MARKETWATCH
"Esper says U.S. has made ‘no decision’ about withdrawing troops from Iraq"
By Associated Press
Published: Jan 6, 2020 5:00 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has made no decision about withdrawing troops from Iraq, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday in response to a letter from a senior military officer that appeared to suggest a withdrawal was underway.
Esper told reporters Monday that the U.S. is not pulling troops out of Iraq.
He said he didn’t know anything about a letter that appears to suggest some preparation of troops to move out of Iraq.
But he said there has been some repositioning of U.S. forces.
“There’s been no decision whatsoever to leave Iraq,” he said, adding, “There’s no decision to leave, nor did we issue any plans to leave or prepare to leave.”
He said the U.S. remains committed to the campaign to defeat the Islamic State group in Iraq and the region.
A letter sent Monday to the Iraqi government from a commander in Iraq said troops would be “repositioning over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement.”
The letter said there would be an increase in helicopter travel around the Green Zone and said, “We respect your sovereignty decision to order our departure.”
Pro-Iran factions in the Iraqi Parliament have pushed to oust American troops following the killing of a top Iranian general in Baghdad in a U.S. drone strike last week.
A U.S. national security official dismissed the letter.
“This is not a movement of U.S. forces out of the country,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official, who was not authorized to discuss the letter publicly, said the letter did not accurately portray the reason for the temporary redeployment of troops and contractors from Baghdad’s Green Zone.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/esper ... latestnews
IRAQ
Re: IRAQ
THE GUARDIAN
"US allies distance themselves from Trump decision to assassinate Suleimani"
Julian Borger in Washington
6 JANUARY 2020
US allies have distanced themselves from Donald Trump’s decision to assassinate Qassem Suleimani, as millions of Iranians took to the streets to mourn and demand revenge for the assassination of the country’s top general.
Both Israel and Nato stressed they were not involved in the airstrike on Thursday.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has already expressed disappointment in the lukewarm reaction of Washington’s European allies.
But the response of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was particularly striking, as he has been one of Trump’s staunchest supporters on the world stage.
He told a meeting of his security cabinet on Monday: “The assassination of Suleimani isn’t an Israeli event but an American event."
"We were not involved and should not be dragged into it.”
The Saudi deputy defense minister, Khalid bin Salman, who is also the younger brother of the kingdom’s crown prince, was in Washington on Monday to urge restraint, joining a growing international chorus.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, insisted there was still time for diplomacy but warned that without urgent action to defuse rising tensions there was a real risk of a new Middle East war.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, who spoke to Pompeo on Monday, said that the region’s “cauldron of tensions is leading more and more countries to take unpredicted decisions with unpredictable consequences and a profound risk of miscalculation”.
Iran has threatened a severe response to the US killing of Suleimani by drone strike in Baghdad last week.
Brig Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of Iran’s aerospace division, said on Monday that the only appropriate response would be the “the complete destruction of America in the region”.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, continued to pour reinforcements into the region.
US defense officials said the roughly 2,500-strong Marine force on board the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, equipped with Cobra helicopters and Harrier jets, would be sent to the Middle East from their current position in the Mediterranean.
Three thousand airborne troops are already on the way to Kuwait.
The US marine reinforcements come at a time when the US military presence in Iraq is in question following a vote by the country’s parliament over the weekend to expel US troops.
Iraq’s caretaker prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, summoned the US ambassador, Matthew Tueller, and called on the two countries to cooperate in arranging the withdrawal of the roughly 5,000 US soldiers currently in Iraq on counter-Isis and training missions.
However, Abdul-Mahdi did not give a deadline for the US departure.
Trump, who has previously called for a general US withdrawal from the region, has threatened to punish Iraq by imposing sanctions if the Baghdad government expels them.
“We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there."
"It cost billions of dollars to build."
"Long before my time."
"We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” the president said.
Trump came under fire on Monday for his threat to strike Iranian culture sites among 52 targets that the US would bomb in reprisal for any future Iranian attack.
The number, he explained, was the same as the number of Americans taken hostage when the US embassy in Tehran was seized after the Islamic revolution in 1979.
“I think that Iran has many military, strategic military sites that you may cite are also cultural sites,” Kellyanne Conway, a Trump adviser, told reporters on Monday, but clarified later she was not accusing Iran was camouflaging military targets as cultural sites.
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, responded furiously to Trump’s threat.
“Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290,” Rouhani said, referring to the number of Iranians killed when a US warship accidentally shot down a civilian airliner, Iran Air 655, in 1988.
“Never threaten the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said.
Trump was also under continued pressure from Democrats on Monday for the lack of transparency over his justification for the assassination of Suleimani, who commanded the elite Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, have claimed the general was plotting imminent attacks against US targets.
Abdul-Mahdi said the Iranian military leader had flown to Iraq to negotiate, and claimed Trump had asked the Iraqi government to mediate.
Trump did not consult Congress or US allies before ordering the strike in the early hours of the morning in Baghdad.
On Saturday, the White House delivered a formal notification to Congress as required by the 1973 War Powers Act, but its contents were classified.
Normally such notifications are public documents with a classified section if required.
The Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez wrote to Trump on Monday, demanding the war powers notification be declassified.
“We did not see anything here that he deemed required such a classification,” a Senate staffer said.
“The War Powers act provision requiring the 48-hour notification was included partly for transparency purposes with the American people during these delicate moments."
"[It’s] pretty self-defeating to hide something meant to be transparent.”
Conway accused Schumer and Menendez of “chest-thumping” and said: “They know Congress will be briefed.”
The White House has suggested it will brief selected members of Congress this week, but Conway said the decision on timing was up to the Pentagon.
US allies in Europe and the Middle East have stressed that Suleimani had been a destabilizing and destructive presence in the region, but have largely stopped short of supporting Trump’s decision, calling for restraint on all sides.
The US briefed Nato ministers on Monday on the Suleimani killing.
Speaking to journalists later the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, distanced the alliance from the operation.
“This is a US decision, it is not a decision taken by neither the global coalition nor Nato, but all allies are concerned about Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region, Iran’s support to different terrorist groups,” Stoltenberg said.
He also confirmed the suspension of the Nato training mission in Iraq.
“In everything that we do, the safety of our personnel is paramount."
"As such, we have temporarily suspended our training on the ground,” the secretary general said.
The US-led counter-Isis in Iraq has also suspended operations, and redeployed its forces back from forward operating bases.
There is mounting concern that the more cautious stance by the US-led coalition would make it much less effective and allow Isis to regenerate.
“The bottom line is that there won’t be much counterterrorism going on in Iraq and Syria any time soon,” wrote Luke Hartig, former senior director for counter-terrorism on the national security council, now at the New America foundation.
“Trump’s counter-terrorism legacy in Iraq and Syria may be a series of dead bodies but nothing that addresses the core of the problem and no partners willing to help us root it out.”
