CCI Friends,
We are posting Natylie Baldwin’s assessments of the latest happenings regarding the U.S., Iraq, Iran, Russia and China. This extremely dangerous situation could escalate. Hopefully saner heads will quickly emerge in Washington.
Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives
IRAQIS STORM US EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD AFTER US BOMBING OF MILITIAS; IRAN, RUSSIA AND CHINA CONDUCT JOINT NAVAL EXERCISES IN GULF OF OMAN
December 31, 2019
Natylie Baldwin
In response to an attack last Friday in Iraq that killed a U.S. military contractor and injured several U.S. servicemembers, the U.S. bombed Iraqi Shia militias known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMU’s), particularly one known as Ketaib Hezbollah, which it claimed was responsible for the Friday attack. The Iraq government warned Washington not to conduct the retaliatory attack, citing violation of Iraq’s sovereignty. The conflict has arisen amid a climate of relations that were already frayed as many of the recent popular protests in Iraq were partly an expression of disgust about perceived foreign control of the country by both the U.S. and neighboring Iran, in addition to domestic grievances. Common Dreams reported the following:
The U.S. strikes, which hit targets in Syria and Iraq, killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more.
The bombing campaign sparked swift condemnation from Iraqi leaders and warnings of a devastating proxy war between the U.S. and Iran, which the Trump administration says is funding and arming Iraqi militias.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi on Sunday called the U.S. strikes “a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a dangerous escalation that threatens the security of Iraq and the region.