“In due deference to the sovereignty” of Iraq, the Combined Joint Task Force Iraq will be “repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement,” Marine General William H. Seely III wrote in a letter to the Iraqi Defense Ministry on Monday.

“We respect your sovereign decision to order our departure,” Seely wrote, explaining that the process will involve increased helicopter traffic into and out of Baghdad’s “green zone,” mainly during the night-time, with the Coalition seeking to “minimize and mitigate” disturbances to civilians.

However, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday the Defense Department could not immediately confirm the authenticity of Seely’s letter. 

The Iraqi parliament adopted a resolution on Sunday seeking to “end the presence of any foreign troops on Iraqi soil,” prompted by last week’s US drone strike that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and a number of Iraqi Shia militia officials at the Baghdad International Airport. 

Trump responded by threatening sanctions and saying the US will not leave until the Iraqis “pay us back” for an airbase that he said cost billions of dollars to build.

US Secretary Mike Pompeo likewise dismissed the non-binding resolution, saying that he was “confident that the Iraqi people want the United States to continue to be there to fight the counterterror campaign.”

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