Don’t look now, but things are touching off within Iraq’s green zone as Joe Biden stares at another possible foreign policy failure.

Videos offer some insight into the conflict on the ground.

Gunfire has been heard in the #Green_Zone.#Baghdad #Iraq pic.twitter.com/QyXLRyIahx

— خالد اسكيف (@khalediskef) August 29, 2022

The unrest stems from a Shiite cleric named Moqtada Al-Sadr who recently announced his resignation from the political sphere. That’s apparently enough to take over the presidential palace and to engage in open conflict in the green zone.

NEW: Protesters have breached the presidential palace in Baghdad in response to an influential Shiite cleric announcing his resignation from politics.

Reports on the ground say evacuations are underway at the U.S. embassy amid fears of further violence. https://t.co/j45L9rjf80

— Alex Salvi (@alexsalvinews) August 29, 2022

Of note is that the claim that the embassy is being evacuated is being disputed by the State Department. According to Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin, those reports are “false.”

State Dept says reports the US evacuated its Embassy in Baghdad are false.
From a State Department Spokesperson:
•These reports are false.
•As a matter of policy, we do not comment on matters involving internal security.

— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) August 29, 2022

For its part, the White House has been silent as the chaos has unfolded, repeating the same mistake of the disastrous Afghanistan collapse where hours and hours went by before a statement was put out. Was the administration caught flat-footed again?

Astonishing, despite Iran’s continued aggression, Joe Biden is still desperately seeking a new nuclear deal, being willing to give up the farm in the process. A more sane administration would be cutting off negotiations right now, but that’s not going to happen.

As to where Iraq goes, the answer is likely nowhere good. The infighting is only escalating and we have a US president who can’t be bothered to do anything but go on vacation and call his political opponents “fascists.” Certainly, Biden isn’t one capable of managing any kind of further escalation on the ground.

Regardless, this is a developing story and RedState will provide updates as they come.