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Iraq
Crowd storms US Embassy compound in Baghdad, gunshots heard, report says UPDATE: Trump blames Iran
2019-12-31
[FoxNews]

Dozens of Iraqi Shiite militia supporters ‐ many in uniforms
...in uniforms? A bold choice...
‐ gained entry to the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after they smashed down a gate and stormed inside, the Associated Press reported.

An AP reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three U.S. soldiers on the roof of the embassy. The embassy was evacuated but it was not immediately clear if there were staffers holed up inside.

Hundreds of Iraqis had attempted to storm the compound earlier in the day, following the funerals for 25 fighters from an Iran-backed Shiite militia killed in U.S. airstrikes on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Reporters for the AP described a chaotic scene on the ground and reported that the crowd shouted, "Down, down USA!"

Two Iraqi foreign ministry officials told Reuters that the U.S. ambassador and staff have been evacuated. A man on a loudspeaker urged the mob not to enter the compound, saying: "The message was delivered."

The gate that was smashed was a side entrance. Protesters had pushed about 16 feet into a corridor that leads to the main building but the protesters were still about 200 yards away from it. They raised yellow militia flags and taunted the embassy's security staff. Graffiti in red, in support of the Kataeb Hezbollah, read: "Closed in the name of the resistance."

Sen. Marco Rubio took to Twitter early Tuesday and said Iran was directly responsible for orchestrating the breach. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon and the State Department.

Security guards were seen retreating to the inside of the embassy as the protesters hurled water bottles and smashed security cameras outside the embassies, the report said.

The U.S. military carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday ‐ days after a U.S. defense contractor was killed in a rocket attack. Military jet fighters conducted "precision defensive strikes" on five sites of Kataeb Hezbollah, Jonathan Hoffman, a spokesperson for the Pentagon told Fox News. Two defense officials added that Air Force F-15 jet fighters carried out the strikes.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the strikes send the message that the U.S. will not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardize American lives.
Update from the article at 9:30 a.m. ET
“Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible,” President Trump tweeted. “In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”
Update at 11:00 a.m. ET:
Yassine al-Yasseri, Iraq's interior minister, appeared outside the embassy at one point and walked around to inspect the scene. He told the AP that the prime minister had warned the U.S. strikes on the Shiite militiamen would have serious consequences.

"This is one of the implications," al-Yasseri said. "This is a problem and is embarrassing to the government."

The U.S. conducts 'offensive' airstrikes in Iraq and Syria after a U.S. defense contractor is killed in a rocket attack.

He said more security will be deployed to separate the protesters from the embassy, an indication the Iraqi troops would not move in to break up the crowd by force.

Seven armored vehicles with about 30 Iraqi soldiers arrived near the embassy hours after the violence erupted, deploying near the embassy walls but not close to the breached area. Four vehicles carrying riot police approached the embassy later but were forced back by the protesters who blocked their path.


Related:
Kataeb Hezbollah: 2019-12-30 Abu Ali al-Khazali was a close associate of Qassem Suleimani - killed by USAF.
Kataeb Hezbollah: 2019-06-30 Iran-backed militia says it took part in assault on Bahrain embassy in Iraq
Kataeb Hezbollah: 2018-09-07 Protesters burn down Kataeb Hezbollah’s HQ in Basra
Posted by:Seeking Cure For Ignorance

#24  Given the Sunni/Shiite split in Iraq, I wonder how reasonable it is to consider it a single country. True, they had a little set-to with Iran within my lifetime, but would the Iraqi shiites rally round again if there were a conflict, or ally with Iran, or sit it out?
BTW, the other james isn't me. I should have picked a better nym back in the day.
Posted by: James   2019-12-31 23:40  

#23  B, Maybe too, the sanctions have dried up some of the Mad Mullahs discretionary money. I think Trump's threats should be taken seriously by the Iranians.
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-12-31 23:38  

#22  Final installment on Obama-Iran deal.
Posted by: Besoeker   2019-12-31 22:55  

#21  Iran pulling the strings? You'd think Iran could put together a better operation with all the $'s O and JFnK funneled their way.
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-12-31 22:53  

#20  If Qais Khazali is spotted in the crowd he should be given a bit of attention from a marine sniper. Same goes for any 'known' Iranians.

They also need to build embassies so you can open and close the gates automatically. Open them, let rioters in, close them. Gun fire. Open them again. I think they'd find the rioters disperse after a few cycles.
Posted by: ruprecht   2019-12-31 18:48  

#19  Lex, it doesn't matter. To many in the world, any action the US takes to defend itself and its territory is wrong. If one civilian human shield is killed, everyone will be condemning the US.
Democrats would probably add that to the articles of impeachment.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2019-12-31 17:37  

#18  They aren't "protesting." They're not students or civilians (or "austere religious scholars"). These are military cadres. They're wearing uniforms. They're storming a strategic US government installation.

Why is this assault not treated like any other military attack?
Posted by: Lex   2019-12-31 17:30  

#17  Chris, because everybody in the world would condemn the US for murdering "poor, innocent, peaceful protesters".
This would include US Democrats, of course.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2019-12-31 17:23  

#16  why were they not mowed down.
Posted by: Chris   2019-12-31 16:45  

#15  Man! What a target rich environment.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2019-12-31 16:36  

#14  More on this, including pictures and videos (warning, may be disturbing)at this DailyMail link
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance   2019-12-31 16:13  

#13  I shudder to think what would have happened if Hillary or Obama was president.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2019-12-31 15:57  

#12  #2 Thanks, Frank

#4 Glad to be useful.
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance   2019-12-31 15:33  

#11   100 U.S. Marines, 2 Apache helicopters reinforcing embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, after attack
Posted by: Beavis   2019-12-31 15:03  

#10  The Iraqis: They're assholes but they're our assholes...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-12-31 14:02  

#9  Maybe some militia in the US should storm the Iranian UN embassy.
Yes, I know what would actually happen. The US government, as required by international law, would clear out and arrest any (surviving) occupiers.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2019-12-31 13:29  

#8  So the Iraq Gov. allowed.
Posted by: Spanky Whuter1088   2019-12-31 11:45  

#7  what is the proper response when your country is under attack?

Well first of all Trump is not the same as Jimmy Carter or Barack Hussain Obama. (Or even Bush).
Posted by: CrazyFool   2019-12-31 11:06  

#6  what is the proper response when your country is under attack?
Posted by: james   2019-12-31 10:28  

#5  I guess storming USA embassies is a habit with Iranians.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2019-12-31 09:46  

#4  Updated, moved to Iraq — yes, this is an action of the Iran network, but the actions are Iraq-centric — and set as today’s headline. Thank you for being on top of this for us, Seeking Cure.
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-12-31 09:41  

#3  Attack, parry-riposte, remise, ...reprise?
Posted by: Mercutio   2019-12-31 08:52  

#2  Added
Posted by: Frank G   2019-12-31 07:57  

#1  Drat, I forgot to add [Fox News] at the beginning.
Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance   2019-12-31 07:43  

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