Trump: The Presence of US Military Forces in Iraq is to Monitor Iran

The President of the United States stated that maintaining military forces in Iraq is important as it allows Washington to closely monitor Iran. Donald Trump, in an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation" aired on Sunday, February 3, added: "One of the reasons I want to keep these forces is to keep an eye on Iran to some extent because this country is a real problem." Mr. Trump made these remarks in response to a question about whether the reason for keeping American forces in Iraq was to have the option to attack Iran. The US President said: "No, it is because I want to keep an eye on Iran. All I want is to be able to monitor [Iran]. We have built an incredible and costly base in Iraq. This base is perfectly suited for monitoring all the various problematic areas of the Middle East until we leave. And this is something that many people do not understand." Mr. Trump added: "We will continue our monitoring and observation, and if a problem arises, if someone wants to make nuclear weapons or other things, we will know about it before they do such a thing." If my intelligence people say that in reality, Iran is a great and wonderful kindergarten, I completely disagree with them. Iran is an evil country that kills many people. I mean when it comes to torture and many other things. The President of the United States noted that the Obama administration withdrew many American forces from Iraq in 2011 and then in 2014 had to redeploy US military personnel at the request of the Iraqi government to prevent ISIS forces from advancing towards Baghdad. Baghdad declared victory over ISIS last year, but the United States still has more than 5,000 troops in Iraq, primarily responsible for training the country's military forces. The US President had previously announced the withdrawal of American military forces from Syria, stating that some would be transferred to the US base in Iraq and others would return home. Trump again disagreed with the assessments of US intelligence agencies regarding the lack of nuclear threat, stating: "If my intelligence people say that in reality, Iran is a great and wonderful kindergarten, I completely disagree with them. Iran is an evil country that kills many people. I mean when it comes to torture and many other things." He once again referred to the Iran nuclear deal with six world powers, including the US, as a "terrible deal" that he canceled, which was signed by former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry. The United States reinstated two rounds of suspended sanctions against Iran on May 8 this year after withdrawing from the agreement known as the "JCPOA." The US President added: "When I canceled this agreement, suddenly Iran became a different country. It quickly turned into a country that is currently struggling with major financial problems. Let's wait and see what happens." On February 9, 16 US intelligence agencies presented a new report to the Senate Intelligence Committee, stating that Iran is "not currently pursuing key activities related to the development of nuclear weapons" but still considers Iran's missile program in 2019 a threat to the Middle East. Mr. Trump stated: When I became President of the United States, two weeks later I went to the Department of Defense (Pentagon) because I wanted to know what was going on with Iran. The US President emphasized: "We faced enormous problems in many parts of the Middle East. Wherever you touched, the first terrorist country in the world, namely Iran, was involved. So when my intelligence forces say that Iran is such a wonderful country - if you do not disagree, I must say I do what I believe." He said: "I have my intelligence people, but that does not mean I agree with them. President Bush also had his intelligence people who said Saddam Hussein had nuclear weapons in Iraq - all kinds of weapons of mass destruction? Well, what happened then? Those people did not know what they were doing, and they got us into a war that should never have happened. And we spent seven trillion dollars in the Middle East and lost many lives." In another part of his interview on Sunday, he referred to the crisis in Venezuela, stating that sending military forces to that country is "on the table." He added that he did not accept a request from Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president whose legitimacy is in question, for a meeting. Mr. Trump said: "He requested a meeting, and I did not accept because developments have gone beyond these stages." Mr. Maduro is facing increasing internal and external protests and opposition. Donald Trump's remarks come as last week media cameras noticed a note in the hands of John Bolton, the White House National Security Advisor, which read "5000 troops to Colombia." This phrase prompted a number of media and analysts to speculate about the possibility of US military intervention in Venezuela. Colombia is neighboring Venezuela and, like many Latin American countries, recognizes Juan Guaidó, the head of parliament and Maduro's rival, as the interim president. On the other hand, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham revealed last Sunday in an interview with Axios that the US President had discussed military intervention with him. Lindsey Graham stated: "(Trump) said, 'What do you think about using military force?' and I said, 'Well, you better take it easy; (military intervention) could be problematic.' And Trump said, 'You surprised me because you want to attack everyone yourself.'" Donald Trump also mentioned in August 2017 that the US has many options on the table regarding Venezuela, which has also been interpreted as military options. In another part of his interview, the US President commented on the release of Robert Mueller's report, the special investigator in the Russia case, stating: "It completely depends" on the Attorney General whether to release the text of this report. In response to the question, "Does he have any problem with the public release of this report?" he said: "I don't know. It depends. I have no idea what is going to come out of the report." Matthew Whitaker, the acting Attorney General, said last week that Robert Mueller's investigations are "coming to an end." Congressional Democrats have pressured William Barr, the nominee for Attorney General, to commit to releasing the full report. Barr has stated that "he does not know what is publishable from this report" or what Mueller has written. He said that Justice Department regulations state that Mueller's report must remain confidential. Mr. Mueller has been investigating the possibility of collusion between Donald Trump's campaign and Russia in the 2016 presidential election since 2017. Mr. Trump has repeatedly referred to Mueller's investigations as "a witch hunt" and has severely criticized former Attorney General Jeff Sessions for distancing himself from the investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election. Several of Trump's political associates have pleaded guilty in the Russia case, including Michael Flynn, former National Security Advisor, and Rick Gates, business partner of Paul Manafort, former campaign chairman of Donald Trump.