US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has made an unannounced trip to Iraq, during which he said the United States is committed to keeping its military presence in the country and continuing the fight against ISIL (ISIS).The Pentagon chief’s trip to Baghdad on Tuesday came just before the 20-year anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, toppled leader Saddam Hussein and helped unleash forces that paved the way for the rise of ISIL.The US withdrew its forces in 2011, but the administration of former President Barack Obama sent thousands of soldiers back into Iraq and neighbouring Syria three years later to bolster the fight against ISIL.
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