Trump’s Iraq visit unites Iraqi lawmakers against US troop presence

Iraqi lawmakers have demanded that United States forces be expelled from the country in response to US President Donald Trump’s abrupt visit, seen as a violation of national sovereignty.

“We will not accept any foreign forces in Iraq,” said Bina parliamentary bloc leader Hadi al-Amiri on Friday.

Secretary-General of the People’s Party for Reform Faiq al-Sheikh Ali also called for measures to be taken against Trump’s unannounced visit.

“Trump entered Iraq, rested here and did what he wanted to do, yet no one prevented him. Everyone just criticized him.”

Addressing previous calls for an emergency parliamentary session on Trump’s visit, al-Fatah Alliance lawmaker Hamed al-Mousawi confirmed that an emergency session may probably be held and that Iraq has the means to expel the US forces “without using force.”

“Iraq isn’t like before and the Americans know very well that Iraq possesses the strength which the world witnessed when it faced all hardships,” said al-Mousawi.

Islah parliamentary bloc leader Sabah al-Saedi, head of one of two main blocs in Iraq’s parliament, also slammed the visit and called for an emergency parliamentary session.

“Trump needs to know his limits. The American occupation of Iraq is over,” said Saedi, adding that Trump had slipped into Iraq “as though Iraq is a state of the United States.”

On Wednesday, Trump spent a few hours visiting troops at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq’s western Anbar Province, stopping short of visiting the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

A scheduled meeting between Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi was scrapped. The two only talked over the phone.

Abdul-Mahdi’s office said in a statement that the cancellation came as a result of a “disagreement over how to conduct the meeting.”

Speaking on Friday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi described the visit as a “sneak trip” by Trump that was “outside diplomatic norms and a disrespect of the country’s national sovereignty.”

The US, backed by the UK, invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext that the former regime of Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons, however, were ever found in the country.

The invasion led to the rise of terrorist groups such as Daesh.

The US and a coalition of its allies further launched a military campaign against purported Daesh targets in Iraq in 2014, but their operations have in many instances led to civilian deaths and generally spared the terrorists.