U.S. weighs response to attacks in Iraq
Iran-backed militias are becoming more audacious in attacking U.S. personnel in Iraq, with rocket strikes against military bases occurring more frequently and, for the first time, in broad daylight.
U.S. officials say they are receiving near-daily reports of “imminent” attacks planned against U.S.linked military or diplomatic facilities.
But the question of how to deter further militia strikes without putting troops at greater risk highlights how much American security and influence have evaporated in Iraq. In the two weeks since the U.S. carried out bombing raids outside Baghdad to avenge a rocket attack north of the capital that killed a Briton and two Americans, the Trump administration has been wrestling with what additional steps to take to confront the militias without sparking costly retaliation.
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker told reporters last week that the U.S. would “take what steps that we see necessary” to retaliate for militia violence. But the administration remains divided over how, or even when, to strike back.
“This may ultimately come down to how much risk the president is willing to accept in Iraq before our presence there becomes too much of a burden,” said a U.S. official.
Meanwhile in Iraq, where over 5,000 U.S. troops are potentially in the crosshairs of Iran-backed militants, American requests that Iraqi authorities track down and prosecute those responsible for rocket attacks have made little headway.
The confrontation between the U.S. and Iran escalated dramatically in early January, when a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed revered Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the most influential figure in Iraq’s militia network.
Although both sides then stepped back from the brink of war, recent rocket attacks attributed to Iran-backed militias by the Pentagon could soon spark another cycle of reciprocal violence
The fatal rocket attacks earlier this month on Camp Taji, a military base north of Baghdad, were blamed by U.S. officials on Kataib Hezbollah, one of the main Iranbacked militias. The U.S. strikes carried out in response were condemned by the Iraqi army, which called it “treacherous.”