Official: US troops will leave Iraq if the Iraqi government asked us to

Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Iraq, Joey Hood said Tuesday that US troops, as well as the international coalition forces and NATO, will leave Iraq if requested by the Iraqi government, asserting that the US forces had been redeployed in Iraq at the local government’s invitation.

“There are no US bases in Iraq, only trainers and advisers,” Hood told reporters, explaining that the average number of troops there is 5,200 members a week and that the number varies.

The US official said the “Iraqi security forces are not ready until now, to maintain security without the help of foreign forces”.

He denied reports on US military movements in Iraq, pointing out that “there is deliberate disinformation about the issue including the deployment of thousands of troops.

He also said that “most of the published images date back to 2006, describing the reports as “baseless.”