Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Gates said those targeting American troops in Iraq these days are bands “clearly getting some fairly sophisticated and powerful weapons from Iran.”
Gates said he is worried about Iran’s influence inside Iraq and thinks Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki is beginning to take the threat from Iranian-backed Shia bands seriously. Gates said Iraqi and American forces are taking steps to counter the threat.
The United States now has fewer than 50,000 troops in Iraq and those soldiers do not make the large number of patrols they once made that drew attacks. As a result, the number of American troops killed in Iraq has fallen and is now far less than the death toll in Afghanistan, where US troop are on frequent daily patrols.
Five American soldiers were killed in an attack on June 6, which was the largest loss of American life in a single incident in Iraq in two years. That attack was attributed to a Shiite militia group.
