‘The US military is not in Iraq to steal anybody’s oil Defence Secretary James Mattis has said, distancing himself from previous comments made by President Donald Trump.
In January, Mr Trump told CIA staff: “We should have kept the oil. But okay. Maybe you’ll have another chance.”
During a surprise visit to Baghdad, Mr Mattis said: “I think all of us here in this room, all of us in America have generally paid for our gas and oil all along and I’m sure that we will continue to do so in the future.
“We’re not in Iraq to seize anybody’s oil.”’
Read more: Defence Secretary James Mattis says US military not in Iraq ‘to seize anybody’s oil’
