Muqtada Al-Sadr Of Sadr City Is Upset Trump Didn’t Tell Them He Was Coming For ‘Security Reasons’

Iraqi politicians including a Shia Muslim cleric whose followers have fought against the U.S. Army criticized President Donald Trump for keeping his Tuesday visit to Iraq a secret for security reasons.

Trump’s Christmas Day visit to the Assad Air Base demonstrated “U.S. disregard for other nations’ sovereignty,” a spokesman for cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s said, according to the Los Angeles Times. Trump and first lady Melania Trump surprised troops at the base for his first trip to a war zone as president.

Several Iraqi politicians pushed for Iraq to expel U.S. forces because of the president, even though the U.S. has been fighting against the Islamic State alongside many Iraqi fighters.

“Iraq’s response will be with a parliamentary decision to expel [Trump’s] military forces,” Iraqi politician Qais Khazali, an Iran-backed militia leader, tweeted Wednesday, according to the LA Times.

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