The US-led coalition has withdrawn from a military base in northern Iraq that nearly launched Washington into an open war with neighbouring Iran.
The K1 air base is the third site coalition forces have left in March in line with US plans to consolidate its troops in two locations in Iraq. A rocket attack on the base in December killed a US contractor and lead to a series of tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran-backed Iraqi militia.
The attacks culminated in the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi Kataeb Hezbollah militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis in a US drone strike near Baghdad airport in January.
Washington hardliners led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo see an opportunity to push home the advantage while Tehran is distracted by a coronavirus outbreak.
However, General White warned in a strongly worded letter to the Pentagon that an escalation could be “bloody and self-defeating” and risk a full-scale war.
The row fuels a long-running conflict among President Donald Trump’s advisers, with some arguing for a harder line against Iran and others saying any escalation runs counter to his stated desire to “stop unnecessary wars” and pull out of the Middle East.
Read the article by Samya Kullab and Richard Spencer in The Australian.