I’m curious as to why this is not front page news? A US embassy attacked in possible retaliation due to aggressive actions by the US - definitely worth reporting front and center along with impeachment trial.
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This is a question about the reporting. NPR reported that the embassy was hit by mortar fire, not rockets. Any clarification would be appreciate. Note that a mortar is not a rocket.
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Pahlavi, Pinochet, Batista, Thieu, Diem, Chiang Kai-shek, etc., etc.
Mahdi should study the US's success record for propping up corrupt, unstable authoritarian regimes before leaning too heavily on it for support.
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What doesn’t the USA get about the signals that we need to closely consider the consequences of our meddling in the Middle East? Is it all based on our ongoing resentment of the Iranian takeover of our embassy in 1979? After all, the Iranians did manage to sway the election to electing Ronald Reagan in 1980 and begin our move toward fascism. Our nation’s fearful concern that this be the case has after all, led to the election of George W Bush and Donald Trump in the interim. What are the Republicans not grateful for? If we stay so concerned about what is happening in the Middle Eastern countries, what, about 6 thousand miles away from us, we will elect a right winger to the White House, again, and we’ll keep stirring the pot, and have Trump again for four more years. What’s to worry?
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This is what happens when when America is lead by amateurs. These amateurs are true believers and that's what makes them so dangerous.
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The world has no need to hate America more. So what does Donald Trump do? He makes them really hate us more (which I thought was not possible). This is the world we live in, thanks to Donald Trump. He needs to be removed from office.
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Can we stop calling them contractors and use the more precise term? Contractors build decks, these guys wage war. They are mercenaries not contractors.
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This comes as a surprise to no one, yes? I mean not just because we have people who don't like us normally, but also because of the dude in the White House who acts like the bully of the world and then goes crying when things don't work out his way?
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“The Iraqi government promised a strong response.” So we can expect an announcement soon of a pretend Iraqi government inquiry into possible corruption involving Hunter Biden? (Or Bernie’s wife or Andrew Yang’s father...)
Yay.
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The blood and treasure we've poured into Iraq have really paid off. /s
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George W. Bush got us into a senseless political swamp in Iraq for his own personal glory, not for any legitimate American cause. The American Congress voted to support his foolish Iraq war. So now we are forced to live with the consequences of the stupidity and ignorance of our elected "leaders". Starting a war for no legitimate reason is something we Americans must live with. But continuing to be involved in the morass that we helped create makes no sense. Let all the tribal and religious groups sort out their own solutions to the Iraq-Iran-Turkey-Kurdistan-Syria-Middle East debacle. America has nothing of value to add. We have already caused enough death and destruction in the region.
We need to follow the request of the current governments of the region and pull all American military out. If the Kurds want American help to support their claims of territorial legitimacy including regions historically usurped by by every one of those surrounding countries, let the Kurds formally request it and make any military support be dependent on a vote by the Congress. Trump is obviously too willfully ignorant of world history to be involved in such decisions, even if his instinct to get out of the Mid-East is right.
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@RLW : One quibble here: I don't think GWB initiated the invasion of Iraq "for his own personal glory." There may have been an element of personal resentment related to his father's war over there, but I think mostly it was the neo-cons: I think they actually believe, and might still believe, in the "American Century" or whatever they called it, and that the Iraqis really were going to rally to our cause. Now they would love to believe that Iran is on the brink of welcoming us with open arms. Probably North Korea, too. They're wrong of course, but it's an ideology with them.
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@RLW
I fully agree with everything you state, however, I do have one quibble. Cheney was the one who got us into the war with Iraq. GW was basically just doing his bidding.
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@Just Me
Yes, remember before Cheney was VP he was head of Halliburton. Cheney out sourced military operations as well as oil operations to Halliburton with Bush's approval. Bush/Cheney need to be held accountable for war crimes due to torture in Abu Ghraib and the rest of the mess they got us into.
