sacrifice and to wish them a Merry Christmas."

    Trump, for his part, capped the speculations with a tweet: "Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.!"

    Details of the trip could be read in the reports of journalists traveling with him that were later sent to the media. They said that Trump left the White House late on Tuesday "for an unannounced movement to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland."

    "Air Force One was wheels up" on Wednesday and landed in the evening at the air base in Iraq, a joint U.S.-Iraqi military base west of Baghdad, the capital city of Iraq.

    Asked why he chose Iraq in his first visit to overseas U.S. troops, Trump told reporters before a meeting with American military leaders there that "it's a place I have been talking about for many years."

    While in Iraq, Trump addressed a group of some 100 U.S. soldiers, mostly troops engaged in combat operations in Iraq and Syria. However, a scheduled meeting with Iraqi prime minister was cancelled.

    The visit came as a surprise for many as Trump had earlier been blasted by U.S. media as the "first president since 2002 not to visit troops on Christmas," a long tradition to boost morale overseas.

    DEFENDING SYRIA WITHDRAWAL

    Soon after landed in Iraq, Trump told the media and U.S. soldiers that he has given "the generals" multiple six month "extensions" to get out of Syria.

    "They said again, recently, can we have more time? I said, 'Nope.' You can't have any more time. You've had enough time. We've knocked them out. We've knocked them silly," Trump said, obviously referring to the Islamic State.

    "I will tell you that I've had some very good talks with (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan who wants to knock them out also and he'll do it. And others will do it to. Because we are in their region. They should be sharing the burden of costs and they're not," Trump added.

    "The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world ... we don't want to be taken advantage of any more by countries that use us and use our incredible military to protect them. They don't pay for it, and they're going to have to," he said.

    While promising a "strong deliberate and orderly withdrawal" from Syria, Trump said that "in Syria, Erdogan said he wants to knock out IS, whatever's left, the remnants of IS. And Saudi Arabia just came out and said they are going to pay for some economic development. Which is great, that means we don't have to pay."

    On Dec. 19, the White House said that it has started returning U.S. troops home from Syria after claiming a victory in the fight against the Islamic State.

    Trump tweeted one day later that Defense Secretary James Mattis will retire at the end of February, but changed his decision on Sunday by saying that he has picked Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan as the acting Pentagon chief, forcing the outgoing Pentagon chief to step down two months earlier than planned.

    Speaking about the surprising change of leadership, Trump said that Shanahan could be in an acting capacity starting on Jan. 1 " for a long time," indicating that he is in no rush to name a new Pentagon chief.

    Trump has never been a fan of sending U.S. troops for battles overseas. Ever since his campaign, he has urged bringing the "boys" back home, while senior national security officials, including Mattis, have advocated for a longer-term military deployment to secure anti-terrorism victory.

    "We are spread out all over the world. We are in countries most people haven't even heard about. Frankly, it's ridiculous," Trump said, warning however that if there is a terror attack in the U.S., "nobody will ever have suffered the consequences they had suffered."

    U.S. TO STAY IN IRAQ

    During his stay in Iraq, Trump told the media that he had no plans to withdraw the some 5,200 U.S. soldiers from Iraq, a country he could use "to do something in Syria."

    "We can use this as a base if we wanted to do something in Syria," he said. "If we see something happening with IS that we don't like, we can hit them so fast and so hard."

    Trump's brief visit, together with his remarks, has sparked sharp criticism from Iraq's major congressional leader, who claimed that it may have blatantly violated the Iraqi sovereignty.

    Sabah al-Saidi, head of the Islah bloc in Iraq's parliament, reportedly said that an emergency session has been called to discuss Trump's visit.

    On his way back to the United States, Trump also stopped to visit troops at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

    TOP STORIES
    EDITOR’S CHOICE
    MOST VIEWED
    EXPLORE XINHUANET
    010020070750000000000000011100001377021021
    主站蜘蛛池模板: 最新国产福利在线观看| 精品国产品香蕉在线观看75| 在线观看免费污视频| 久久国产欧美日韩精品| 欧美综合自拍亚洲综合图片| 哦好大好涨拨出来bl| 久久精品国产清白在天天线| 男爵夫人的调教| 国产国产精品人在线视| 91香焦国产线观看看免费| 成人性生交大片免费看| 亚洲AV无码精品蜜桃| 渣男渣女抹胸渣男渣女app| 国产18到20岁美女毛片| 天天影视色香欲性综合网网站 | 午夜三级A三级三点在线观看| 成人免费的性色视频| 国产高清在线精品一区| 一本色道久久综合亚洲精品 | 可以看的黄色国产毛片在线电影| 久久伊人色综合| 国精产品wnw2544a| 一区免费在线观看| 波多野吉衣一区二区| 国产一区二区三区无码免费| 被吃奶跟添下面视频| 大陆老太交xxxxⅹhd| 中文字幕日韩一区二区不卡| 日韩精品免费一级视频| 亚洲成人动漫在线| 猫咪AV成人永久网站在线观看 | 黑人vs亚洲人在线播放| 成人性生活免费视频| 亚洲13又紧又嫩又水多| 欧美视频免费在线播放| 免费无遮挡毛片| 老司机aⅴ在线精品导航| 国产午夜福利精品一区二区三区| www.成人av.com| 无码精品国产一区二区三区免费| 亚洲精品亚洲人成在线播放|