Last Update: March 07, 2023, 17:26 IST
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani meets with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on March 7, 2023 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Iraqi Prime Minister’s Media Office / Handout via Reuters)
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit comes ahead of the March 20 anniversary of the ground invasion that began two decades of bloodshed that Iraq is only now starting to get out of
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Iraq on Tuesday on an unannounced visit ahead of the 20th anniversary of the US-led invasion that overthrew Saddam Hussein.
“I am here to reaffirm the US-Iraq strategic partnership as we move toward a more secure, stable, and sovereign Iraq,” Austin tweeted after landing in Baghdad.
His visit is taking place ahead of the March 20 anniversary of the ground invasion that began two decades of bloodshed that Iraq is only now beginning to emerge from.
In the run-up, Iraq has hosted foreign officials including UN chief Antonio Guterres and the Iranian, Russian and Saudi foreign ministers.
Since the US-led coalition forces ousted Saddam’s Sunni Arab-dominated regime, Iraq’s Shiite majority has led Iraq under a confessional power-sharing system.
Successive governments have forged close ties with Iraq’s Shiite-led neighbor Iran, while Iraq has also maintained ties with the United States, Iran’s archenemy, in a delicate balancing act.
Both Washington and Tehran provided broad support during Iraq’s fight against Sunni extremists from the Islamic State group, who took over northern and western Iraq in 2014.
The jihadists were driven out of Iraqi territory in 2017, but maintain sleeper cells in desert and mountain hideouts in both Iraq and neighboring Syria.
Iraq announced an end to combat operations by US-led coalition forces in late 2021, but some units remain deployed to provide advice and training.
Austin’s trip follows talks with King Abdullah II in neighboring Jordan, a staunch US ally in the region.
“Secretary Austin shared our concerns on a range of common challenges, including a focus on security and stability in Iraq and countering other destabilizing activities in the region,” a Pentagon statement said.
Despite its vast oil and gas reserves, Iraq has suffered from decades of underinvestment in its infrastructure and public services, which has fueled repeated waves of protests.
There was a full year of political vacuum before Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani was sworn in as the head of a government led by pro-Iran factions after October 2021 elections.
The political wing of Iraq’s Hashad al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) paramilitary force, made up of Tehran-trained groups, has long sought the withdrawal of all remaining coalition troops, although this demand has waned since entering the government. Has been sharp
US Ambassador Elena L. Romanovsky holds regular talks with Iraqi officials and again this week hailed the “strong” ties between the two countries.
Relations took a sharp turn under the Donald Trump administration when the then-US president authorized the killing of Iran’s foreign operations chief, General Qassem Soleimani, along with his Iraqi lieutenant, Hashed number two Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in a drone strike in Baghdad. . Airport in January 2020.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)