Intentions to build new US base in Anbar: source
An estimated 40 percent of desert areas in Anbar province are still unsafe and contain ISIS elements, although a year has passed since the province was declared liberated from ISIS, a source said earlier.
The top Pentagon official, who visited the country secretly on Tuesday, assured Iraqi leaders that the US will stick to its limited military role in Iraq, a message aimed at recent talks by some Iraqi politicians of forcing a US troop withdrawal.
Pat Shanahan, the acting secretary of defense, said that in talks with Prime Minister Adil Abd al-Mahdi, he stressed US respect for Iraqi sovereignty, an issue that has become a hot-button topic among Iraqis since President Donald Trump suggested using Iraq as a base for monitoring neighboring Iran and for potential attacks against remaining elements of ISIS in Syria.
