Cial assures Iraqis of limited US military role
Iraq as trainers and advisers to Iraqi security forces in their battle against insurgent elements of the Islamic State group that once controlled large swaths of Iraqi territory. He said they discussed “how we can generate more capacity and capability in the Iraqi security forces.”
Shanahan, who had not previously been to Iraq and is on the second leg of his first international trip as the acting Pentagon chief, said he was mindful of Iraqi parliamentary proposals to “restrict the number of U.S. forces in Iraq.”
He said he also emphasized to Abdul-Madhi the role security plays in Iraq’s economic future.
“We really talked about that economic security,” Shanahan said.
Trump upset Iraqis by saying earlier this month that U.S. forces should use their Iraqi positions to keep an eye on neighboring Iran.
That is not the stated U.S. mission in Iraq, and Iraqi o cials have said Trump’s proposal would violate the Iraqi constitution.
Trump also has angered Iraqi politicians by arguing that he would keep U.S. troops in Iraq and use the country as a base from which to strike extremists leaders are increasingly speaking out against the continued presence of U.S. forces. Some Iraqi lawmakers are working on a draft bill calling for the withdrawal of the more than 5,000 U.S. troops from the country.
This political tension formed the backdrop to Shanahan’s visit. He took over as the acting Pentagon chief after Jim Mattis resigned as defense secretary in December. It’s unclear whether Trump will nominate Shanahan for Senate confirmation.
On Monday, Shanahan was in Afghanistan, where he met with U.S. troops and President Ashraf Ghani amid a U.S. push for peace talks with the Taliban. Trump has indicated he would like to get U.S. troops out of Afghanistan after 18 years of war, but Shanahan said he has no orders for a troop drawdown.
Although Afghanistan is America’s longest war, fighting in Iraq has taken a heavier toll on American lives.
President Barack Obama pulled troops out of Iraq in December 2011 but sent them back in smaller numbers in 2014 after the Islamic State group swept across the border from Syria and took control of much of western and northern Iraq.