Vice President Mike Pence visited Iraq on Saturday to reassure Iraqi Kurds of US support after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria drew criticism that Washington had betrayed its Kurdish allies there.
TRUMP VISITED THE BASE IN A SIMILAR TRIP LAST YEAR
His trip included a visit with Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, and also a phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to discuss the unrest and protests over corruption that have rocked the country.
Pence made two stops during his short trip, which was previously unannounced for security reasons. Traveling on a military cargo plane, he landed first at Al Asad Air Base northwest of Baghdad and talked by phone with Abdul Mahdi.
The visit also served to bolster US troops ahead of next Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday in the United States
“We spoke about the unrest that’s been taking place in recent weeks here in Iraq,” Pence told reporters. “He assured me that they were working to avoid violence or the kind of oppression we see taking place even as we speak in Iran. He pledged to me that they would work to protect and respect peaceful protesters as … part of the democratic process here in Iraq.”
Pence told Barzani at the beginning of their meeting at Erbil airport that he wanted on Trump’s behalf 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”.