WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Jared Kushner, the senior advisor and son-in-law of President Donald Trump, made his first overseas trip in his new official role, to Iraq to assess the health of the US-led military campaign against the Islamic State.
He arrived in Baghdad Monday accompanied by Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Tom Bossert, the president's homeland security advisor, for meetings with Iraqi, American and coalition officials.
'It is the first trip to Iraq for Mr. Kushner and Mr. Bossert,' said Navy Capt. Greg Hicks, the special assistant to the chairman for public affairs. 'As well as receiving briefings and updates, Mr. Kushner is traveling on behalf of the president to express the president's support and commitment to the government of Iraq and U. S. personnel currently engaged in the campaign.'
During an interview with reporters traveling with him from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Dunford said he invited both men on the trip to give them a chance 'to see our folks in the field, our advisors, our guys helping out with the counter-IED fight, our guys that provide the combined arms and our special operations forces so they can see them in action and have an appreciation for what they are doing.'
The chairman said he and the presidential advisors are going to meet with Army Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, the commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, to discuss operations after Iraqi forces have liberated Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, and the status of Iraqi forces as they take Mosul from ISIS and move forward. They will examine what the Iraqis need for equipment and training as they confront ISIS in other parts of the nation, the chairman told reporters.
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