Despite a decision that was made by U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw American forces from Syria, a military presence will remain in neighboring Iraq, “to keep a close eye” over Iran, and “different parts of the trouble Middle East.” In an interview President Trump gave to CBS’s Face The Nation, the American leader reiterated Washington’s resolve to thwart ‘bad actors’ from acquiring nuclear weapons. “We spent a fortune on building this incredible base, we might as well keep it. One of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem. All I want to do is be able to watch. We have an unbelievable and expensive military base built in Iraq. It’s perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up. And this is something that a lot of people don’t understand. We are going to keep watching. And We are going to keep seeing. And if there is trouble, somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we are going to know it before they do,” President Trump said.
Meanwhile in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed a delegation of Ambassadors to the United Nations, whom came to Israel for a tour of the country’s northern frontier. In a briefing the Israeli leader provided to the large group of diplomats, Netanyahu reiterated the dangers posed by the Islamic Republic to the Jewish state, and the fact that Tehran managed- through its proxy Hezbollah – to take over Israel’s northern neighbor, Lebanon. “Iran has proxies. One of them is Hezbollah. Hezbollah just joined the government of Lebanon. That’s a misnomer; they actually control the government of Lebanon. It means that Iran controls the government of Lebanon. It’s important to send this very powerful message, just as we stop the terror tunnels coming into Israel, we will stop all the aggression; from Lebanon or from Syria or from Iran itself. We are committed to preventing this aggression, and in so doing, we are not only protecting Israel itself, but also protecting our neighbors and world peace,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu also took the opportunity to thank the visiting diplomats that voted in support of the Jewish state at the United Nations, and encouraged those who did not – to do so in the future. “The fact that you are here represents the fairness and integrity of your approach, I wish that this characterizes the UN. In the UN General assembly this year alone there were 20 resolutions against Israel, 6 against the rest of the world, which includes Syria, includes Iran and so and so. It is obviously absurd. But the important thing is not merely to see the truth, which you will in this visit, it is also to speak the truth, and may I say to vote the truth. So I have a non-hidden agenda in agreeing to Dany Dannon’s suggestion that you come here. We want to see you change your votes. For those of you who have already done it, thank you. For those of you who will do it thank you in advance,” Netanyahu said.