According to overseas media reports, Trump has carried out a number of vigorous "great withdrawal" operations this year. More than 10,000 troops have been withdrawn from allies Germany and Afghanistan and Iraq in the Middle East. When everyone thought the wave would stop with Trump's defeat, he issued another withdrawal order this week, and this time with a big hand, cutting the remaining 7,500 U.S. troops in the Middle East by a third.
The news was reported by CNN that Trump will issue the order this week: reduce the remaining 7,500 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 5,000 by January 15 next year. According to the term of office, Trump can just supervise the completion of this withdrawal mission; the news also said that it is not known whether Trump will issue a new withdrawal order before leaving office, but it is not surprising that this should be his "last order", because the follow-up instructions have no way to supervise the implementation.
People familiar with the matter said that the "ceasefire agreement" signed by Trump and the Taliban stipulates that the United States will withdraw 4,100 troops from here and retain 4,500 people at the end, seeing that Trump's plan is now to fully implement this agreement; in addition, he also promised not to increase the number of troops, and the new US defense secretary shouted "It's time for people to go back to Christmas!" "It can be seen that their will to withdraw has been very firm.
However, the Pentagon's attitude toward the withdrawal of troops from the Middle East is resolutely opposed, and the top level of the Army believes that first of all, the United States has sacrificed a lot of soldiers in the Middle East in exchange for the current favorable position, and withdrawing soldiers is equivalent to this war has no gain; second, the defense department said that even if the withdrawal of troops must be carried out conditionally, and if these places in Afghanistan cannot meet the conditions of the United States, it is absolutely impossible to withdraw a soldier. If the United States repeatedly compromises with small countries, the impact on the US military will be very unfavorable.
The main thing is that many people feel that it is very humiliating" for the US military to compromise with the Taliban. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the leader of the U.S. Senate Majority Party, publicly announced that the withdrawal now looks as shameful as the withdrawal from Vietnam, just as the United States lost the war. Former Defense Secretary Esper was also adamantly opposed to an unjustified retreat, which is said to be one of the reasons he was "fired."
The US media also said that Trump had prepared to bomb Iran's "nuclear facilities" in the last few weeks of leaving office, and he announced at the meeting that he might strike Iran and discussed the "enforceability" of this content. Unexpectedly, Pompeo, Pence and some senior officials were very surprised to hear it, and rushed to dissuade Trump from telling him that this would definitely escalate the situation in the Middle East, and then the United States may still be at risk of war.
It is worth mentioning that many advisers around Trump have also begun to feel confused about the president, thinking that he wants to withdraw his troops and start a new war in the Middle East, and does not know what to do; others speculate that he just wants to leave the worst mess for Biden and let Iran retaliate against the Biden administration. However, some people believe that after Biden takes office, in order to safeguard the interests of the Middle East, these removed soldiers will still be "returned" again.