ERBIL,
Iraq (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Iraq
on Saturday in the highest-level American trip since President Donald
Trump ordered a pullback of U.S. forces in Syria two months ago.
Flying
in a C-17 military cargo jet to preserve the secrecy of the visit to
the conflict zone, Pence landed in Erbil to meet with Iraqi Kurdistan
President Nechirvan Barzani. The visit was meant to reassure the U.S.
allies in the fight against the Islamic State after Syrian Kurds
suffered under a bloody Turkish assault last month following the
Trump-ordered withdrawal.
Earlier
Pence received a classified briefing at Iraq’s Al-Asad Air Base, from
which U.S. forces launched the operation in Syria last month that
resulted in the death of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and spoke by
phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
It
was Pence’s second trip to the region in five weeks after Trump
deployed him on whirling trip to Ankara, Turkey, last month to negotiate
a cease-fire after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seized on the U.S.
withdrawal to launch an assault on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.
Trump’s move had sparked some of the most unified criticism of his
administration to date, as lawmakers in both parties accused Trump of
forsaking longtime Kurdish allies and inviting Russia and Iran to hold
even greater sway in the volatile region.
Pence said he
welcomes “the opportunity on behalf of President Donald Trump to
reiterate the strong bonds forged in the fires of war between the people
of the United States and the Kurdish people across this region.”
A
senior U.S. official said Pence’s visit was meant both to reassure
Iraqi Kurds who remain allied with the U.S. in the fight against IS, as
well as Americans who have long supported the Kurdish cause, that the
Trump administration remained committed to the alliance. The visit was
also designed to show Pence’s focus on foreign policy as Washington is
gripped by the drama of impeachment.