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Injured embassy staff treated with warm milk and aspirin.
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Regardless of whether the US continues with a diplomatic and military presence in Iraq, effectiveness of both will be severely diminished thanks to the foolish, unforced error of the Trump/Pompeo drone strike on Iraqi home soil.
The US position in the world grows weaker by the week with Trump in the WH.
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@T
Yeah sure. The General being alive to plan attacks on our embassy would be Much Better. If we can prove it was Iranian backed militia that fired these rockets we can unleash those B-52's.
@GregP
Aren't the lumbering slow B52s vulnerable to the newer SAM systems that Iran (and Turkey) hold?
Just a tactical question. I don't need and answer.
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@GregP The last thing that anyone needs is "more B-52's." History has clearly shown that increasing military presence in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East only leads to more problems. Case in point: the recent assassination of the Iranian Gen. Soleimani, after which 34 Americans were injured seriously and a civilian airliner downed in a missle attack. Enough is enough!
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Iraq is in the midst of a slow burning civil war and the US presence there is just about the only thing keeping it from exploding in full force.
The Shiite majority wants the US to leave because they are aligned with Iran.
The Sunni minority wants the US to stay mostly just because they are afraid of what the Shiites will end up doing to them.
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@DazedAndAmazed
Like it or not Iraq is a country of more Shiites instead of the Sunni minority because the US decided to get Saddam Hussein.
With Saddam Hussein the Shiites would not take over the country.
Iraq is not a civil war but is a country where the larges number of people take over.
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The Iraqi Prime Minister and Parliament have formally asked the US to withdraw its troops immediately. Why are we still there? Trump is refusing to obey the leaders of this sovereign nation. Why is there not a worldwide uproar over this? Haven’t we done enough to this poor country over the past 16 years? We started the war that ravaged the country killed its leader and hundreds of thousands if not millions of its citizens over false evidence fabricated by an evil cabal within the US government. What we have done to this country is beyond unconscionable, and yet we wonder why our Embassy was bombed?
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@GO
"The Iraqi Prime Minister and Parliament have formally asked the US to withdraw its troops immediately. Why are we still there?"
WRONG. The Iraqi president has NOT asked the US to withdraw its troops. Only parliament. And seasoned observers of Iraq know that the parliament did so with the full expectation that Iraq's president would NOT endorse such an idea.
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@David H ... ok Mr. "seasoned observer". You don't think the vast majority of the Iraqi wish that we would leave and regret us ever being there in the first place? Really?
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@David WRONG. The Iraqi Prime Minister wrote the bills that passed through parliament, albeit without a quorum as the Sunnis and Kurds didn’t vote. The Prime Minister is a much more powerful position than the President in the Iraqi government.
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The President promised a response to Iran if it attacked us. If, indeed, the evidence shows this attack is from an Iranian-backed source, what will the President order as a response? Or will he sit on his tiny hands?
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Anytime civilian Americans overseas are targeted, or injured, traditionally we have heard from our Secretary of State or commander in chief or spokesperson - with in a few hours of the attack.
But now, nothing. We will not be told the truth, most likely, in any case.
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Will the Republicans call for investigations like they did for Hillary over Benghazi?
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@Paul Kent Were it not for all the real people who died this would be laughable. Republican HYPOCRISY knows no limits.
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The Russians will get the most from missiles to hitting Americans in Iraq.
Time to wake up.
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Expected. We were asked to leave, by unanimous vote. Can't blame them. They are trying to defend themselves, as we would, in similar circumstances.
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@ChesBay Only the pro-Iranians showed up in parliament to vote. The others stayed away.
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@ChesBay
They?
Who are they?
The Sunni and kurds who don’t want us gone?
The anti Iran and Sadr Shia young who are demanding a government that gets along with Iran and the US?
But what do you care? You got your fiction. Rinse repeat.
