Protesters attack U.S. embassy
Thousands in Baghdad enraged by strikes against Iran-backed paramilitary group
Thousands of protesters aligned with an Iraqi paramilitary group stormed the compound of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq, on Tuesday, surrounding some of its buildings and setting fire to one of its gates.
The spasm of rage comes two days after U.S. warplanes struck positions of Kataib Hezbollah (the Hezbollah
Brigades), a top paramilitary faction that is backed by Iran. The strikes killed some 25 people and wounded 51 others, Iraqi officials said, and followed a rocket strike last week that killed a U.S. military contractor and that the U.S. blamed on Kataib Hezbollah.
Sirens blared through Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone as an enraged mob bristling with the green-and-yellow flag of Kataib Hezbollah and other factions of Iraq’s Popular
Mobilization Units, a volunteer force of Shiite-dominated armed groups, pelted the embassy with rocks and water bottles.
Others marched, shouted “God is great, and America is the Great Satan,” scaled walls and surrounded a reception area with armed U.S. soldiers standing inside. One protester sprayed “Closed by order of the people” on the wall of the embassy’s compound, and another held up a sign threatening the “American enemy.”
In response, U.S. Apache helicopters flew over the protesters at the embassy walls and fired flares. U.S.led
coalition spokesman Col. Myles Caggins tweeted a video that showed an Apache launching the flares that lit up the night sky.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced Tuesday that the Pentagon would send more troops to Baghdad to secure the embassy and its staff.
“We are sending additional forces to support our personnel at the embassy,” Esper said, without specifying the number of forces.
President Donald Trump made a brief stop at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Fla., in the morning,
leaving after less than an hour. His departure came at roughly the same time the Pentagon announced it would deploy more forces to the embassy in Baghdad.
Trump condemned the unrest near the embassy while blaming it on Iran.
“Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq,” he tweeted.
“They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”
The State Department said it did not plan to evacuate the embassy, describing U.S. personnel there as “secure.” The State Department also said Matt Tueller, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, was returning to the embassy after “previously scheduled personal travel.”
Crowds began forming after funerals earlier Tuesday for those killed in last week’s strikes, making their way to the Green Zone and passing several checkpoints on their way to the embassy. It was unclear how they had breached the high-security area, which is home to a number of embassies, international nongovernmental organizations and Iraqi ministries. (Anti-government protesters demonstrating in recent weeks had been unable to enter.)
As the mob turned violent, Iraq’s caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdul Mahdi, issued a statement demanding protesters leave the embassy grounds, and troops were deployed to try to push back the protesters.
“We remind that any attack or harassment of embassies and diplomatic missions is an act that will be strictly prevented by security forces and will be severely punished by the law,” the statement said.
But Abdel Mahdi’s warning had little effect, despite security forces attempting to disperse the protesters with tear gas and stun grenades. Hours later, crowds near the embassy appeared to be growing, while top
Iraqi politicians affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Units joined the fray, including Qais Khazali, leader of the Asaib Ahl Haq faction; Jamal Ibrahimi, deputy head of the group of militias; and Hadi Ameri, head of the Badr organization. All are seen as important allies of Tehran
in the country.
According to the White House, Trump spoke to Mahdi on Tuesday, and the two leaders discussed regional security issues, with Trump emphasizing the need to protect U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq.
“This protest was to deliver a message that this embassy should be closed and that the presence of U.S. forces in Iraq is illegitimate,” said Kataib Hezbollah spokesman Mohammad Muhi in a phone interview Tuesday. He added that the U.S. strikes were “a crime” that “violated Iraqi sovereignty, insulted Iraqi dignity and made light of Iraqis’ blood.”
Fury over the airstrikes went far beyond Iraqis who back Iran and crossed political lines, sinking the United States into its most dangerous crisis in Iraq in years and handing the Trump administration an extremely delicate and volatile dilemma.
With much of the American public haunted by memories of Iran taking U.S. Embassy staff as hostages 40 years ago, U.S. officials will be under intensified pressure to withdraw their troops from Iraq.
But although Trump previously promised to do just that, officials worry that withdrawal now would appear to be a capitulation to demonstrators they have labeled “terrorists.”