President Donald Trump's lightning Christmas visit with US troops in Iraq has triggered questions and criticism in a country deeply divided over Washington's influence since the 2003 US invasion.

The Wednesday visit, Trump's first with US troops in a conflict zone since he took office two years ago, came days after a shock decision to pull all American troops from neighbouring Syria.

- No visit to PM? -

Trump's trip was veiled in such secrecy there was speculation that Iraqi authorities had not been informed, and the US leader did not meet with Iraqi officials.

There were no face-to-face talks between Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi due to "differing views on how to organise the meeting", Iraqi authorities said in a statement.

The two leaders instead spoke over the phone, the statement added.

In Iraqi media, rumours abounded that Trump had asked Abdel Mahdi to meet him at the military base but the premier declined.

"What was supposed to pass for a face-saving story -- that Trump refused to meet the PM in Baghdad insisting that the meeting take place at the Ain Al-Asad base -- was viewed by many Iraqis as further proof of Trump's contempt for Iraq," said Fanar Haddad, an Iraq expert at the National University of Singapore's Middle East Institute.

"The excuse made the initial infraction all the worse," said Haddad.

Former prime minister Haider al-Abadi said the way in which Trump visited Iraq was "not commensurate with diplomatic norms and relations with sovereign states".

"Dealing with Iraq and its sovereignty in this way will harm Iraqi-US relations," he said.

- Why now? -

Trump's visit follows his surprise decision to withdraw all 2,000 American troops in neighbouring Syria and half of the 14,000 US soldiers deployed in Afghanistan to fight the Taliban.

But Trump stressed during his visit that he had no intention of pulling troops out of Iraq, which he said could be used as a future base "if we wanted to do something in Syria".

"I think the visit will reassure those fearing that US policy in Iraq will go the way of its policy in Syria," said Haddad.

Trump has made disentangling the US from its wars a priority since his 2016 election.

The US "cannot continue to be the policeman of the world", he told troops at the Iraqi base.

But Iraq is a special case, according to Iraqi political analyst Hisham al-Hashemi.

"Iraq is important because of its strategic location. The presence of US forces reassures both Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and strikes a balance between the Kurds and Turkey and the Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi triangle," he said.

The US military presence in Iraq also aids "Israel's desire to block the Tehran-Beirut route" and helps offset Iran's strengthening presence in the region, he said.

- Iraqi political scene? -

Relations between Iraq and the US have seen sizeable shifts since the 2003 US invasion and the overthrow of longtime ruler Saddam Hussein.

The US military presence was largely unwelcome for years, until Washington created the international coalition to defeat IS in 2014 and helped erase the jihadists' "caliphate".

But Iran's growing influence in the country has worked to diminish pro-US sentiments and pro-Tehran groups now make up a key bloc in the Iraqi parliament.

Those groups were angered by Trump's visit.

The Iran-backed Harakat al-Nujaba said the presence of US forces in Iraq was a "violation of the country's sovereignty" and it was "now the duty of the government to expel American forces".

"Trump's disrespect of Iraq's sovereignty will not go unpunished," it said, adding it would "not allow Iraq to be a base used to threaten other countries".

The head of the pro-Iran Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, Qais al-Khazali, tweeted that "Trump's visit to a US military base without regard for diplomatic norms reveals the reality of the American project in Iraq".

The Iraqi response, he said, "would be the parliament's decision to remove your military forces" unilaterally.

"If you don't withdraw, we have the experience and the ability to remove them in another way," he added.

With Abdel Mahdi still struggling to fill key ministerial positions months after his appointment, analyst Hashemi said the "axis close to Iran will seek a parliamentary vote on a timeline for an American pullout from Iraq".

These groups and their respective militias play a major role in maintaining security across much of Iraq, especially along the border with Syria.

Hashemi said Trump's "disregard for his allies is straining the relationship between Abdel Mahdi and the Iraqi political forces".

Trump's ignorance of Iraq's tenuous political scene, he said, may "open the doors for resistance against the American presence in Iraq again".

Trump tweets video of secretive SEAL team in Iraq
Washington (AFP) Dec 27, 2018 - President Donald Trump may have inadvertently unmasked a Navy SEAL team during his short visit to a US base in Iraq this week.

Ordinarily, the whereabouts of special operations forces are a closely held secret. In the rare instances when they are filmed while in a combat zone, their faces and other identifying features are usually blurred out.

But after his lightning trip to Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq on Wednesday, Trump tweeted a video of him posing for photos with US troops, shaking their hands and signing mementos.

In one scene, he is giving a thumbs up alongside a group of what appear to be special operations forces.

According to the pool report of the event, held in a dining hall at the base, a man called Kyu Lee told Trump he was the chaplain for SEAL Team Five.

Lee recalled Trump telling him: "Hey, in that case, let's take a picture."

While the president has broad authority to declassify information, so his tweet likely didn't run afoul of any rules, some observers called it a breach of operational security.

Revealing identities "even if it's the commander-in-chief, would prove a propaganda boom if any of this personnel are detained by a hostile government or captured by a terrorist group," Malcolm Nance, a former US Navy intelligence specialist told Newsweek.

Special Operations Command (SOCOM) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump also drew criticism in the US for repeating a previously debunked claim that he had secured military members a pay raise for the first time in 10 years, when in fact the Pentagon has increased pay each year.

In Iraq following the visit, pro-Iran lawmakers called for the government to expel US forces.

Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

IS claims deadly Iraq attack
Tal Afar, Iraq (AFP) Dec 25, 2018
The Islamic State group on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack that rocked the former jihadist stronghold of Tal Afar in northern Iraq and killed two people. "A car bomb exploded near a cafe in the Ras al-Jadah district in the centre of Tal Afar," said Abed Alaal Abbas, an official in the city some 70 kilometres (40 miles) west of Mosul. The blast "killed two and wounded 11 other civilians", he told AFP. Iraq's joint operations command confirmed the toll. IS claimed resp ... read more