Mr. Al-Zaidi Goes to Washington By: David Schenker

national interest. / By: David Schenker

Despite significant progress, Iraq still has a long way to go to meet the Trump administration’s expectations for reining in Iranian influence.

President Donald Trump is bullish on Iraq and its new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, whom Trump will host for an Oval Office meeting this week. Trump has declared that al-Zaidi’s appointment represents “the beginning of a tremendous new chapter between our nations.” Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, Washington and Baghdad have had a complicated relationship. Al-Zaidi’s first few weeks have shown promise. Still, undue Iranian influence in Iraq remains an impediment to improved US-Iraqi ties—one that will be difficult for the new prime minister to overcome.

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