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us- ... li=BBnb7Kz
"US allies distance themselves from Trump decision to assassinate Suleimani"
Julian Borger in Washington
6 JANUARY 2020
US allies have distanced themselves from Donald Trump’s decision to assassinate Qassem Suleimani, as millions of Iranians took to the streets to mourn and demand revenge for the assassination of the country’s top general.
Both Israel and Nato stressed they were not involved in the airstrike on Thursday.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has already expressed disappointment in the lukewarm reaction of Washington’s European allies.
But the response of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was particularly striking, as he has been one of Trump’s staunchest supporters on the world stage.
He told a meeting of his security cabinet on Monday: “The assassination of Suleimani isn’t an Israeli event but an American event."
"We were not involved and should not be dragged into it.”
The Saudi deputy defense minister, Khalid bin Salman, who is also the younger brother of the kingdom’s crown prince, was in Washington on Monday to urge restraint, joining a growing international chorus.
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, insisted there was still time for diplomacy but warned that without urgent action to defuse rising tensions there was a real risk of a new Middle East war.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, who spoke to Pompeo on Monday, said that the region’s “cauldron of tensions is leading more and more countries to take unpredicted decisions with unpredictable consequences and a profound risk of miscalculation”.
Iran has threatened a severe response to the US killing of Suleimani by drone strike in Baghdad last week.
Brig Gen Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of Iran’s aerospace division, said on Monday that the only appropriate response would be the “the complete destruction of America in the region”.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, continued to pour reinforcements into the region.
US defense officials said the roughly 2,500-strong Marine force on board the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group, equipped with Cobra helicopters and Harrier jets, would be sent to the Middle East from their current position in the Mediterranean.
Three thousand airborne troops are already on the way to Kuwait.
The US marine reinforcements come at a time when the US military presence in Iraq is in question following a vote by the country’s parliament over the weekend to expel US troops.
Iraq’s caretaker prime minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, summoned the US ambassador, Matthew Tueller, and called on the two countries to cooperate in arranging the withdrawal of the roughly 5,000 US soldiers currently in Iraq on counter-Isis and training missions.
However, Abdul-Mahdi did not give a deadline for the US departure.
Trump, who has previously called for a general US withdrawal from the region, has threatened to punish Iraq by imposing sanctions if the Baghdad government expels them.
“We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that’s there."
"It cost billions of dollars to build."
"Long before my time."
"We’re not leaving unless they pay us back for it,” the president said.
Trump came under fire on Monday for his threat to strike Iranian culture sites among 52 targets that the US would bomb in reprisal for any future Iranian attack.
The number, he explained, was the same as the number of Americans taken hostage when the US embassy in Tehran was seized after the Islamic revolution in 1979.
“I think that Iran has many military, strategic military sites that you may cite are also cultural sites,” Kellyanne Conway, a Trump adviser, told reporters on Monday, but clarified later she was not accusing Iran was camouflaging military targets as cultural sites.
Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, responded furiously to Trump’s threat.
“Those who refer to the number 52 should also remember the number 290,” Rouhani said, referring to the number of Iranians killed when a US warship accidentally shot down a civilian airliner, Iran Air 655, in 1988.
“Never threaten the Iranian nation,” Rouhani said.
Trump was also under continued pressure from Democrats on Monday for the lack of transparency over his justification for the assassination of Suleimani, who commanded the elite Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, have claimed the general was plotting imminent attacks against US targets.
Abdul-Mahdi said the Iranian military leader had flown to Iraq to negotiate, and claimed Trump had asked the Iraqi government to mediate.
Trump did not consult Congress or US allies before ordering the strike in the early hours of the morning in Baghdad.
On Saturday, the White House delivered a formal notification to Congress as required by the 1973 War Powers Act, but its contents were classified.
Normally such notifications are public documents with a classified section if required.
The Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez wrote to Trump on Monday, demanding the war powers notification be declassified.
“We did not see anything here that he deemed required such a classification,” a Senate staffer said.
“The War Powers act provision requiring the 48-hour notification was included partly for transparency purposes with the American people during these delicate moments."
"[It’s] pretty self-defeating to hide something meant to be transparent.”
Conway accused Schumer and Menendez of “chest-thumping” and said: “They know Congress will be briefed.”
The White House has suggested it will brief selected members of Congress this week, but Conway said the decision on timing was up to the Pentagon.
US allies in Europe and the Middle East have stressed that Suleimani had been a destabilizing and destructive presence in the region, but have largely stopped short of supporting Trump’s decision, calling for restraint on all sides.
The US briefed Nato ministers on Monday on the Suleimani killing.
Speaking to journalists later the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, distanced the alliance from the operation.
“This is a US decision, it is not a decision taken by neither the global coalition nor Nato, but all allies are concerned about Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region, Iran’s support to different terrorist groups,” Stoltenberg said.
He also confirmed the suspension of the Nato training mission in Iraq.
“In everything that we do, the safety of our personnel is paramount."
"As such, we have temporarily suspended our training on the ground,” the secretary general said.
The US-led counter-Isis in Iraq has also suspended operations, and redeployed its forces back from forward operating bases.
There is mounting concern that the more cautious stance by the US-led coalition would make it much less effective and allow Isis to regenerate.
“The bottom line is that there won’t be much counterterrorism going on in Iraq and Syria any time soon,” wrote Luke Hartig, former senior director for counter-terrorism on the national security council, now at the New America foundation.
“Trump’s counter-terrorism legacy in Iraq and Syria may be a series of dead bodies but nothing that addresses the core of the problem and no partners willing to help us root it out.”
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us- ... li=BBnb7Kz
Re: IRAQ
REUTERS
"'We're going to war, bro': Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne deploys to the Middle East"
By Rich McKay
7 JANUARY 2020
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Reuters) - For many of the soldiers, it would be their first mission.
They packed up ammunition and rifles, placed last-minute calls to loved ones, then turned in their cellphones.
Some gave blood.
The 600 mostly young soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were headed for the Middle East, part of a group of some 3,500 U.S. paratroopers ordered to the region.
Kuwait is the first stop for many.
Their final destinations are classified.
"We're going to war, bro," one cheered, holding two thumbs up and sporting a grin under close-shorn red hair.
He stood among dozens of soldiers loading trucks outside a cinder-block building housing several auditoriums with long benches and tables.
Days after President Donald Trump ordered the drone killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, raising fears of fresh conflict in the Middle East, the men and women of the U.S. Army's storied 82nd Airborne Division are moving out in the largest "fast deployment" since the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
The 82nd's commander, U.S. Army Major General James Mingus, waded through the sea of camouflage-uniformed men and women as they prepared to leave the base near Fayetteville on Sunday.
He shook hands with the troops, wishing them luck.
One soldier from Ashboro, Virginia, said he wasn't surprised when the order came.
