US Defense Secretary Mattis meets Abadi; will visit President Barzani in Erbil

US Defense Secretary Mattis meets Abadi; will visit President Barzani in Erbil
By Rudaw 11 hours ago
From right to left: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi  hosts US Defense Secretary James Mattis and US Ambassador Douglas Silliman in Baghdad on Tuesday. Photo: Iraqi PMO
From right to left: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hosts US Defense Secretary James Mattis and US Ambassador Douglas Silliman in Baghdad on Tuesday. Photo: Iraqi PMO
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — US Secretary of Defense James Mattis has made an unannounced visit to Iraq's capital of Baghdad where he was met by Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday and will later come to the Kurdistan Region to meet its President.

An Iraqi readout stated they discussed enhancing joint military cooperation, the war against “terrorism,” and recent victories achieved by Iraqi forces.

It added that Mattis reiterated US military support and praised the victories. The statement from Abadi’s office stated that Mattis rejects any action aimed at “dividing and destabilizing Iraq’s integral unity.”

The US Secretary of Defense was accompanied by Ambassador Douglas Silliman, Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Brett McGurk and a cadre of military officers. The Iraqi delegation included Defense Minister Khaled al-Obaidi and high-ranking military officers.

A US readout of the meeting was not immediately available.

Mattis also plans to meet in Erbil with Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, The Associated Press reported.

The American reportedly will ask Barzani to call off the Kurdistan Region’s planned independence referendum.

Reuters reported an unnamed US official said that the memorandum of understanding would expire soon and suggested that Mattis could use it as a bargaining chip.

US Special Presidential Envoy Brett McGurk was also travelling with Mattis to Iraq from Jordan, reiterated the US stance against the timing of the Kurdistan Region’s upcoming referendum on independence.

In addition to Kurdish Peshmerga, the United States has been supporting Iraqi security forces, who liberated Mosul on June 10, the country's second-largest city.

Brett McGurk, the administration's special envoy to the counter-IS coalition, told reporters on Monday in Jordan the gains against ISIS have been accelerated under the Trump administration.

"I think that's quite significant and partially due to the fact we're moving faster, more effectively," McGurk said in a joint appearance with Mattis, adding Trump’s delegation of authority "has really made a difference on the ground. I have seen that with my own eyes."

US President Donald Trump has delegated authority closer to the commanders on the battlefield, a shift from former President Barack Obama's more Pentagon-centric policies.

McGurk reiterated US opposition to the Kurdistan Region's timing of its September 25 referendum on independence.

"We believe these issues should be resolved through dialogue under the constitutional framework, and that a referendum at this time would be really potentially catastrophic to the counter-ISIS campaign," the special envoy said.

On Sunday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of the offensive to retake Tal Afar, a city 65 kilometers west of Mosul that has served as a key route for ISIS militants crossing between Iraq and Syria. It is the last ISIS-controlled major population center in northwest Iraq.

Mattis visited Jordan on Monday and his office had announced that he plans to also visit Turkey and the Ukraine.

Mattis told reporters before departing from neighboring Jordan that the Middle Euprhates Valley that stretches from Al-Qaim in Iraq to the Syrian City of Deir ez-Zor will be liberated in time, calling this area "ISIS's last stand."

"You see, ISIS is now caught in-between converging forces," he said. "So ISIS's days are certainly numbered, but it's not over yet and it's not going to be over any time soon."

In Amman, the American met with Jordanian Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat to reaffirm a strong, enduring U.S.-Jordan partnership, according a US meeting readout.

Mattis "praised  Lt. Gen. Freihat's efforts to reform the Jordan Armed Forces –Arab Army" and "affirmed the U.S. commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Jordan in facing regional and global challenges."

The US defense department is currently working on a new plan for US President Donald Trump in South Asia, specifically Afghanistan, where the Americans have been fighting since 2001.

Trump said in an address on Monday that initially his instincts were to pull out of Afghanistan.

However, "A hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS and al Qaeda, would instantly fill, just as happened before September 11th."

He said 20 US-designated foreign terrorist organizations are active in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"I concluded that the security threats we face in Afghanistan and the broader region are immense," Trump stated, without elaborating on what further US actions will be taken in Afghanistan.

He referenced former President Barack Obama's decision to pull troops out of Iraq in 2010.

"The vacuum we created by leaving too soon gave safe haven for ISIS to spread, to grow, recruit, and launch attacks. We cannot repeat in Afghanistan the mistake our leaders made in Iraq," he said.


Developing story... Last updated at 2:40 p.m.

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U.S. defense secretary arrives in Iraq on surprise visit

by Mohamed Mostafa
Aug 22, 2017, 9:39 am
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Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis arrived in Iraq Tuesday in an unannounced visit, media reports said as Iraq launches an offensive against another Islamic State haven.

The visit comes as Iraqi offensive launched Sunday to retake the town of Tal Afar, Islamic State’s last holdout in Nineveh province which the group held since 2014.

Mattis had previously said in statements in Amman that the battle against Islamic State militants was far from over, adding that following Tal Afar offensives, the Iraqi troop would aim at IS’s havens west of the Euphrates river.

The United States has led a military coalition of more than 60 world countries battling Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.

“U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Mattis, who will meet Abadi and Defense Minister Arfan al-Hayali, would discuss the future of U.S. forces in Iraq after the fall of the remaining cities under Islamic State and the role they could play in stabilizing operations.” Reuters said Tuesday.

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces have been battling IS militants who declared a “caliphate” rule in Iraq and Syria in 2014. The group lost its caliphate’s capital, Mosul, to Iraqi forces early July.