Trump pledges support to Iraq
Assures that US will help the country fight against ISIS
Washington, March 21: US President Donald Trump has promised to support Iraq in its fight against the Islamic State terror group and criticised his predecessor Barack Obama for failing to negotiate an agreement that would have enabled American forces to stay in the war-torn country. In a joint statement after their first meeting at the White House, Mr Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi exuded confidence that the ISIS will be defeated.
Mr Trump welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister’s efforts to foster more inclusive and accountable governance in Iraq and to address the human suffering in the country created by the brutality of the ISIS.
“As the US and Iraq stand together against terrorism in all its forms, we will not tolerate efforts by any country to destabilise Iraq or undermine Iraq’s democratic institutions,” the joint statement said.
Trump also questioned the decision of his predecessors to first send the
I know Mosul is moving along, but Mosul was ours until we left. So perhaps we shouldn’t have gone in, and certainly we shouldn’t have left. We should never ever have left, the vacuum was created — Donald Trump, US President
American troops to Iraq and then withdraw them.
“I know Mosul is moving along, but Mosul was ours until we left,” Mr Trump told reporters during a brief media appearance with Abadi. “So perhaps we shouldn’t have gone in, and certainly we shouldn’t have left. We should never
ever have left, and the vacuum was created, and we discussed what happened,” the president said.
He said his main thrust is to get rid of the ISIS. “It will happen. It’s happening right now,” he said.
The Iraqi authorities launched an offensive in October to retake the northern city of Mosul from the IS group with the support of US-led coalition air strikes. Government forces retook the east side of Mosul in January before setting their sights on the more densely populated west of the city, the last major urban center ISIS holds in Iraq.