Anger across Iraqi is palpable today on a draft executive order to be signed by President Trump banning all Iraqis from visiting the United States. The ban includes seven Muslim countries, but nowhere is it hitting harder than Iraq, particularly Iraqi Kurdistan, which has been trying to forge business ties to the US.
Anger over the US ban is fueling calls for retaliation by the Iraqi government, with MPs saying that it is very likely the government will respond with a reciprocal ban on issuing visas to US citizens who want to visit Iraq, effectively blocking American businessmen from the country.
Some analysts are warning that such a retaliatory move could rile the Trump Administration into more hostile measures against Iraq, and that a mutual ban is likely to hurt Iraq a lot more than the United States in the long run.
In addition to Iraq, the visa ban will also bar citizens of Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and Sudan from the United States. The Trump Administration is presenting the move as aimed at preventing terrorism, arguing that citizens of those nations tend to be hostile toward the US. That might not have been true for all Iraqis, particularly Kurds, but the ban is turning into sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy, with many Iraqi Kurds viewing the move as a betrayal of their years of support for the US in the region.
dumb, dumb, dumb…seems like el Trumpo is getting some great advice.
Known fact: Americans have gone to Iraq to provide weapons to Al Qaeda terrorists in Syria, and to provide targeting support for countless bombings that kill Iraqis, often including civilians. Contrast that with the mere possibility that an Iraqi might someday engage in terrorism within the US. Which fear is rational? All Americans should be barred from entering Iraq for the foreseeable future, until the policies of murderous meddling are over and in the distant past.
US support by Kurds = receiving $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ from US.
Trump!
Ya just can’t make this sh-t up!
Yet we who are hanging onto our sanity here at antiwar.com can take solace in knowing that Justin Raimondo is onside with us now!
Don’t we already bar Iranians from entering the U.S.? I’m not saying we should but this seems like a case of beating a dead horse.
Some analysts are paid propagandists.
How about Iraq deport all those Americans who are running around in camouflage uniforms waiving M-16s? I’d be all for something like that.