Pence Visits Iraq in Surprise Trip to Reassure Kurdish Allies

Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence, second from left, serve turkey to troops at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq on Nov. 23, 2019. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Nov. 23—the first high-level American visit since President Donald Trump withdrew U.S. forces from Syria—in a bid to reassure the Kurdish allies of the United States in the region.

Pence landed in Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, to meet with Iraqi Kurdistan President Nechirvan Barzani. The visit was meant to hearten the United States’ regional partners in the fight against the ISIS terrorist group.