President Donald Trump, who is visiting Iraq, says he has "no plans at all" to remove US troops from the country.
Trump is making his first presidential trip to a troubled region in the wake of his recent decision to pull US forces from neighbouring Syria.
He says he wants to get US soldiers home from Syria and that Iraq can still be used as a base to stage attacks on Islamic State militants if needed.
Trump told reporters travelling with him that if needed, the US can attack IS "so fast and so hard" that they "won't know what the hell happened."