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Pentagon budget retains same troop levels in Iraq, Syria

The Donald Trump administration’s new budget for the Pentagon leaves in place nearly 6,000 US troops in Iraq and Syria.
A U.S soldier stands on a bridge with his gun in the town of Gwer northern Iraq  August 31, 2016. Picture taken August 31, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari - S1AETYVKSRAA
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The Pentagon released a budget blueprint today that calls for retaining some 6,000 US troops in Iraq and Syria, even as the Islamic State (IS) has been all but defeated in both countries.

The troop number is included in a $15.3 billion request to support the US-led anti-IS coalition in fiscal year 2019, which starts Oct. 1. It includes $1.4 billion to train and equip US allies, including $850 million for the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga, $300 million for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and $250 million for border security. The request is up more than $2 billion from the current fiscal year’s request.

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