Politics - News Analysis

The Prime Minister of Iraq Refused To Meet With Trump During Trip Because Trump Broke Diplomatic Protocol

According to Reuters, the Prime Minister of Iraq, along with other Iraqi lawmakers are criticizing Donald Trump’s surprise visit to Al Asad Air Base on Wednesday as a “violation” of diplomatic norms and Iraq’s sovereignty. Some Iraqi politicians said they perceived the presidential visit as an act of aggression.

The leader of the Islah parliamentary bloc, Sabah al Saadi, called for the parliament to meet “to discuss this blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and to stop these aggressive actions by Trump, who should know his limits,” Reuters reported.

“The U.S. occupation of Iraq is over,” al Saadi reportedly added.

Islah’s rival in Parliament, the Bina bloc, called Trump’s visit a “flagrant and clear violation of diplomatic norms.”

“Trump’s visit … shows his disdain and hostility in his dealings with the Iraqi government,” the Bina bloc said in a statement quoted by Reuters.

Several lawmakers also reportedly took issue with Trump’s request that Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi meet him at the Al Asad Air Base. Mahdi originally had asked Trump to meet him in Baghdad.

Mahdi issued a statement saying the two spoke over the telephone following a “disagreement over how to conduct the meeting,” according to Reuters.

Al Asad was an Iraqi air base until the U.S. invaded in 2003. The base is now central to the U.S. mission in the region. The more than 5,000 U.S. troops in Iraq are tasked with training and advising Iraqi forces in their campaign against the Islamic State.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump stayed at the base for about three hours.

“I wanted to come and see Iraq,” Trump said in remarks to the troops. “I wanted to come and pay my respects, most importantly, to the great soldiers, the great troopers that we have here.”

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