US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said today on his way to Baghdad that the US does not intend to steal Iraqi oil, distancing himself from President Donald Trump's comments that upset Iraqi leaders.
"I think all of us in this room, all of us in America have generally paid for our gas and oil all along and I'm sure we'll continue to do so in the future. We're not in Iraq to steal anybody's oil," Mattis told reporters. who traveled with him.
Mattis made an unannounced visit to Iraq a day after the start of the operation to liberate the western part of the city of Mosul from the terrorist Islamic State and at a time when the Pentagon is considering ways to strengthen the fight against Islamist extremists in Iraq and Syria.
Those efforts could be threatened by Trump's statement that the US should have taken the oil after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, as well as by placing Iraq on the list of countries whose citizens he wanted to temporarily ban from entering the US.
Trump, speaking to members of the Central Intelligence Agency last month, said that "to the winner belongs the spoils", justifying it first with economic reasons, and then adding that it is part of the fight against the Islamic State, which is financed by the sale of oil.
"We should have kept the oil. But well, maybe you'll have a second chance," Trump said.
As a result, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi was under pressure from lawmakers to reduce cooperation with Washington.
Asked about the tensions that arose after such moves by the US administration, Mattis said that he was convinced that the ban on entering the US would not affect Iraqis fighting with US soldiers.
During his visit to Iraq, Mattis will discuss military operations with political and military leaders, as well as with the commander of US forces in Iraq, Stephen Townsend.
There are more than 5.100 US troops in Iraq.
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