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@andrew That's true, but it's a technicality. Presumably they didn't show up because they didn't want to be outvoted. There are some on our side but they aren't willing to show up. Doesn't look promising.
This is Iran or its subordinates doing this.
It's time to publicly call upon the Iranian People to overthrow their illegitimate, unelected, Twelver, religious-fanatic dictators.
We might also consider petitioning the UN to suspend or oust Iran's membership for being the pariah that it is. Iran is ruled by criminals. If the Mafia violently took over Italy by force would anyone recognize the Mafia as Italy's legitimate government? I think not. Same thing here.
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@MIKEinNYC Reality Check if history does repeat past events. Iran is no different then what happen to german people in world war two . Germany was taken over by crazy leaders who took guns away from own people an forced own children to serve in war.
@MIKEinNYC
"It's time to publicly call upon the Iranian People to overthrow their illegitimate, unelected, Twelver, religious-fanatic dictators."
It's time for the United States to throw out our illegitimate, unduly elected, Russian installed, religious fanatic dictator wannabes. Trump needs to be removed from office along with Pence, Pompeo and Barr.
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@MIKEinNYC The Iranian people will change their government when they decide to. It would be a grave mistake for the U.S. to involve itself in internal Iranian politics. I would argue that such a mistake would also strengthen, not weaken, the current Iranian administration. And it wouldn't do the U.S. administration any good either.
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Foreign policy without foresight is a joke. Trump, Pompeo and all the chicken hawk republicans have no plan, and just leave our troops as sitting ducks in Iraq.
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It appears that the U.S. Embassy in Iraq may be under a slow moving attack. Who will Trump kill now?
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Any chance that Secretary of State Pompeo will be appearing before the press today?
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Not to shed light on this or any other matter.
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@American And even if Pompeo would appear before the press, who would believe him. He shredded his credibility over the NPR interview story. In addition to gross lies, the interview was a demonstration of how little he understood of Iran, in particular, or the Middle East, in general.
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These events are just the beginning. The Iraqi government will never be able to stop the moods of the crowds as they attempt to "push" US forces from Iraq. it is just a matter of time. Like others who have commented, we killed thousands not only those who opposed our presence, but thousands of innocent civilians who were either killed or wounded. Nearly every Iraqi has someone they know or are related to who was killed by US or allied forces.
The issue in the coming months..is how to retrograde or get out!
Stay tuned!
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The American military has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis in what is now almost two decades of occupation. It is long past the time for these war criminals, and for the US political structure that supports them, to be brought to justice.
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@Adalberto Nice assertion with no proof cited. There's a war on and in a war civilians get killed. That doesn't make a soldier a "war criminal". Never has and never will. Get your facts straight.
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@Ross Salinger I don't see a reference to the ordinary soldier, although there have been some who stepped over the line and are legitimate war criminals... duly honored as such by Trump and his followers. Adalberto seems to be talking about those specifically guilty of crimes, and crimes do actually make a soldier a war criminal, even if there is a war on. And of course, the leaders who sent them there and have kept them there.
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@Ross Salinger
I think he is referring to Bush/Cheney as well as Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld and all the other neocons that got us into the mess. Those are the war criminals. They got us into this war with lies about WMDs. The world and the Middle East would be better off with Saddam Hussein still was in control of Iraq.
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The pattern of escalation could be resuming....
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@michaelf
Who benefits?
Examining that question is key to understanding events in this complex, non-linear, multi-player situation.
And yes, according to someone's agenda, the time is right for the resumption of drumbeats...
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“Fell in a nearby river”
Not just a nearby river. That is the Tigris River that, along with the Euphrates River, surrounds land known as the Fertile Crescent and is famous for being one of the oldest hubs of civilization.
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Maybe I’m too young to remember, but can someone remind me why we’re still in a country that is so hostile to us? It’s been years. We must have won the war or accomplished our objective by now, right?
