Hagel touches down in Iraq for talks

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel traveled to Baghdad on Tuesday to meet with government officials and U.S. commanders assisting Iraqis in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

{mosads}It’s the first trip by a Defense secretary to Iraq since 2011, when Leon Panetta marked the end of the nearly decadelong U.S. military engagement there.

Hagel said the Iraqis must be prepared to lead the pushback against ISIS.

“Just as in Afghanistan, it is their country,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “They have to lead. They are the ones that are going to have to be responsible for end results.”

Hagel will also meet with top Iraqi officials. He said it was crucial that the new government work to bridge the divides that developed under former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

“The inclusiveness of a government that all their people can join and be part of and have confidence in and trust in is going to be essential to their future,” he said, according to the news service.

This is expected to be Hagel’s last trip abroad as secretary. President Obama has nominated Ashton Carter to serve as his replacement.

The American military has provided airstrikes and troops on the ground in advisory roles to support the Iraqi mission against ISIS. But the administration is wary of engaging the U.S. in another long military operation in Iraq.

The number of U.S. troops in Iraq might still grow, however. Next spring, Iraq is expected to launch a U.S.-backed offensive designed to dislodge ISIS from territory, including the city of Mosul. A top U.S. military official said he had not ruled out the possibility of American troops fighting alongside Iraqis on complex missions.