"I was just watching the news, seeing how things were going over there," said the 27-year-old, one of several soldiers Reuters was allowed to interview on condition they not be named.
"Then I got a text message from my sergeant saying 'Don't go anywhere.'"
"And that was it."
While the killing of Soleimani has ratcheted up tensions between the United States and Iran, it remains to be seen whether they will escalate to full-out conflict.
Trump last week said he ordered the killing to stop a war, not to start one.
And despite Tehran's strident rhetoric, analysts say Iran will want to avoid any conventional conflict with the United States and is likely to focus on asymmetric strikes, such as sabotage or other military action via proxies.
Risks seemed to be pushed to the back of the minds of the younger soldiers, though many packed the base chapel after a breakfast of eggs, waffles, oatmeal, sausages and 1,000 doughnuts.
One private took a strap tethered to a transport truck and tried to hitch it to the belt of an unwitting friend, a last prank before shipping out.
'THIS IS THE MISSION'
The older soldiers, in their 30s and 40s, were visibly more somber, having the experience of seeing comrades come home from past deployments learning to walk on one leg or in flag-draped coffins.
"This is the mission, man," said Brian Knight, a retired Army veteran who has been on five combat deployments to the Middle East.
He is the current director of a chapter of the United Service Organizations military support charity.
"They're answering America's 911 call," Knight said.
"They're stoked to go."
"The president called for the 82nd."
There was lots of wrestling holds as the troops tossed their 75-pound (34 kg) backpacks onto transport trucks.
The packs hold everything from armor-plated vests, extra socks and underwear, to 210 rounds of ammunition for their M4 carbines.
A sergeant pushed through the crowd shouting for anyone with Type O blood, which can be transfused into any patient.
"The medics need you now."
"Move," he said, before a handful of troops walked off to give a little less than a pint each.
UNCERTAINTY PREVAILS
While members of the unit - considered the most mobile in the U.S. Army - are used to quick deployments, this was different, said Lieutenant Colonel Mike Burns, an Army spokesman.
"The guys are excited to go, but none of us know how long they'll be gone," Burns said.
"That's the toughest part."
Soldiers were ordered not to bring cellphones, portable video games or any other devices that could be used to communicate with friends and family back home, out of concern that details of their movements could leak out.
"We're an infantry brigade," Burns said.
"Our primary mission is ground fighting."
"This is as real as it gets."
A sergeant started rattling off last names, checking them off from a list after "heres" and "yups" and "yos."
For every fighter, there were seven support crew members shipping out: cooks, aviators, mechanics, medics, chaplains, and transportation and supply managers.
All but the chaplains would carry guns to fight.
A 34-year-old senior master sergeant said: "The Army is an all-volunteer force."
"We want to do this."
"You pay your taxes and we get to do this."
The reality of the deployment wouldn't sink in until the troops "walk out that door," he said, pointing to the exit to the tarmac where C-5 and C-17 transport planes and two contract commercial jets waited.
His call came when he was on leave in his hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida, taking his two young daughters to visit relatives and maybe go to Walt Disney World.
"We just got there and I got the call to turn right around and head back to base," he said.
"My wife knows the drill."
"I had to go."
"We drove right back."
On a single order, hundreds of soldiers jumped to their feet.
They lined up single file and marched out carrying their guns and kits and helmets, past a volunteer honor guard holding aloft flags that flapped east in the January wind.
(Reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by Scott Malone, Sonya Hepinstall and Jonathan Oatis)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-re- ... li=BBnb7Kz
"'We're going to war, bro': Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne deploys to the Middle East"
By Rich McKay
7 JANUARY 2020
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Reuters) - For many of the soldiers, it would be their first mission.
They packed up ammunition and rifles, placed last-minute calls to loved ones, then turned in their cellphones.
Some gave blood.
The 600 mostly young soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were headed for the Middle East, part of a group of some 3,500 U.S. paratroopers ordered to the region.
Kuwait is the first stop for many.
Their final destinations are classified.
"We're going to war, bro," one cheered, holding two thumbs up and sporting a grin under close-shorn red hair.
He stood among dozens of soldiers loading trucks outside a cinder-block building housing several auditoriums with long benches and tables.
Days after President Donald Trump ordered the drone killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, raising fears of fresh conflict in the Middle East, the men and women of the U.S. Army's storied 82nd Airborne Division are moving out in the largest "fast deployment" since the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
The 82nd's commander, U.S. Army Major General James Mingus, waded through the sea of camouflage-uniformed men and women as they prepared to leave the base near Fayetteville on Sunday.
He shook hands with the troops, wishing them luck.
One soldier from Ashboro, Virginia, said he wasn't surprised when the order came.
"I was just watching the news, seeing how things were going over there," said the 27-year-old, one of several soldiers Reuters was allowed to interview on condition they not be named.
"Then I got a text message from my sergeant saying 'Don't go anywhere.'"
"And that was it."
While the killing of Soleimani has ratcheted up tensions between the United States and Iran, it remains to be seen whether they will escalate to full-out conflict.
Trump last week said he ordered the killing to stop a war, not to start one.
And despite Tehran's strident rhetoric, analysts say Iran will want to avoid any conventional conflict with the United States and is likely to focus on asymmetric strikes, such as sabotage or other military action via proxies.
Risks seemed to be pushed to the back of the minds of the younger soldiers, though many packed the base chapel after a breakfast of eggs, waffles, oatmeal, sausages and 1,000 doughnuts.
One private took a strap tethered to a transport truck and tried to hitch it to the belt of an unwitting friend, a last prank before shipping out.
'THIS IS THE MISSION'
The older soldiers, in their 30s and 40s, were visibly more somber, having the experience of seeing comrades come home from past deployments learning to walk on one leg or in flag-draped coffins.
"This is the mission, man," said Brian Knight, a retired Army veteran who has been on five combat deployments to the Middle East.
He is the current director of a chapter of the United Service Organizations military support charity.
"They're answering America's 911 call," Knight said.
"They're stoked to go."
"The president called for the 82nd."
There was lots of wrestling holds as the troops tossed their 75-pound (34 kg) backpacks onto transport trucks.
The packs hold everything from armor-plated vests, extra socks and underwear, to 210 rounds of ammunition for their M4 carbines.
A sergeant pushed through the crowd shouting for anyone with Type O blood, which can be transfused into any patient.
"The medics need you now."
"Move," he said, before a handful of troops walked off to give a little less than a pint each.
UNCERTAINTY PREVAILS
While members of the unit - considered the most mobile in the U.S. Army - are used to quick deployments, this was different, said Lieutenant Colonel Mike Burns, an Army spokesman.
"The guys are excited to go, but none of us know how long they'll be gone," Burns said.
"That's the toughest part."
Soldiers were ordered not to bring cellphones, portable video games or any other devices that could be used to communicate with friends and family back home, out of concern that details of their movements could leak out.
