U.S. defense secretary visits Iraq

Austin says trip meant to ‘reaffirm commitment’ to nation

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Tuesday to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to the country, less than two weeks before the 20th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion.

After meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and his top military and counterterrorism team, Austin assured Iraqi leaders that the United States would press on with the mission of advising and training the country’s armed forces.

“U.S. forces are ready to remain in Iraq at the invitation of the government of Iraq,” he said after meeting Iraqi leaders.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq ousted dictator Saddam Hussein and led to a brutal insurgency against U.S.-led forces and their Iraqi allies. It set off sectarian warfare and spurred the growth of al-Qaida in Iraq, later paving the way for the rise of the Islamic State group as well.

It resulted in Iraqi casualties estimated between 185,000 to 206,000, the vast majority of them civilians, according to the Cost of War project at the Watson Institute at Brown University.

Some 4,600 U.S. service members also died, along with more than 3,600 military contractors. In addition, millions of Iraqis were displaced during the fighting, and only some have returned to their homes.

Austin underscored that the current focus of U. S. forces in Iraq is on defeating the Islamic State group and made clear that attacks on U.S. forces “undermine that mission,” a reference to attempts by Iranian drones to target military camps that house U.S. soldiers in Baghdad and northeastern Syria.

He reinforced the importance of Iraq continuing its gradual efforts to repatriate those Iraqis with ties to the Islamic State group who are currently held in prison camps for Islamic State families in northeastern Syria, such as the sprawling al-Hol camp.

Tens of thousands of people live in the camp — the majority of them women and children — and about half the residents are Iraqi. The work of reintegrating them into Iraqi communities has been difficult because of widespread concerns that they will once again threaten Iraqi civilians.

According to assessments by U.S. Central Command, the Islamic State group has some 10,000 fighters and leaders in detention in Syria in addition to more than 25,000 in the al-Hol camp, adding that they are vulnerable to radicalization.

Austin never mentioned Iran by name. But he warned about attacks on U.S. troops and other comments, urging Iraq to deepen and strengthen its partnerships with its Arab neighbors.

Hussein Allawi, the prime minister’s security adviser, said the United States was committed to giving Iraq “technical support since Iraq owns U.S.-made weaponry” and providing special operations training for Iraq’s counterterrorism units.

The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq and an additional 900 in Syria to help advise and assist allied local forces in combating Islamic State fighters there. In 2014, the Islamic State group seized territory in both countries, bringing much of northern Iraq under its control.

It took more than three years of hard fighting and the help of an international coalition, as well as Iran-backed Iraqi militias, to win back the territory.

The numbers of Islamic State attacks have declined annually since the Islamic State group lost its territory in 2017. But some parts of Iraq still see near daily attacks with small-arms fire and sometimes roadside bombs.