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See more here:
Iraq | USEmbassy.gov

Iraq News

1/1/2019 BasNews : IS Insurgents Kill, Wound Four Iraqi Soldiers in Diyala

1/1/2019 middleeastmonitor : Iraqi warplanes strike Daesh leaders in Syria

1/1/2019 Iraqinews : Iraqi forces apprehend Islamic State fighter in Anbar

12/31/2018 IraqiNews : Terrorist attack targets power transmission line in Iraq

12/31/2018 IraqiNews : Seven security men killed in sniper attacks by Islamic State over 3 months

1/1/2019 AlJazeera : Taliban attacks kill police in northern Afghanistan

1/1/2019 KP : ISIS-K militant hands over himself, 11 members of his family to Afghan forces

1/1/2019 KP : 11 women appointed as deputies in various district municipalities of Kabul

1/1/2019 Reuters : Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan sees peace opportunity in 2019

1/1/2019 Ariananews : Kidnapping Gang Arrested in Kabul, Doctor Rescued

Period

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Total

2003

0

0

92

80

42

36

49

43

33

47

110

48

580

2004

52

23

52

140

84

50

58

75

87

68

141

76

906

2005

127

60

39

52

88

83

58

85

52

99

86

68

897

2006

64

58

34

82

79

63

46

66

77

111

78

115

873

2007

86

85

82

117

131

108

89

88

70

40

40

25

961

2008

40

30

40

52

See more here:
iCasualties Iraq: iCasualties Home Page

But on Wednesday, about 100 American servicemen and women, some of whom were wearing red Make America Great Again caps, greeted Mr. Trump with a standing ovation in Al Asad Air Bases dining facility, which had been decorated for Christmas. He and Mrs. Trump spent about 15 minutes there talking with the troops.

The president told reporters that he had chosen Iraq for his first visit to a combat zone because its a place that Ive been talking about for many years.

And many, many years, before it started, I was talking about it, as a civilian, he said.

Mr. Trump, who left the White House late Christmas night, said he had harbored some safety concerns about the trip.

I had concerns for the institution of the presidency because not for myself, personally, he said. I had concerns for the first lady, I will tell you. But if you would have seen what we had to go through, with the darkened plane, with all windows closed, with no lights on whatsoever, anywhere pitch black. Ive never seen it. Ive been in many airplanes all types and shapes and sizes. Ive never seen anything like it.

Mr. Trump ran for the presidency in 2016 on a platform of bringing the troops home from Afghanistan and Syria. It was part of a broader strategy of ending nearly two decades of American military interventions including in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan that he criticized as costly, ineffective and at odds with his America First foreign policy.

But the United States still has 14,000 troops in Afghanistan and about 2,000 in Syria. While the number of casualties in these conflicts is a fraction of what it was during the two previous administrations, the fact that American troops are still on the ground in the case of Afghanistan, 17 years after they were first deployed attests to the difficulty of extracting the United States from these entanglements.

Mr. Trump, who was also accompanied to Iraq by his national security adviser, John R. Bolton, and a small group of reporters, said that the United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world.

Link:
Trump Makes Surprise Visit to American Troops in Iraq ...

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump have made a surprise trip to Iraq to visit U.S. troops. The trip marked Mr. Trump's first visit to Iraq, as well as his first visit to a combat zone as commander-in-chief.

"@FLOTUS Melania and I were honored to visit our incredible troops at Al Asad Air Base in Iraq. GOD BLESS THE U.S.A.!," Mr. Trumpwrote on Twitter Wednesday afternoon. He posted a short video clip that shows him greeting the troops, shaking hands and signing autographs.

The president and first lady met with service members at the Al Asad Airbase on the outskirts of Baghdad. They were on the ground in Iraq for about three and a half hours. Mr. Trump had been criticized for not visiting troops during the holidays a long-held tradition for American presidents.

"President Trump and the First Lady traveled to Iraq late on Christmas night to visit with our troops and Senior Military leadership to thank them for their service, their success, and their sacrifice and to wish them a Merry Christmas," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote on Twitter.

