Trump’s Surprise Visit a Disrespect to Iraq

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said a “sneak trip” by US President Donald Trump to Iraq on Thursday violated diplomatic norms and was “a disrespect” to the country’s sovereignty.
“Despite countless interventions and thousands of billions of dollars the US has wasted on its illegitimate presence in the region, particularly in Iraq, Trump still has to visit a regional country in secret, or so to speak, sneaky way amid the tightest security measures,” he said on Friday, Press TV reported.
The visit, he said, was strongly opposed by the Iraqi people and widely criticized by experts.
Trump made an unannounced three-hour visit to the al-Asad Air Base near Baghdad on Thursday, sparking a wave of condemnation from Iraqi political and military leaders, with some of them demanding the expulsion of US forces.
Qasemi strongly criticized Trump’s “meddlesome and opportunist” remarks in Iraq and said “regional governments and nations will never allow aggressive and despicable outsiders to sow division among them”.
“It was the vigilant nations of the region—not the greedy US and its staunch support of terrorism—who managed to uproot terrorist groups created, equipped and financed by the US and the Zionists,” he said.
Qasemi noted that regional countries routed terrorists through their timely cooperation and by synergizing their powers.
“Undoubtedly, all regional states will soon come to the conclusion that the region’s stability and security will be ensured only by relying on their domestic, regional and international resources and capacities. And foreign forces, sooner or later, will have to leave the whole region,” he said.

Trump Needs Self-Examination

Qasemi also said Trump should seriously review the developments of the world and West Asia from the time he assumed office up to now so that he may have a second thought about what he has said, what has happened and what will happen and take necessary lessons.
On Wednesday, Trump spent a few hours at al-Asad Air Base in Iraq’s western Anbar Province but did not visit Baghdad. It was Trump’s first visit to troops in a war zone since becoming president.
In his remarks, Trump acknowledged his security concerns about visiting Iraq, saying it was “pretty sad” that he needed such secrecy to see US troops.
“Pretty sad when you spend $7 trillion in the Middle East and going in has to be under this massive cover with planes all over and all of the greatest equipment in the world, and you do everything to get in safely,” he said.
A scheduled meeting between Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi was cancelled and they only talked over phone.
Abdul Mahdi’s office said in a statement that the cancellation came as a result of “disagreement over how to conduct the meeting”.