USA TODAY International Edition
Trump makes surprise visit to Iraq
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump defended his decision to withdraw troops from Syria during a surprise visit to Iraq on Wednesday to meet with U.S. troops, his first encounter with soldiers serving under his command in a combat zone.
Trump's journey, cloaked in secrecy during a government shutdown, comes as he weighs a major reduction in forces in the 17-year-old conflict in Afghanistan. He ordered the withdrawal of roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria and is overseeing a shakeup in the top rungs of military leadership.
“The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world,” Trump said. "We don't want to be taken advantage of anymore by countries that use us and use our incredible military to protect them."
Trump and first lady Melania Trump left the Washington region late Christmas night. Air Force One flew overnight and landed under the cover of darkness Wednesday at Al Asad Air Base, west of Baghdad. Trump spent about three hours on the ground in Iraq, meeting with soldiers in a dining hall and addressing a large group of troops in a hangar.
“We're no longer the suckers, folks,” Trump told the troops, according to the Associated Press. “We're respected again as a nation.”
President Barack Obama traveled to Iraq shortly after taking office, and President George W. Bush visited Baghdad in 2003, months after the Iraq War began.
"Two years in, Trump was going to get flak for going or not going," said Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East negotiator for Republican and Democratic presidents. "And clearly those troops who will hear him will be glad he came."
The president's visit followed bipartisan alarms over a series of abrupt decisions upending U.S. foreign policy. Trump announced last week that he would withdraw troops from Syria, then parted ways with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis days later.
Trump is considering a significant reduction in forces in Afghanistan, USA TODAY and other outlets reported last week. The moves in Syria and Afghanistan were consistent with promises Trump made during his campaign, but they unsettled some lawmakers.
Trump described how he gave military leaders several “extensions” to finish their work in Syria.
“They said again recently, 'Can we have more time?' I said, ‘Nope. You can't have any more time. You've had enough time,' " Trump said.
"We've knocked them out," Trump said of the Islamic State terrorist group in Syria. "We've knocked them silly."
There are about 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, advising Iraqi forces fighting Islamic State militants who nearly overran the country in 2014. The Iraqi army fled its posts during that onslaught. Sustained pressure from airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition helped Iraqi and Kurdish ground forces turn the militants back.
Small remnants of Islamic State units remain in Iraq, and the U.S troops there assist American units in Syria battling the terrorist group, also known as ISIS.
The force in Iraq is a fraction of the 170,000 American forces that fought a countrywide insurgency there in 2007. The withdrawal of U.S. troops was accelerated during the Obama administration, only to be returned to current levels after the rise of ISIS.
Trump maintained that he opposed the invasion of Iraq in 2003, but his own statements contradict that.
In November, Trump said, "I'm going to a war zone,” a declaration that followed a decision to skip a pair of military-themed events.
While traveling in Paris, Trump canceled a trip to an American cemetery about 50 miles away for an event that marked the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended fighting in World War I. Aides said weather made a helicopter trip too dangerous.