Iran CRISIS: US Defense Secretary warns US 'not seeking war but prepared to finish one'
WASHINGTON has told Iran the US is not looking to start World War 3 - but it is prepared to finish it following endless threats of revenge from Tehran.
Iran: US ‘prepared to finish a war’ says Mark Esper
Pentagon chief Mark Esper issued a press statement that told the world the US is not seeking a war with Iran but it is "prepared to finish one”. He also reiterated the US will not be withdrawing troops from Iraq despite a shocking new bill passed by Iranian MPs to label Us troops, agencies and government officials as “terrorists”. This is in complete contradiction to what Donald Trump has said.
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He told CNN: “We are not looking to start a war with Iran, but we are prepared to finish one.”
He then insisted the US had reason to assassinate Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian military general killed last Friday.
He said: “I can assure you it's more than razor thin, it's persuasive. The fact of the matter is Soleimani was caught red handed, one terrorist leader, of a terrorist organisation meeting with another terrorist leader to synchronise and plan additional attacks on American diplomats, forces or facilities.
“I think we took the right action to remove these players from the battlefield.”
In direct contradiction of President Trump, he added US troops would not be withdrawn from Iraq.
President Trump had said that the US was repositioning forces.
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Mr Esper said today a “draft letter” - how which the request was made to pull soldiers from the Middle East - was insignificant.
It comes despite the Iraqi military joint operations command claiming they had received a letter from the US army concerning a possible withdrawal of its troops from the country, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said.
The letter's English and Arabic language versions were not identical so Iraq had requested clarifications from Washington.
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He spoke two days after Iraqi MPs, with his support, voted for a resolution His death has raised fears of a broader regional war.
US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that a leaked letter from the US military to Iraq that created impressions of an imminent US withdrawal was a poorly worded draft document meant only to underscore an increased movement of forces.
General Milley said: "Poorly worded, implies withdrawal. That's not what's happening.”
