The U.S. will dramatically reduce its number of troops in Iraq to 3,000 from 5,200 by the end of this month, according to the top American military commander in the Middle East. Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, the head of the Pentagon’s Central Command, reportedly said in a statement Wednesday: “The United States has decided to reduce our troop presence in Iraq from about 5,200 to 3,000 troops during the month of September.” It would be the first troop reduction in Iraq since numbers rose to 5,200 in 2016, when U.S. training efforts to fight back against ISIS were at their peak. Reuters reported that a separate announcement on a further reduction in U.S. forces in Afghanistan will come later Wednesday. The moves come at a time when Trump is facing severe criticism from a report that he allegedly referred to fallen American troops as “losers” and “suckers.”
