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Axios
Axios
Politics
Rashaan Ayesh

Biden: "I would leave troops in the Middle East"

As tensions remain high between the U.S. and Iran, former Vice President Joe Biden said he would leave troops in the Middle East to continue fighting ISIS, and accused President Trump of lying about Iran's imminent attack against American embassies to keep troops in the region.

"I think it's a mistake to pull out the small number of troops that are there now to deal with ISIS. What's happened is, now that he's gone ahead, the president and started this whole process moving, what's happening?"
 "We -- ISIS is going to reconstitute itself. We're in a position where we have to pull our forces out. Americans have to leave the entire region. And quite frankly, I think [Trump has] flat-out lied about saying that the reason he went after -- the reason he made the strike was because our embassies were about to be bombed."
Former Vice President Joe Biden

Backdrop: After Trump ordered a strike killing Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the Iraqi parliament voted to expel American troops from Iraq. The strike against Soleimani further strained relations between Iran and the U.S.

Go deeper... Focus group: Pennsylvania swing voters stand with Trump on Iran

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