After meeting with troops and military leaders, the president told reporters he chose Iraq because he has been talking about the country for "many years." More than 5,000 American troops are deployed in Iraq the lowest number since a U.S.-led coalition invaded the Middle Eastern nation in 2003.

Mr. Trump also defended his decision to withdraw the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops fighting ISIS in Syria, which drew criticism from Democrats and many Republicans. He said generals asked him to postpone the move, but that he told them they've had "enough time."

The president said American forces had "knocked (ISIS) silly" and that Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoan had assured him the Turkish military would continue to fight the militants.

"The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump emphasized that other countries will need to invest more in their own protection. "We are no longer the suckers of the world," he said.

The unexpected trip to Iraq comes as the president faces several challenges at home. The government remains partially shut downas negotiations between the White House and lawmakers continue to be locked in an impasse over the president's unwavering $5 billion demand for border wall funds. Andthe stock market has slumped, fueling thepresident's ire at the chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Asked about the stalemate in talks to reopen the government, Mr. Trump said theshutdown will continueuntil lawmakers approve funding to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We need a wall. We need safety for our country. Even from this standpoint. We have terrorists coming in through the southern border," he said.

Mr. added that he plans on "going to the wall" on the southern border before his State of the Union address early next year.

Last week, rifts with the president over foreign policy prompted Defense Secretary James Mattis to submit his resignation. On Sunday, the president ordered Mattis to leave his post by Jan. 1 and announced that deputy defense secretary Patrick Shanahanwill take over as acting secretary.

Link:
Trump makes surprise Christmas visit to Iraq to meet with ...

In an unannounced trip to Iraq on Wednesday, President Donald Trump staunchly defended his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from neighboring Syria despite a drumbeat of criticism from military officials and allies who don't think the job fighting Islamic State militants there is over.

Trump, making his first presidential visit to troops in a troubled region, said it's because the U.S. military had all but eliminated IS-controlled territory in both Iraq and Syria that he decided to withdraw 2,000 forces from Syria. He said the decision to leave Syria showed America's renewed stature on the world stage and his quest to put "America first."

"We're no longer the suckers, folks," Trump told U.S. servicemen and women at al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq, about 100 miles or 60 kilometers west of Baghdad. "We're respected again as a nation."

The decision to pull U.S. forces from Syria, however, stunned national security advisers and U.S. allies and prompted the resignations of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who was not on the trip, and the U.S. envoy to the coalition fighting the Islamic extremist group. The militant group, also known as ISIS, has lost nearly all its territory in Iraq and Syria but is still seen as a threat.

Iraq declared IS defeated within its borders in December 2017, but Trump's trip was shrouded in secrecy, which has been standard practice for presidents flying into conflict areas.

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

President Donald Trump signs a hatbeside First Lady Melania Trump during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq onDec. 26, 2018.

President Donald Trump signs a hatbeside First Lady Melania Trump during an unannounced trip to Al Asad Air Base in Iraq onDec. 26, 2018.

Air Force One, lights out and window shutters drawn, flew overnight from Washington, landing at an airbase west of Baghdad in darkness Wednesday evening. George W. Bush made four trips to Iraq as president and President Barack Obama made one.

During his three-plus hours on the ground, Trump did not meet with any Iraqi officials, but spoke on the phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

Trump's visit appeared to have inflamed sensitivities about the continued presence of U.S. forces in Iraq. The two major blocs in the Iraqi parliament both condemned the visit, likening it to a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.

The airbase where Trump spoke is about 155 miles from Hajin, a Syrian town near the Iraqi border where Kurdish fighters are still battling IS extremists. Trump has said IS militants have been eradicated, but the latest estimate is that IS still holds about 60 square miles of territory in that region of Syria, although fighters also fled the area and are in hiding in other pockets of the country.

Mattis was supposed to continue leading the Pentagon until late February but Trump moved up his exit and announced that Patrick Shanahan, deputy defense secretary, would take the job on Jan. 1 and he was in "no rush" to nominate a new defense chief.

"Everybody and his uncle wants that position," Trump told reporters traveling with him in Iraq. "And also, by the way, everybody and her aunt, just so I won't be criticized."

