Dear Iraqi Government we're leaving, regards Brigadier General William Seely

The name Brigadier General William Seely will for ever be associated with confusion and bewilderment.The current comnmander of US forces in Iraq had his name attached to a letter to the Iraqi Government which basically said or implied that American troops were about to leave the country for good and sorry about the nighttime noise of helicopters getting them the hell out. The letter, strangely unsigned, made a point of how important it was for the US to honour the wishes of the Iraqi parliament which had voted for all US forces to withdraw from Iraq. Just totally weird! It contradicted everything the Pentagon and White House had said. So how on earth did General Seely wake up that morning AFTER the assassination of the Quds Force leader Major-General Qasem Soleimani outside Baghdad airport and decide to tell the Iraqis America was giving up and moving out. Without anyone knowing what he was doing back in Washington? Obviously General Seely, a Marine, didn't actually write the letter. He would have got his military assistant to do it, but he would have given the gist of what he wanted to say. Anyway the letter was circulated all over the place and of course a copy was passed to the media and out it all came last night. I've never so much damage limitation erupt from within the Pentagon. Mark Esper, Defence Secretary, and General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, rushed to do a media "gaggle" to pour cold water on the letter. Esper claimed he didn't even know about the letter although later he said he had read it. But he said no decision had been made about US troops leaving Iraq. "Period". He and General Milley then explained there was a lot of moving around of troops right now but that was all about ensuring troops were in better protective positions in case there was an almighty Iranian revenge attack for the death by Hellfire-armed drone of General Soleimani. So troops WERE being helicoptered out of Baghdad's Green Zone. Fair enough. But how the hell did that redeployment translate in the Seely letter into a pledge to withdraw from Iraq altogether. General Milley summed it up by saying it was all a mistake. I should say! The mistake could not have come at a worse time, just when Trump was feeling good about removing General Soleimani from the planet. We don't know what Trump must have said to Esper and/or Milley but it can't have been pleasant. In his press gaggle Esper sounded like someone who hadn't a clue what was going on which is not very reassuring from the defence secretary of the most powerful nation on Earth. Milley didn't sound much better. I reckon the skids will be under both of these men. As for General Seely, bye bye Seely, your presence is no longer required. Period.