Photo Credit: YouTube Screenshot
It began with the US military strikes last Sunday against the Iranian proxy militia Kataeb Hezbollah, in retaliation for the group’s rocket attack a week ago that killed an American contractor on an Iraqi military base. It was the largest attack on a militia which is sanctioned by the Iraqi government, which in turn is an agent of the Iranian government. And so, on Tuesday, when Shiite mourners in Baghdad were returning from the funerals of more than 30 dead terrorists, the local Shiite preachers started calling on the believers—mostly Iran-supported militiamen—to storm the American embassy – and everybody marched to the biggest and most heavily fortified US embassy in the world, a.k.a. the Green Zone.
They were shouting the traditional “Death to America!” and “Down, Down USA!” and tried to push their way inside the embassy grounds, throwing water bottles and smashing security cameras, and hanging yellow Kataeb Hezbollah flags on the walls of the embassy, and burned one security post after the guards there had retreated into the compound. There were reports of US military personnel shooting live ammunition at the crowd.
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The attack of thousands of crazed Shiites on an American embassy was, obviously, reminiscent of two past attacks, one in Tehran, the other in Benghazi, Libya. Which is why Sen. Lindsey Graham “heaped praise on President Trump for his response to an attack Tuesday on the US embassy in Baghdad,” as the Washington Examiner put it.
Graham tweeted: “Very proud of President Donald Trump acting decisively in the face of threats to our embassy in Baghdad. He has put the world on notice – there will be no Benghazis on his watch.”
Graham also tweeted: “To the Iranian government: Be careful what you wish for — a country that depends on the ability to refine oil for its existence needs to be cautious. President Trump, unlike President Obama, will hold you accountable for threats against Americans and hit you where it hurts the most. Choose your battles wisely.”
Them’s literally fightin’ words.
He also tweeted: “To our Iraqi allies: This is your moment to convince the American people the US-Iraq relationship is meaningful to you and worth protecting. Protect our American personnel. You will not regret it.”
President Trump rounded up the tour de force, tweeting: “Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the US Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”
This may be a good place to remind our readers that this whole thing started back in the summer of 1990, when the US’s most loyal agent, Saddam Hussein (who was an SOB, but our SOB, as the late FDR once said about Anastasio Somoza of Nicaragua) received US permission to attack Kuwait which was slant-drilling his oil fields across their border. When Hussein attacked, the Saudis, whose tent was pitched on the White House lawn of both Bush administrations, became alarmed and ordered oil man president Bush I to do something. Thirty years later, and close to $20 trillion in the hole, the only clear result of US efforts in Iraq are the expanded Shiite hegemony of Iran over Iraq, and the creation of ISIS—the Sunni Ba’ath officers and soldiers whom GW Bush drove out of the Iraqi army.
We now return to our regularly scheduled coverage of the most insane US military adventure ever, including Vietnam, and which could, at some point, drag the world into a nuclear confrontation. Stock up on your cans of peas and tuna.
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