Pence Makes Surprise Iraq Trip to Reassure Kurds, Greet Troops

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence wave as they take the stage to speak to troops at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq on Nov. 23, 2019. Andrew Harnikf/AP Photo

ERBIL, Iraq—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 ISIS terrorist group after Syrian Kurds suffered under a Turkish assault last month following the Trump-ordered withdrawal. Earlier he 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 ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and spoke by phone with Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.