Some US politicians, like DeSantis, have said US troops in Iraq are just "sitting ducks", at their present strength, so called for either a surge or departure.
“We’ve got troops in Syria and Iraq. It’s not clear what their mission is. They’re there in insufficient numbers to probably make a huge impact, but they’re there in sufficient numbers to be an inviting target. And Iran has lobbed attacks on our troops,” DeSantis said.
The “sitting ducks” line is a rehash from an interview a few days prior, where the Governor again suggested that while there may be too many or too few American assets deployed, it’s clear the current number simply isn’t right.
However, one opinion is that they "should go on the offensive" against Iran (after being reinforced). I'll ask about that later/separately. For now I want to know: have any prominent US politician unambiguously asked for those troops to just be pulled out, this year. Or is this option outside the Overton window among prominent US politicians?
To kind-of self-answer; I see there was a vote in the Senate in December to withdraw US troops from neighboring Syria. It was defeated 13-84. The only supporter mentioned there by name is Rand Paul, who advanced that bill. That article also mentions that earlier, in March 2023 the House voted on a similar resolution on Syria, introduced by Matt Gaetz; that one was rejected 103-321. I'm not sure if there has been anything similar (i.e. actual vote) regarding Iraq, recently--that would be a more definitive answer. (Iraqi PM al-Soudani has started to issue strong calls for US forces to withdraw, in the past couple of months, at least.)