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@John
Look to the motivations for our invasion. Then ask yourself, "Who benefitted? Who continues to benefit? When do those futures contracts come due?"
Because the military makes money in all wars and deployments. Period.
There is certain to be an American response. It will be military, but as the US military is embedded in Iraq (much like deer ticks picked up in Bethpage) against the wishes of the government, who can know at what or whom it will be directed. Certainly not the Pentagon. Certainly not the NSC. Certainly not the US intelligence community. Certainly not our allies. Only two people know--a very unhinged, impulsive and enraged president and his whisperer--the unethical, untruthful, unqualified Secretary of State
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@M. J. Símon
Nonsense. There is a concept of operations plan precisely for these sorts of strikes against US interests. If experience is any guide, the Pentagon has presented the NSC a discussion paper of various retaliatory options. A functioning national security decisionmaking process is imperative after the strike against Mr. Suleimani. The US has no interest in escalating tensions and I suspect that whatever response is approved, it will not be one that is necessarily publicized.
As for your comment about the intelligence community not knowing what our response will be: that is correct and as it should be. Having worked for the IC for more than 40 years before retiring recently, I can attest to the fact that the IC -- and especially the working levels -- is not privy to US policy decisionmaking. That is because the IC's job is to look at the behavior of foreign actors.
I suppose that hyperbole is to be expected whenever one decides to take a shot at Mr. Trump.
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@David H
What you write about systematic process holds true only if it is followed. There is NO evidence, there has Never been evidence of his following system with this incompetent, illegitimate crew.
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@M. J. Símon
The only reporting that you see on these pages and elsewhere in the public domain is an infinitesimally small fraction of the activity that takes place every day in the foreign policy decisionmaking process. With a very few exceptions, the process works; I know because I participated in it.
And please remember that when you use terms like "incompetent" and "illegitimate" you are castigating and demeaning thousands of civil servants, many of whom are former colleagues, who diligently and honestly serve in non-political functions every day of their lives.
They would certainly a appreciate a bit of circumspection, I have no doubt.
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"Mr. Abdul Mahdi also used the statement as a way to remind the public, which is divided about whether to have United States troops stay in the country, that using force would risk “dangerous consequences and repercussions” that could damage Iraqi interests and “drag Iraq into a war.”"
So the Iraqi government that the US Government set up is now very nervous about being attacked by the US.
Sooner or later the world will have to face the fact that the US Government is a tyrant state that cannot be appeased. I hope it will be sooner. I hope the world, including the American people, will throw them out.
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@Paul Easton
"... the US Government is a tyrant state that cannot be appeased."
I was born and raised in the US and for the last 60 years of my life I have NEVER heard an American citizen use the expression above to describe the United States.
I suppose the consolation for those of us who read such nonsense is the fact that if you are in fact an American citizen, you are paying federal taxes, and your precious tax dollars go directly to support the foreign and defense policies of this administration, its predecessors, and its successors.
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@David H
Seems rather drastic, yes. What about this perspective? Is this perspective really so wrong for todays America. To understand this more simply, if your employer paid you well, provided excellent insurance coverage and had a track record of excellent leadership in the marketplace, yet, you still had to work for a direct upline manager whom, he or she, was manipulative and to some degree greedy, how would you handle the situation? Would you have an open opinion about it. Would you change jobs. Would you discuss your concerns with upper management. Regardless, it would be your perspective and cause. America is a great nation; however, its pieces and parts are not always so great. This country is young. As Americans, in relation to the rest of the world, we need to always be mindful of this.
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@David H
I was born here too, as were my parents and grandparents, etc., but had the advantage of being raised in another country. So the concept that the US is a tyrant is familiar... and evident.
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Proxy wars will not end in this region until the entire region, including Iran, can sit down and discuss a regional plan for trade and cooperation. Right now they have tribal politics that have existed long before Sykes-Picot drew borders. The West can’t fix this region and we should stop trying to think they can create one in the image of American or European democracy.
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