"We're an infantry brigade," Burns said.
"Our primary mission is ground fighting."
"This is as real as it gets."
A sergeant started rattling off last names, checking them off from a list after "heres" and "yups" and "yos."
For every fighter, there were seven support crew members shipping out: cooks, aviators, mechanics, medics, chaplains, and transportation and supply managers.
All but the chaplains would carry guns to fight.
A 34-year-old senior master sergeant said: "The Army is an all-volunteer force."
"We want to do this."
"You pay your taxes and we get to do this."
The reality of the deployment wouldn't sink in until the troops "walk out that door," he said, pointing to the exit to the tarmac where C-5 and C-17 transport planes and two contract commercial jets waited.
His call came when he was on leave in his hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida, taking his two young daughters to visit relatives and maybe go to Walt Disney World.
"We just got there and I got the call to turn right around and head back to base," he said.
"My wife knows the drill."
"I had to go."
"We drove right back."
On a single order, hundreds of soldiers jumped to their feet.
They lined up single file and marched out carrying their guns and kits and helmets, past a volunteer honor guard holding aloft flags that flapped east in the January wind.
(Reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by Scott Malone, Sonya Hepinstall and Jonathan Oatis)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/we-re- ... li=BBnb7Kz
Re: IRAQ
THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Iran Fires on U.S. Forces at 2 Bases in Iraq, Calling It ‘Fierce Revenge’"
Alissa J. Rubin, Farnaz Fassihi, Eric Schmitt and Vivian Yee
8 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD — Iran attacked two bases in Iraq that house American troops with a barrage of missiles early Wednesday, Iranian official news media and United States officials said, fulfilling Tehran’s promise to retaliate for the killing of a top Iranian commander.
“The fierce revenge by the Revolutionary Guards has begun,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement on a Telegram messaging app channel.
Iraqi military officials said that Iran had fired 22 missiles at two military bases in Iraq where American troops are stationed.
United States officials initially said there were no immediate indications of American casualties, and senior Iraqi officials later said that there were no American or Iraqi casualties in the strikes.
After the strikes, President Trump, who has vowed a strong response to any Iranian attack on American targets, met at the White House with his top national security advisers, including Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss possible retaliatory options.
On Twitter a few hours later, Mr. Trump struck an upbeat tone and promised to make a statement on Wednesday morning.
Some aides said they believed that Mr. Trump wanted to find a way to de-escalate the crisis.
“All is well!” he wrote.
“Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq."
"Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now."
"So far, so good!"
"We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!”
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, also seemed ready to stand down, for now.
“Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” Mr. Zarif tweeted.
“We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.”
The American killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a hero at home but a terrorist to the United States government, has scaled into one of the most dangerous confrontations between the two countries in the four decades of animosity that have followed the Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s firing of ballistic missiles from inside its borders — not relying on rockets from Iranian-backed proxies — at two of the main military bases where many of the more than 5,000 American troops in Iraq are stationed was a significant escalation of force that threatened to ignite a widening conflict throughout the Middle East.
It was also a stark message from Tehran that it has the will and the ability to strike at American targets in neighboring Iraq.
“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al Asad and Erbil,” Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement.
Iranian news media reported the attacks hours after the remains of General Suleimani were returned to his hometown in Iran for burial amid a huge outpouring of grief and rage at the United States.
The funeral procession was so huge and unwieldy that more than 50 people died in a stampede, state news media reported, forcing a delay in the burial.
Iranian officials said the attacks began at 1:20 a.m. — the time General Suleimani was killed Friday by an American drone at the Baghdad International Airport.
Some Iranian officials posted images of their country’s flag on Twitter, in a pointed rejoinder to Mr. Trump, who tweeted an American flag after General Suleimani was killed.
Iran’s military planners had anticipated retaliatory strikes by the United States.
Key military, oil and energy sites were placed on high alert, and underground missile defense systems were prepared to counterattack, said a person familiar with the planning.
Iranian officials had been waiting for Mr. Trump to address the nation on Tuesday night, and when he did not do so, they suspected that the United States might wait to respond or not respond at all, the person said.
Two people close to the Revolutionary Guards said that if the United States did not strike, Iran would also de-escalate.
But if the United States did attack, then Iran was preparing for at least a limited conflict.
Reports from American intelligence agencies of an imminent attack from Iran had intensified throughout the day, and senior officials had said they were bracing for some kind of attack against American bases in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.
Over the past two days, American military and intelligence officials had closely monitored the movements of Iran’s ballistic force units — the crown jewel of the country’s arsenal.
It was initially unclear whether the movements were a defensive dispersal or the preparations for a retaliatory attack.
But by midday Tuesday, top American officials said it had become clear that some kind of Iranian attack was coming.
As tensions mounted, the president’s top national security advisers began gathering in the White House Situation Room about 2 p.m. — about three and a half hours before the attacks.
Mr. Trump joined them after a previously scheduled meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Unlike after the American drone strike last week that killed General Suleimani, Democratic congressional leaders were notified immediately after the Iranian strikes.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was meeting on Tuesday evening with senior Democrats about Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial when she was handed a note telling her of the Iranian attack on American forces in Iraq.
“We must ensure the safety of our servicemembers, including ending needless provocations from the administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence,” Ms. Pelosi tweeted.
“America & world cannot afford war.”
Reactions to the strikes diverged sharply on Capitol Hill, with Democrats condemning the series of events that led to the escalation, and Republicans pressing Mr. Trump to project military strength.
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, used Twitter to urge lawmakers to reassert Congress’s constitutional authority over matters of war and peace.
“The escalation of violence between Iran and the United States makes the constitutional responsibility of Congress to decide whether to declare war more important than ever,” Mr. Durbin tweeted.
Representative Michael Waltz, Republican of Florida, a former Army Green Beret who served in Afghanistan and worked in the Pentagon under President George W. Bush, said in a brief interview on Tuesday evening that he would reserve judgment about the strikes until more information became available.
But, Mr. Waltz said, “the president’s been very clear, as you should be in a deterrence posture: They will impose consequences and they’ll be directly on the Iranian regime.”
One of the bases that was struck on Tuesday, Al Asad Air Base, has long been a hub for American military operations in western Iraq; Danish troops have also been stationed there in recent years.
In 2017, as the American-led coalition built up the base for its campaign against the Islamic State, roughly 500 American military and civilian personnel were located there.
Units stationed there consisted of a shock trauma medical unit, a targeting cell, a Navy SEAL Special Operations task force and a company of Marines that served mostly as protection for the American side of the base.
The airfield serviced drones and reconnaissance aircraft.
After the physical defeat of the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate in 2019, some troops have left the base, but it still maintains a robust presence.
The other base that was struck, in Erbil in northern Iraq, has been a Special Operations hub to hundreds of American and other allied troops, logistics personnel and intelligence specialists throughout the fight against the Islamic State.
