Attacking US Embassy shows Trump choices

The attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad demonstrates Iran can still strike at American interest.

The attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-supported militiamen Tuesday is a stark demonstration that Iran can still strike at American interests despite President Donald Trump’s economic pressure campaign. Trump said

Iran would be held “fully responsible” for the attack, but it was unclear whether that meant military retaliation.

The breach of the compound, which prompted the U.S. to send military reinforcements but caused no known U.S. casualties or evacuations, revealed growing strains between Washington and Baghdad, raising questions about future of the U.S. military mission there.

The U.S. has about 5,200 troops in Iraq, to train Iraqi forces and help them combat Islamic State extremists.

The breach followed airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of an Iranbacked militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. said those strikes were in retaliation against last week’s killing of an American contractor and the wounding of American and Iraqi troops in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the U.S. blamed on the militia. The American strikes angered the Iraqi government, which called them an unjustified violation of its sovereignty.

Trump blamed Iran for the embassy breach and called Iraq to protect the diplomatic mission even as the U.S. reinforced the compound with Marines from Kuwait.