Pentagon chief makes unannounced trip to Iraq

Baghdad – US defence secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Tuesday in a visit that a senior US defence official said was aimed at showing that Washington was committed to keeping its military presence there nearly 20 years after the US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein.

The 2003 invasion killed tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians and led to instability that eventually paved the way for the rise of Islamic State militants after the US withdrew its forces in 2011.

Austin, the most senior official in President Joe Biden’s administration to visit Iraq, was the last commanding general of US forces there after the invasion.

“I’m here to reaffirm the US-Iraq strategic partnership as we move towards a more secure, stable and sovereign Iraq,” Austin said.

The US has 2,500 troops in Iraq – and an additional 900 in Syria – to help advise and assist local troops in combating Islamic State militants, who had seized large swathes of territory in 2014 in both countries.

“What [Iraqis] will hear from him is commitment to retaining our force presence, but it’s not just about the military instrument. The US is broadly interested in a strategic partnership with the government of Iraq,” the defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told reporters.

Islamic State is far from the formidable force it once was, but militant cells often operating independently have survived across parts of northern Iraq and northeastern Syria.

The trip is also about supporting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani’s push back against Iranian influence in the country.

Iranian-backed militia in Iraq have occasionally targeted US forces and its embassy in Baghdad with rockets. The US and Iran came close to full-blown conflict in 2020 after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ top commander Qassem Soleimani was killed in a drone strike.

“I think Iraqi leaders share our interest in Iraq not becoming a playground for conflict between the US and Iran,” the official said.

Austin will meet Sudani as well as the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, amid a long-running dispute over budget transfers and oil revenue sharing between the national government and Kurdish government.

Reuters