The base shares its borders with the city’s airport, which transport aircraft, gunships and reconnaissance planes have used as an anchor point for operations in both northern Iraq and deep into eastern Syria.
The Iranian missile attack came on a day that began with thousands of Iranians taking to the streets for General Suleimani’s funeral procession, a public mourning marred by a deadly stampede.
The head of Iran’s emergency medical services said 56 people had died and 213 were injured, the broadcaster IRIB reported on its website, as millions of people flooded the streets of Kerman to witness the procession.
Witnesses said on social media and on the BBC’s Persian service that the street leading to the funeral was too narrow to handle the crowd, and that some side streets had been closed off for security reasons, leaving those who were caught in the crush with no place to escape.
The overcrowding and the subsequent stampede in Kerman led the authorities to delay General Suleimani’s burial, the state news media reported.
But he was buried around midnight, as Iran prepared to launch missile attacks against American forces in retaliation for his death, said Hossein Soleimani, the editor in chief of the main Revolutionary Guards news website.
The general’s body had been flown to Kerman after a funeral service on Monday in Tehran, the capital, where there were even bigger crowds.
He had requested a burial in his hometown.
Alissa J. Rubin reported from Baghdad, Farnaz Fassihi from New York, Eric Schmitt from Washington and Vivian Yee from Beirut, Lebanon. Reporting was contributed by Helene Cooper, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Catie Edmondson, Nicholas Fandos, Mark Mazzetti and Michael D. Shear from Washington; Maggie Haberman and Nilo Tabrizy from New York; and Megan Specia from London.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ira ... li=BBnb7Kz
"Iran Fires on U.S. Forces at 2 Bases in Iraq, Calling It ‘Fierce Revenge’"
Alissa J. Rubin, Farnaz Fassihi, Eric Schmitt and Vivian Yee
8 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD — Iran attacked two bases in Iraq that house American troops with a barrage of missiles early Wednesday, Iranian official news media and United States officials said, fulfilling Tehran’s promise to retaliate for the killing of a top Iranian commander.
“The fierce revenge by the Revolutionary Guards has begun,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said in a statement on a Telegram messaging app channel.
Iraqi military officials said that Iran had fired 22 missiles at two military bases in Iraq where American troops are stationed.
United States officials initially said there were no immediate indications of American casualties, and senior Iraqi officials later said that there were no American or Iraqi casualties in the strikes.
After the strikes, President Trump, who has vowed a strong response to any Iranian attack on American targets, met at the White House with his top national security advisers, including Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to discuss possible retaliatory options.
On Twitter a few hours later, Mr. Trump struck an upbeat tone and promised to make a statement on Wednesday morning.
Some aides said they believed that Mr. Trump wanted to find a way to de-escalate the crisis.
“All is well!” he wrote.
“Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq."
"Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now."
"So far, so good!"
"We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!”
Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, also seemed ready to stand down, for now.
“Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” Mr. Zarif tweeted.
“We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.”
The American killing of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a hero at home but a terrorist to the United States government, has scaled into one of the most dangerous confrontations between the two countries in the four decades of animosity that have followed the Islamic Revolution.
Iran’s firing of ballistic missiles from inside its borders — not relying on rockets from Iranian-backed proxies — at two of the main military bases where many of the more than 5,000 American troops in Iraq are stationed was a significant escalation of force that threatened to ignite a widening conflict throughout the Middle East.
It was also a stark message from Tehran that it has the will and the ability to strike at American targets in neighboring Iraq.
“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al Asad and Erbil,” Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement.
Iranian news media reported the attacks hours after the remains of General Suleimani were returned to his hometown in Iran for burial amid a huge outpouring of grief and rage at the United States.
The funeral procession was so huge and unwieldy that more than 50 people died in a stampede, state news media reported, forcing a delay in the burial.
Iranian officials said the attacks began at 1:20 a.m. — the time General Suleimani was killed Friday by an American drone at the Baghdad International Airport.
Some Iranian officials posted images of their country’s flag on Twitter, in a pointed rejoinder to Mr. Trump, who tweeted an American flag after General Suleimani was killed.
Iran’s military planners had anticipated retaliatory strikes by the United States.
Key military, oil and energy sites were placed on high alert, and underground missile defense systems were prepared to counterattack, said a person familiar with the planning.
Iranian officials had been waiting for Mr. Trump to address the nation on Tuesday night, and when he did not do so, they suspected that the United States might wait to respond or not respond at all, the person said.
Two people close to the Revolutionary Guards said that if the United States did not strike, Iran would also de-escalate.
But if the United States did attack, then Iran was preparing for at least a limited conflict.
Reports from American intelligence agencies of an imminent attack from Iran had intensified throughout the day, and senior officials had said they were bracing for some kind of attack against American bases in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East.
Over the past two days, American military and intelligence officials had closely monitored the movements of Iran’s ballistic force units — the crown jewel of the country’s arsenal.
It was initially unclear whether the movements were a defensive dispersal or the preparations for a retaliatory attack.
But by midday Tuesday, top American officials said it had become clear that some kind of Iranian attack was coming.
As tensions mounted, the president’s top national security advisers began gathering in the White House Situation Room about 2 p.m. — about three and a half hours before the attacks.
Mr. Trump joined them after a previously scheduled meeting with the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Unlike after the American drone strike last week that killed General Suleimani, Democratic congressional leaders were notified immediately after the Iranian strikes.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was meeting on Tuesday evening with senior Democrats about Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial when she was handed a note telling her of the Iranian attack on American forces in Iraq.
“We must ensure the safety of our servicemembers, including ending needless provocations from the administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence,” Ms. Pelosi tweeted.
“America & world cannot afford war.”
Reactions to the strikes diverged sharply on Capitol Hill, with Democrats condemning the series of events that led to the escalation, and Republicans pressing Mr. Trump to project military strength.
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the chamber’s No. 2 Democrat, used Twitter to urge lawmakers to reassert Congress’s constitutional authority over matters of war and peace.
“The escalation of violence between Iran and the United States makes the constitutional responsibility of Congress to decide whether to declare war more important than ever,” Mr. Durbin tweeted.
Representative Michael Waltz, Republican of Florida, a former Army Green Beret who served in Afghanistan and worked in the Pentagon under President George W. Bush, said in a brief interview on Tuesday evening that he would reserve judgment about the strikes until more information became available.
But, Mr. Waltz said, “the president’s been very clear, as you should be in a deterrence posture: They will impose consequences and they’ll be directly on the Iranian regime.”
One of the bases that was struck on Tuesday, Al Asad Air Base, has long been a hub for American military operations in western Iraq; Danish troops have also been stationed there in recent years.
In 2017, as the American-led coalition built up the base for its campaign against the Islamic State, roughly 500 American military and civilian personnel were located there.
