Protesters burn property in front of the U.S. embassy compound, in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019. Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
As I write this, the US embassy in Baghdad is under siege.
Mobs led by an Iranian supported and directed militia have broken into the US embassy compound and are threatening to not leave until all US forces are withdrawn from the country. Our nominal ally, the Government of Iraq, is clearly incapable of protecting US property or interests.
The proximate cause of this rioting was an attack last Friday on a military facility staffed by US and Iraqi forces in which one US civilian Defense contractor was killed. The attackers belonged to Kataib Hezbollah. Kataib Hezbollah is an Iranian sponsored terrorist group that has been attacking US forces since about 2007. Somehow, the Iraqi government was permitted to enroll this group in a larger, also Iranian dominated militia, called the Popular Mobilization Forces (abbreviated both as PMF and PMU) and make them into an official wing of the Iraqi Army. This means some part of all the military assistance we’ve supplied the Iraqi government has been siphoned off to support Iranian proxies. On Sunday, the US carried out retaliatory strikes on at least five Kataib Hezbollah bases and killed at least 25 of their people. (READ: Trump Administration Pummels Iranian Proxy Militia in Retaliation for the Death of a US Defense Contractor)
As I wrote at the time, this placed Iran in the position of having to carry out some sort of retaliatory action, or they would lose face with their proxies, but, at the same time, they had to calibrate it so they would not set off an overt military confrontation with the US. That reaction is now underway. This is RedState’s coverage of the action so far
BREAKING: US Embassy in Baghdad Is Under Attack, Gunshots Heard
NY Times and AP Call Iranian-Backed Militia Attacking U.S. Embassy ‘Iraqi Mourners’
Overwhelming Proof Emerges That Iran Is Behind the Attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq
The Washington Post reports today on the men leading the mob action directed against the US Embassy. This one stands out:
Also in attendance Tuesday was Hadi al-Amiri, a former transportation minister, who is considered Tehran’s man in Baghdad. Amiri heads the Badr Organization, which is one of the largest pro-Iran militias in Iraq and is part of the PMF. It was originally founded in the 1980s to fight for Iran against then-President Saddam Hussein as part of the Iran-Iraq war.
The Badr Organization fought U.S. forces after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and in the brutal and bloody sectarian war that followed. Members have also gone to Syria to fight on Assad’s side. The group is additionally deeply embedded in Iraqi politics: The Badr Organization is the military wing of the Fatah coalition in Iraq’s parliament.
Documents: Leader of the Al-Asa’ib militia, Hadi Al-Amiri, and the leader of the Badr militia, Hadi Al-Amiri, with protesters who stormed the US embassy and violence in the building. . https://t.co/XQ0BKJzchb
— myenjoymentisme.com (@Myenjoyment2012) December 31, 2019
Hadi al-Ameri, head of the #Iran-linked Badr Org. & former head of Hashd al-Shaabi militia (heavily funded, armed & trained by Iran's IRGC) kisses the hand of Iran’s leader @khamenei_ir pic.twitter.com/Gt8VhCtxB7
— Borna ⚕ (@Borna___) December 31, 2019
IRI-affiliated militia members are now attacking the U.S embassy. Here they have written “Qasem Soleimani is my leader” on the walls of the U.S embassy in #Baghdad #Iraq – clearly indicating Iran’s role in orchestrating this attack. pic.twitter.com/pMO4hGmqHd
— Borna ⚕ (@Borna___) December 31, 2019
According to a leaked cable from the U.S. State Department, “One of [al-Amiri’s] preferred methods of killing allegedly involved using a power drill to pierce the skulls of his adversaries.” – source: https://t.co/ejgWSlv77j
— Borna ⚕ (@Borna___) December 31, 2019
This name has surfaced before. Back in 2011, al-Amiri was part of an Iraqi delegation that was received at the White House by Barack Obama.
Did you know Badr Corps chief Hadi Ameri, who led today's raid on the US Embassy in Iraq, was once invited to the @WhiteHouse by @BarackObama?
FYI: Ameri & the Badr Corps get their salary & orders from Iran's dictator Ali Khamenei.CC: @realDonaldTrump @VP @SecPompeo @PressSec pic.twitter.com/sEORXzSpNB
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) December 31, 2019
Even at the time, it was known that al-Amiri was an Iranian stooge who had killed American troops and had an active role is the summary executions of opponents of the Iranian regime.
It is worth noting, yet again, how the Obama administration’s slavish obeisance to Iran destroyed American credibility and influence in the region. When the history of this is written we’ll see that Obama was following a foreign policy of gifting the region to Iran and setting Iran up to be a counterweight to, one has to believe, Israel. Iraq was given over to Iran by Obama, Iranian thugs were feted by the Obama administration, the Iran nuclear agreement was signed to curry their favor, when they pirated two US Navy vessels and ten sailors there were no consequences, and on the eve of leaving the White House, we had the unsightly spectacle of US Air Force aircraft delivering pallets of currency to the Iranians.
This will not be another Benghazi because we have a president who is not so monomaniacally focused on appeasing Islamist and Iranian forces that he will sacrifice US lives. But we can’t lose sight of the fact that what is happening today in Baghdad has its roots in the former administration’s relentless fluffing for the mullahs.
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