U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama flew into Iraq on Monday, thrusting U.S. strategy in the country and troop levels to the centre-stage of the November election race.
Obama has called for the removal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of taking office should he win the election. He visited Afghanistan over the weekend, the other big foreign policy challenge the next American president will face.
Obama has come under attack from Republican candidate John McCain for not making a recent visit to assess conditions in Iraq, where violence is at a four-year low. McCain has been to Iraq eight times while Obama's only other trip was in 2006.
The U.S. embassy said Obama, who is visiting Iraq as part of a U.S. congressional delegation, would meet senior Iraqi officials, U.S. military commanders and American troops. He does not have any news conferences scheduled while in Iraq.
Seeking to boost his foreign policy credentials, Obama will travel to other countries in the Middle East and also visit major powers in Europe this week.
Obama courted controversy on July 3 when he said he might "refine" his views on withdrawing combat troops from Iraq within 16 months but later said his stance had been unchanged for more than a year and that he intended "to end this war".
McCain says a U.S. troop build-up last year helped boost stability in Iraq and has criticised Democrats' vows for a quick withdrawal as "reckless".
But with violence down dramatically, Baghdad has become increasingly assertive about its own security capabilities.
Indeed, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and President George W. Bush agreed late last week to set a "time horizon" for reducing American forces in Iraq.