Units stationed there consisted of a shock trauma medical unit, a targeting cell, a Navy SEAL Special Operations task force and a company of Marines that served mostly as protection for the American side of the base.
The airfield serviced drones and reconnaissance aircraft.
After the physical defeat of the Islamic State’s so-called caliphate in 2019, some troops have left the base, but it still maintains a robust presence.
The other base that was struck, in Erbil in northern Iraq, has been a Special Operations hub to hundreds of American and other allied troops, logistics personnel and intelligence specialists throughout the fight against the Islamic State.
The base shares its borders with the city’s airport, which transport aircraft, gunships and reconnaissance planes have used as an anchor point for operations in both northern Iraq and deep into eastern Syria.
The Iranian missile attack came on a day that began with thousands of Iranians taking to the streets for General Suleimani’s funeral procession, a public mourning marred by a deadly stampede.
The head of Iran’s emergency medical services said 56 people had died and 213 were injured, the broadcaster IRIB reported on its website, as millions of people flooded the streets of Kerman to witness the procession.
Witnesses said on social media and on the BBC’s Persian service that the street leading to the funeral was too narrow to handle the crowd, and that some side streets had been closed off for security reasons, leaving those who were caught in the crush with no place to escape.
The overcrowding and the subsequent stampede in Kerman led the authorities to delay General Suleimani’s burial, the state news media reported.
But he was buried around midnight, as Iran prepared to launch missile attacks against American forces in retaliation for his death, said Hossein Soleimani, the editor in chief of the main Revolutionary Guards news website.
The general’s body had been flown to Kerman after a funeral service on Monday in Tehran, the capital, where there were even bigger crowds.
He had requested a burial in his hometown.
Alissa J. Rubin reported from Baghdad, Farnaz Fassihi from New York, Eric Schmitt from Washington and Vivian Yee from Beirut, Lebanon. Reporting was contributed by Helene Cooper, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Catie Edmondson, Nicholas Fandos, Mark Mazzetti and Michael D. Shear from Washington; Maggie Haberman and Nilo Tabrizy from New York; and Megan Specia from London.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ira ... li=BBnb7Kz
Re: IRAQ
REUTERS
"Two rockets fall inside Baghdad's Green Zone"
8 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Two rockets fell on Wednesday inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions, but caused no casualties, the Iraqi military said.
Sirens were sounding inside the Green Zone.
Police sources told Reuters at least one of the rockets fell 100 meters (yards) from the U.S. Embassy.
"Two Katyusha rockets fall inside the Green Zone without causing casualties."
"Details to follow," the military said.
Two loud blasts followed by sirens had been heard in Baghdad, Reuters witnesses said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Iran launched missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq overnight in retaliation for the killing by the United States last week of Iranian General Qassim Soleimani, raising concern about a wider war in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Peter Cooney)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/thr ... li=BBnb7Kz
"Two rockets fall inside Baghdad's Green Zone"
8 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Two rockets fell on Wednesday inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions, but caused no casualties, the Iraqi military said.
Sirens were sounding inside the Green Zone.
Police sources told Reuters at least one of the rockets fell 100 meters (yards) from the U.S. Embassy.
"Two Katyusha rockets fall inside the Green Zone without causing casualties."
"Details to follow," the military said.
Two loud blasts followed by sirens had been heard in Baghdad, Reuters witnesses said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Iran launched missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq overnight in retaliation for the killing by the United States last week of Iranian General Qassim Soleimani, raising concern about a wider war in the Middle East.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Peter Cooney)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/thr ... li=BBnb7Kz
Re: IRAQ
IRAQ IS AN AMERICAN DEPENDENCY AND HENCE, HAS NO SOVEREIGNTY ...
MARKETWATCH
"Iraqi prime minister tells U.S. to prepare a troop withdrawal plan"
By Associated Press
Published: Jan 10, 2020 9:53 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s caretaker prime minister asked Washington to start working out a road map for an American troop withdrawal, his office said Friday, signaling his insistence on ending the U.S. military presence despite recent moves to de-escalate tensions between Iran and the U.S.
The request came in a telephone call Thursday night between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a statement from his office said.
He also told Pompeo that recent U.S. strikes in Iraq were an unacceptable breach of Iraqi sovereignty and a violation of the two countries’ security agreements.
He asked Pompeo to “send delegates to Iraq to prepare a mechanism to carry out the parliament’s resolution regarding the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq,” according to the statement.
“The prime minister said American forces had entered Iraq and drones are flying in its airspace without permission from Iraqi authorities, and this was a violation of the bilateral agreements,” the statement added.
Iraqi lawmakers passed a resolution Sunday to oust U.S. troops, following the Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at Baghdad’s airport.
The nonbinding vote put the responsibility on the government to formally request a withdrawal.
Abdul-Mahdi, addressing lawmakers at the time, called for “urgent measures” to ensure the removal of the troops.
Speaking to Pompeo, Abdul-Mahdi stopped short of requesting an immediate withdrawal and appeared to give the U.S. time to draw up a strategy and timeline for departure.
Still, the comments suggested he was standing by the push for the American forces to go despite recent signals toward de-escalation between Tehran and Washington after Iran retaliated for Soleimani’s death with a barrage of missiles that hit two Iraqi bases where U.S. troops are based but caused no casualties.
There are some 5,200 U.S. troops in Iraq assisting and providing training to Iraqi security counter-parts to fight the Islamic State group.
An American pullout could deeply set back efforts to crush remnants of the group amid concerns of a resurgence amid the political turmoil.
The State Department acknowledged that Pompeo had called Abdul-Mahdi but made no mention of U.S. troops in a readout of the call released late Thursday.
Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo reiterated the U.S. condemnation of the Iranian missile strikes on the two bases and underscored that President Donald Trump “has said the United States will do whatever it takes to protect the American and Iraqi people and defend our collective interests.”
Top American military officials including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, have said there were no plans for the U.S. to withdraw.
The push to remove the U.S. forces comes amid widespread Iraqi anger over being caught in the middle of fighting between Baghdad’s two closest allies.
Abdul-Mahdi has said he rejects all violations of Iraqi sovereignty, including both the Iranian and U.S. strikes.
Still, the demand for withdrawal is not universal.
Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers opposed the Parliament resolution.
The Sunnis see the U.S. presence as a bulwark against domination by the majority Shiites and Iran, while the Kurdish security forces had benefited from American training and aid.
The latest escalation between Tehran and Washington on Iraqi soil was set off when a rocket attack blamed on the Iranian-backed militia group Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, caused the death of an American contractor at a base in Kirkuk province in late December.
The U.S. replied with a barrage of strikes on the militia’s bases, killing at least 25 people.
Meanwhile, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged rival Iraqi political factions to unite and put private interests aside, saying their attempts to outbid each other in the political process had led to the current crisis and risked creating more unrest.
