US Sec Def: “Deep appreciation” for “continued partnership” with KRG

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) – US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin expressed his country’s “deep appreciation for the continued partnership between the United States and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),” in a meeting on Saturday with the Kurdish Prime Minister, Masrour Barzani, according to a readout of their discussion, provided by Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain.

Read More: PM Barzani meets with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Manama

Austin “further thanked Prime Minister Barzani for the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga’s critical contribution to the fight against ISIS,” Kirby continued, while the Secretary “underscored that US forces remain in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government to support the campaign to defeat ISIS.”

Addressing journalists in Washington last week, before leaving for Bahrain, Austin stressed the Pentagon’s continued commitment to protecting its forces and its partners against threats from Iran—whether those threats come directly from Iran or through Iranian proxies.

Read More: US Sec Def: ‘We will defend ourselves and our partners’ against ‘threats from Iran or its proxies’

Austin also affirmed Washington’s determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb, a message that he reiterated in Bahrain, where he affirmed, “The United States remains committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.”

“We remain committed to a diplomatic outcome of the nuclear issue,” he continued, but he also warned, “If Iran isn’t willing to engage seriously, then we will look at all the options necessary to keep the United States secure.”

Austin’s Long Experience in Iraq

Few US Secretaries of Defense have had as much experience in Iraq as Austin. He served three tours of duty involving that country. In March 2003, as Operation Iraqi Freedom began, Austin was part of the leadership of the Army’s fabled 3rd Infantry Division.

The 3rd ID spearheaded the US drive to Baghdad, rapidly moving north from Kuwait to the Iraqi capital. Austin was the assistant division commander for maneuver and received the Silver Star for that work.

In Sept. 2010, Austin was appointed Commanding General of US Forces-Iraq, replacing Gen. Raymond Odierno, who had been behind the US “surge” there. In that position, Austin oversaw all combat operations in the country, and the US troop withdrawal, as well.

That was completed in December 2011. But US forces would return less than three years later, after ISIS emerged out of Syria’s civil war, crossed the border, and burst into Iraq, threatening both Baghdad and Erbil.

Austin’s final position, before his 2016 retirement from the Army, was as Commander of CENTCOM. In that position, he worked with Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria to fight the terrorist group.

Barzani headed the Kurdistan Region Security Council then, and it is likely that Austin and Barzani know each other from those days.