WASHINGTON — Libya has been excluded from a list of locations where U.S. military personnel are deployed and equipped for combat as part of counterterrorism operations.
The exclusion, from a letter to the speaker of the House from President Donald Trump, is a change from the same report sent six months ago. The report is required by the War Powers Resolution.
The Republican president and Democrats in the House are currently at odds over military support in Yemen, where “a small number” of U.S. military personnel are deployed, according to the June 11 letter.
The latest letter also reveals that the number of U.S. military personnel in Lebanon has declined by 50 percent since the last report, to 60.
The letter cites the territorial defeat of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, but says that “operations against the continuing terrorist threats emanating from Iraq and Syria remain ongoing.”
The U.S. is coordinating its activity in Iraq with the Kurdistan Regional Government, an autonomous entity in the country — something not included in the previous letter.
Personnel numbers in Jordan have increased from 2,795 military personnel to 2,910, since the last update — the latest in a number of consecutive increases.
Cal Pringle is a general assignment editorial fellow supporting Defense News, C4ISRNET and Fifth Domain. He is attending the University of Richmond.
