Acting US defence secretary on surprise visit

ACTING US Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan arrived in Baghdad yesterday for an unannounced visit during which he will stress the importance of Iraqi sovereignty and broach the issue of the future of US troops there.

President Donald Trump said this month that a US presence was needed to observe Iran, which would overstep the US-led coalition’s stated mission in Iraq and Syria of defeating Islamic State (IS).

“We are in Iraq at the invitation of the government and our interests are to build Iraqi security capability,” Shanahan told reporters travelling with him on his first trip to Iraq.

“I want to hear first-hand from them about concerns, the political dynamics that they are facing and then based on that we will obviously factor that into our planning.”

Shanahan was expected to meet leaders including Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and would also discuss the withdrawal of US troops from Syria with US commanders.

Trump caused anger in Baghdad this month when he said it was important to keep a US military presence in Iraq so Washington could keep a close eye on Iran “because Iran is a real problem”.

Iraq was in a difficult position as tensions between its two biggest allies, the US and Iran, increase.

Trump’s comments prompted almost universal criticism from Iraqi leaders including Abdul Mahdi and raised questions about the long-term presence of 5 200 US troops in the country 16 years after the American-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The troops were there as part of an agreement with Baghdad with a specific mission of combating terrorism, and should stick to that, Iraqi President Barham Salih said after Trump’s comments.

Iran-aligned politicians in Iraq’s parliament used the uproar to reiterate their demand that the US mission in Iraq be restricted and troop numbers reduced.

Asked whether US troops in Syria could be moved to Iraq, Shanahan said he would be having conversations on these topics during his visit.

US Army General Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command, said on Monday he did not believe Washington would broadly increase overall troop numbers in Iraq.

During a trip to Iraq in December, Trump said the US had spent a “fortune” on the al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq and should hold on to it.

He earlier announced that he was pulling all 2 000 US troops out of Syria, a decision that stunned allies and in part led to the resignation of former defence secretary James Mattis.

Like most senior US intelligence and military officials, Shanahan said an IS resurgence was a risk unless there was a sustained effort.