Critics said the U.S. exit from Syria, the latest in Trump's increasingly isolationist-style foreign policy, would provide an opening for IS to regroup, give Iran a green light to expand its influence in the region and leave U.S.-backed Kurdish forces vulnerable to attacks from Turkey.

Andrew Harnik/AP

President Donald Trump, accompanied by National Security Adviser John Bolton, third from left, first lady Melania Trump, fourth from right, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Doug Silliman, third from right, and senior military leadership, speaks to members of the media at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, on Dec. 26, 2018.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by National Security Adviser John Bolton, third from left, first lady Melania Trump, fourth from right, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Doug Silliman, third from right, and senior military leadership, speaks to members of the media at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, on Dec. 26, 2018.

"I made it clear from the beginning that our mission in Syria was to strip ISIS of its military strongholds," said Trump, who wore an olive green bomber style jacket as he was welcomed by chants of "USA! USA!" and speakers blaring Lee Greenwood's song, "God Bless the USA."

"We'll be watching ISIS very closely," said Trump, who was joined by first lady Melania Trump, but no members of his Cabinet or lawmakers. "We'll be watching them very, very closely, the remnants of ISIS"

Trump also said he had no plans to withdraw the 5,200 U.S. forces in Iraq. That's down from about 170,000 in 2007 at the height of the surge of U.S. forces to combat sectarian violence unleashed by the U.S.-led invasion to topple dictator Saddam Hussein.

Trump spoke on the phone with the prime minister, but the White House said security concerns and the short notice of the trip prevented the president from meeting him face-to-face.

The prime minister's office said "differences in points of view over the arrangements" prevented the two from meeting but they discussed security issues and Trump's order to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria over the phone. His office also did not say whether he had accepted an invitation to the White House.

Trump said that after U.S. troops in Syria return home, Iraq could still be used to stage attacks on IS militants.

"We can use this as a base if we wanted to do something in Syria," he said. "If we see something happening with ISIS that we don't like, we can hit them so fast and so hard" that they "really won't know what the hell happened."

Trump said it's time to leave Syria because the U.S. should not be involved in nation-building, and that other wealthy nations should shoulder the cost of rebuilding Syria. He also said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to battle "any remnants of ISIS" in Syria, which shares a border with Turkey.

"The nations of the regions must step up and take more responsibility for their future," Trump said, promising a "strong deliberate and orderly withdrawal" of forces from Syria

Trump, who speaks often about his support for the U.S. military, had faced criticism for not yet visiting U.S. troops stationed in harm's way as he comes up on his two-year mark in office. He told The Associated Press in October that he "will do that at some point, but I don't think it's overly necessary." He later began to signal that such a troop visit was in the offing.

Trump told reporters that he had planned to make the trip three or four weeks ago, but word of the trip started getting out and forced him to postpone it.

Iraqi leaders declared an end to combat operations against IS a year ago but the country's political, military and economic situation remains uncertain. It continues to experience sporadic bombings, kidnappings and assassinations, which most people attribute to IS.

On Dec. 15, the U.S.-led coalition launched an airstrike in support of Iraqi troops who were chasing IS fighters toward a tunnel west of Mosul. The strike destroyed the tunnel entrance and killed four IS fighters, according to the U.S. military in Baghdad. The last U.S. service member to die in Iraq was in August, as the result of a helicopter crash in Sinjar.

The Iraqi prime minister recently said Iraqi troops could deploy into Syria to protect Iraq from threats across its borders. Iraq keeps reinforcements along its frontier to guard against infiltration by IS militants, who hold a pocket of territory along the Euphrates River.

Trump had planned to spend Christmas at his private club in Florida, but stayed behind in Washington due to the partial government shutdown.

Trump campaigned for office on a platform of ending U.S. involvement in foreign trouble spots, such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Pentagon is also said to be developing plans to withdraw up to half of the 14,000 American troops still serving in Afghanistan.

Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Philip Issa in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Read more from the original source:
Trump visits troops in Iraq, defends Syria withdrawal: 'We ...