Rival political factions have yet to agree on a nominee to replace the outgoing Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned in December under pressure from mass protests.
Large demonstrations were planned in Baghdad on Friday, as anti-government protesters sought to recover momentum following the fast-escalating regional tensions that overshadowed their uprising.
Protesters also gathered in the southern provinces of Najaf, Diwanieh and Dhi Qar.
“The serious attacks and repeated violations of Iraqi sovereignty that occurred in recent days with the apparent weakness of the concerned authorities in protecting the country and its people ... are part of the repercussions of the current crisis,” al-Sistani said.
“Everyone is required to think carefully about what this situation will lead to if there is no end to it,” he added.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/iraqu ... 2020-01-10
MARKETWATCH
"Iraqi prime minister tells U.S. to prepare a troop withdrawal plan"
By Associated Press
Published: Jan 10, 2020 9:53 a.m. ET
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s caretaker prime minister asked Washington to start working out a road map for an American troop withdrawal, his office said Friday, signaling his insistence on ending the U.S. military presence despite recent moves to de-escalate tensions between Iran and the U.S.
The request came in a telephone call Thursday night between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a statement from his office said.
He also told Pompeo that recent U.S. strikes in Iraq were an unacceptable breach of Iraqi sovereignty and a violation of the two countries’ security agreements.
He asked Pompeo to “send delegates to Iraq to prepare a mechanism to carry out the parliament’s resolution regarding the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq,” according to the statement.
“The prime minister said American forces had entered Iraq and drones are flying in its airspace without permission from Iraqi authorities, and this was a violation of the bilateral agreements,” the statement added.
Iraqi lawmakers passed a resolution Sunday to oust U.S. troops, following the Jan. 3 U.S. drone strike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at Baghdad’s airport.
The nonbinding vote put the responsibility on the government to formally request a withdrawal.
Abdul-Mahdi, addressing lawmakers at the time, called for “urgent measures” to ensure the removal of the troops.
Speaking to Pompeo, Abdul-Mahdi stopped short of requesting an immediate withdrawal and appeared to give the U.S. time to draw up a strategy and timeline for departure.
Still, the comments suggested he was standing by the push for the American forces to go despite recent signals toward de-escalation between Tehran and Washington after Iran retaliated for Soleimani’s death with a barrage of missiles that hit two Iraqi bases where U.S. troops are based but caused no casualties.
There are some 5,200 U.S. troops in Iraq assisting and providing training to Iraqi security counter-parts to fight the Islamic State group.
An American pullout could deeply set back efforts to crush remnants of the group amid concerns of a resurgence amid the political turmoil.
The State Department acknowledged that Pompeo had called Abdul-Mahdi but made no mention of U.S. troops in a readout of the call released late Thursday.
Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said Pompeo reiterated the U.S. condemnation of the Iranian missile strikes on the two bases and underscored that President Donald Trump “has said the United States will do whatever it takes to protect the American and Iraqi people and defend our collective interests.”
Top American military officials including Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Defense Secretary Mark Esper, have said there were no plans for the U.S. to withdraw.
The push to remove the U.S. forces comes amid widespread Iraqi anger over being caught in the middle of fighting between Baghdad’s two closest allies.
Abdul-Mahdi has said he rejects all violations of Iraqi sovereignty, including both the Iranian and U.S. strikes.
Still, the demand for withdrawal is not universal.
Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers opposed the Parliament resolution.
The Sunnis see the U.S. presence as a bulwark against domination by the majority Shiites and Iran, while the Kurdish security forces had benefited from American training and aid.
The latest escalation between Tehran and Washington on Iraqi soil was set off when a rocket attack blamed on the Iranian-backed militia group Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, caused the death of an American contractor at a base in Kirkuk province in late December.
The U.S. replied with a barrage of strikes on the militia’s bases, killing at least 25 people.
Meanwhile, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged rival Iraqi political factions to unite and put private interests aside, saying their attempts to outbid each other in the political process had led to the current crisis and risked creating more unrest.
Rival political factions have yet to agree on a nominee to replace the outgoing Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned in December under pressure from mass protests.
Large demonstrations were planned in Baghdad on Friday, as anti-government protesters sought to recover momentum following the fast-escalating regional tensions that overshadowed their uprising.
Protesters also gathered in the southern provinces of Najaf, Diwanieh and Dhi Qar.
“The serious attacks and repeated violations of Iraqi sovereignty that occurred in recent days with the apparent weakness of the concerned authorities in protecting the country and its people ... are part of the repercussions of the current crisis,” al-Sistani said.
“Everyone is required to think carefully about what this situation will lead to if there is no end to it,” he added.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/iraqu ... 2020-01-10
Re: IRAQ
REUTERS
"Four wounded in attack on Iraqi military base that houses U.S. forces"
12 JANUARY 2020
Four people were wounded on Sunday in an attack on Balad air base in northern Iraq which houses U.S. personnel.
The Iraqi military said in a statement that eight Katyusha rockets had been fired at the base, about 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, and that the four wounded included two officers.
Military sources identified the wounded as Iraqi soldiers.
They said seven mortar bombs had hit the base's runway.
There was no word of any U.S. casualties among the U.S. forces at the base.
The Iraqi military statement did not say who was behind the attack and made no mention of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, which last Wednesday fired missiles at two military bases in Iraq which house U.S. forces.
(Reporting by Ghazwan Hassan writing by Hesham Abdul Khalek; Editing by Susan Fenton and Timothy Heritage)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fou ... li=BBnb7Kz
"Four wounded in attack on Iraqi military base that houses U.S. forces"
12 JANUARY 2020
Four people were wounded on Sunday in an attack on Balad air base in northern Iraq which houses U.S. personnel.
The Iraqi military said in a statement that eight Katyusha rockets had been fired at the base, about 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, and that the four wounded included two officers.
Military sources identified the wounded as Iraqi soldiers.
They said seven mortar bombs had hit the base's runway.
There was no word of any U.S. casualties among the U.S. forces at the base.
The Iraqi military statement did not say who was behind the attack and made no mention of heightened tensions between the United States and Iran, which last Wednesday fired missiles at two military bases in Iraq which house U.S. forces.
(Reporting by Ghazwan Hassan writing by Hesham Abdul Khalek; Editing by Susan Fenton and Timothy Heritage)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fou ... li=BBnb7Kz
Re: IRAQ
REUTERS
"Rockets target Taji military base north of Baghdad - statement"
14 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Iraqi camp Taji north of Baghdad was targeted by Katyusha rockets on Tuesday, with no casualties reported, an Iraqi military statement said.
The U.S.-led military coalition fighting Islamic State said on Tuesday that no troops were affected in the attack.
"No Coalition troops were affected by this small attack at Taji Base," coalition military spokesman Colonel Myles Caggins III said in a tweet.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Sunday, four people were wounded after eight Katyusha rockets were fired at Balad air base, which houses U.S. personnel, located about 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, the Iraqi military said in a statement.
