A top U.S. military officer arrived in Iraq on Tuesday for talks about the Islamisc State. Joseph Dunford, Marine General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, landed on Baghdad to get an update on the battle against Islamic State militants. This is his first trip to the warzone since Oct. 1, when he had officially taken his post.
"Being on the job about two weeks, one of the things I want to do is go over here, get eyes on the ground," said the military officer.
He told the reporters that Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's Prime Minister, no longer wants Russia to conduct airstrikes. He stated that there had been a conversation between the U.S. officials and Iraqi leaders confirming that there were no Russian strikes requested, according to the Miami Herald.
Dunford's C-17 aircraft's landing was delayed suddenly by Iraqis on the ground when attemting to land in Irbil, and was directed to fly instead to Baghdad just before 9:30 a.m. A military official immediately took efforts to communicate with the officials on the ground. The confusion was later settled after almost half an hour.
The top military officer met with Massoud Barzani, President of Iraq's Kurdish regional government as well as with other Iraqi government leaders.
"I am new in my job and one of the first things I wanted to do was come over here and see you. As you know, we have a common enemy," said the U.S. general waiting to hear Barzani's perspective over the situation, according to The Washington Times.
Together they will create a move that will allow the security forces and Peshmerga, the Kurdish government force, as well as the Sunni tribes and the mobilization troops to collaborate.
"We need somebody who is empowered by you to make decisions and work with us, so we can provide support across all Iraqi forces, wherever two or more are gathered, one must be in charge," Dunford said, according to Chippewa Herald.