Military sources identified the wounded as Iraqi soldiers.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/roc ... li=BBnb7Kz
"Rockets target Taji military base north of Baghdad - statement"
14 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Iraqi camp Taji north of Baghdad was targeted by Katyusha rockets on Tuesday, with no casualties reported, an Iraqi military statement said.
The U.S.-led military coalition fighting Islamic State said on Tuesday that no troops were affected in the attack.
"No Coalition troops were affected by this small attack at Taji Base," coalition military spokesman Colonel Myles Caggins III said in a tweet.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
On Sunday, four people were wounded after eight Katyusha rockets were fired at Balad air base, which houses U.S. personnel, located about 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, the Iraqi military said in a statement.
Military sources identified the wounded as Iraqi soldiers.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/roc ... li=BBnb7Kz
Re: IRAQ
REUTERS
"Three rockets fall inside Baghdad's Green Zone, no casualties: sources"
20 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three Katyusha rockets fell on Tuesday inside Baghdad's Green Zone which houses government buildings and foreign missions, Iraqi police sources told Reuters.
The three rockets were launched from Zafaraniyah district outside Baghdad, the sources said, adding that two rockets landed near the U.S. embassy.
(Reporting by Baghdad newsroom, writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/thr ... id=HPDHP17
"Three rockets fall inside Baghdad's Green Zone, no casualties: sources"
20 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Three Katyusha rockets fell on Tuesday inside Baghdad's Green Zone which houses government buildings and foreign missions, Iraqi police sources told Reuters.
The three rockets were launched from Zafaraniyah district outside Baghdad, the sources said, adding that two rockets landed near the U.S. embassy.
(Reporting by Baghdad newsroom, writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/thr ... id=HPDHP17
Re: IRAQ
REUTERS
"Four protesters, two policemen killed as Iraq unrest resumes"
20 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Six Iraqis including two police officers were killed and scores were wounded in Baghdad and other cities on Monday in clashes with security forces, medical and security sources said, as anti-government unrest resumed after a lull of several weeks.
Three protesters succumbed to their wounds at a Baghdad hospital after police fired live rounds in Tayaran Square, the sources said.
Two protesters were shot by live bullets while a third was hit by a tear gas canister, they said.
A fourth demonstrator was shot dead by police in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala, the sources added.
Protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police who responded with tear gas and stun grenades, Reuters witnesses said.
"They (security forces) should stop shooting and aiming, who are they and who are we?"
"Both sides are Iraqis."
"So why are you killing your brothers?" said one woman protester in Baghdad who declined to give her name.
Three Katyusha rockets fell inside the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone which houses government buildings and foreign missions, police sources told Reuters.
The rockets were launched from Zafaraniyah district outside Baghdad, the sources said, adding that two rockets landed near the U.S. embassy.
In the Iraqi oil city of Basra, two policemen were struck and killed by a civilian car during a protest, security sources said.
The driver was trying to avoid the scene of clashes between protesters and security forces when he drove into the two officers, they said.
Elsewhere in southern Iraq, hundreds of protesters burned tires and blocked main roads in several cities, including Nassiriya, Kerbala and Amara.
They say Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has not fulfilled promises including naming a new government acceptable to Iraqis.
Baghdad police said its forces had reopened all roads that were closed by "violent gatherings."
It said 14 officers were wounded near Tahrir square, including some with head wounds and broken bones.
Traffic was disrupted on a highway linking Baghdad to southern cities, a Reuters witness said.
Production in southern oilfields was unaffected by the unrest, oil officials said.
Mass protests have gripped Iraq since Oct. 1, with mostly young protesters demanding an overhaul of a political system they see as profoundly corrupt and as keeping most Iraqis in poverty.
More than 450 people have been killed.
Numbers had dwindled but protests resumed last week as demonstrators sought to keep up momentum after attention turned to the threat of a U.S.-Iran conflict following Washington's killing of Tehran's top general in an air strike inside Iraq.
The killing of Qassem Soleimani, to which Tehran responded with a ballistic missile attack on two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops, has highlighted the influence of some foreign powers in Iraq, especially Iran and the United States.
(Reporting by Iraq staff; Writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Janet Lawrence, William Maclean and Daniel Wallis)
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/fou ... id=HPDHP17
"Four protesters, two policemen killed as Iraq unrest resumes"
20 JANUARY 2020
BAGHDAD, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Six Iraqis including two police officers were killed and scores were wounded in Baghdad and other cities on Monday in clashes with security forces, medical and security sources said, as anti-government unrest resumed after a lull of several weeks.
Three protesters succumbed to their wounds at a Baghdad hospital after police fired live rounds in Tayaran Square, the sources said.
Two protesters were shot by live bullets while a third was hit by a tear gas canister, they said.
A fourth demonstrator was shot dead by police in the Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala, the sources added.
Protesters threw petrol bombs and stones at police who responded with tear gas and stun grenades, Reuters witnesses said.
"They (security forces) should stop shooting and aiming, who are they and who are we?"
"Both sides are Iraqis."
"So why are you killing your brothers?" said one woman protester in Baghdad who declined to give her name.
Three Katyusha rockets fell inside the capital's heavily fortified Green Zone which houses government buildings and foreign missions, police sources told Reuters.
The rockets were launched from Zafaraniyah district outside Baghdad, the sources said, adding that two rockets landed near the U.S. embassy.
In the Iraqi oil city of Basra, two policemen were struck and killed by a civilian car during a protest, security sources said.
The driver was trying to avoid the scene of clashes between protesters and security forces when he drove into the two officers, they said.
Elsewhere in southern Iraq, hundreds of protesters burned tires and blocked main roads in several cities, including Nassiriya, Kerbala and Amara.
They say Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has not fulfilled promises including naming a new government acceptable to Iraqis.
Baghdad police said its forces had reopened all roads that were closed by "violent gatherings."
It said 14 officers were wounded near Tahrir square, including some with head wounds and broken bones.
Traffic was disrupted on a highway linking Baghdad to southern cities, a Reuters witness said.
Production in southern oilfields was unaffected by the unrest, oil officials said.
Mass protests have gripped Iraq since Oct. 1, with mostly young protesters demanding an overhaul of a political system they see as profoundly corrupt and as keeping most Iraqis in poverty.
More than 450 people have been killed.
Numbers had dwindled but protests resumed last week as demonstrators sought to keep up momentum after attention turned to the threat of a U.S.-Iran conflict following Washington's killing of Tehran's top general in an air strike inside Iraq.
The killing of Qassem Soleimani, to which Tehran responded with a ballistic missile attack on two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops, has highlighted the influence of some foreign powers in Iraq, especially Iran and the United States.
(Reporting by Iraq staff; Writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Janet Lawrence, William Maclean and Daniel Wallis)
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