Iraqi protesters attacked the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday. It was a carefully orchestrated campaign by pro-Iranian groups in Iraq to strike at the heart and symbol of US power in the country.
By JPOST EDITORIALIraqi people burn a U.S. flag and a picture of U.S. President Donald Trump in a protest after an airstrike at the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah militia group in Qaim, in Kirkuk, Iraq, December 30, 2019(photo credit: REUTERS/AKO RASHEED)
Iraqi protesters, holding Iranian-backed militia flags, attacked the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday. It was a carefully orchestrated campaign by pro-Iranian groups in Iraq to strike at the heart and symbol of US power in the country. The heavily-defended Green Zone was opened by the Iraqi government for the militias to attack the American embassy. US diplomats had to be evacuated.The attack follows a US airstrike against Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia, in Iraq. That airstrike was in retaliation for a dozen rocket attacks on US forces in the last months, including an attack on December 29 that killed a US contractor and wounded American soldiers. Iran was behind those attacks and the US had warned Iran that any attack by Tehran or its proxies would result in a decisive response. That is in line with Israel’s policies as well, which has made it clear to Iran that any attacks against Israel will result in massive retaliation.Israel has been contending with increased Iranian threats since 2018 when an Iranian drone launched from Syria entered Israeli airspace. Combined with the rocket attacks against Israel since then, this is an increasing crescendo of threats as Iran moves precision-guided munitions across Iraq and into Syria with the hope of supporting Hezbollah. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps also entrenches itself in Iraq. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi recently warned that Israel would oppose Iran’s entrenchment, adding that “it would be better if we weren’t the only one acting against them.”The US, which has supported Israel’s actions against Iran over the years, is now contending with the same Iranian threats in Iraq. US airstrikes this week, which killed more than two dozen Kataib Hezbollah members, show that the US understands that the Iranian threat is not just in one country but is part of Iran’s octopus-like policy of projecting its influence and power across the region.Iran does this by building up militias and parallel state structures while hollowing out Iraq and Syria, until they become Iranian satellites. This is how Iran took over southern Lebanon and achieved leverage over Lebanon’s parliament. Iran now controls both Lebanon and Iraqi politics and it has the ability to unleash its militias as it did in Baghdad. The gates to the city are open for Iran. It can base rockets in Iraq and Syria to use as it sees fit. In Iraq it fires at US troops, in Syria it shoots at Israel. And Iran uses a network of militias, including Hezbollah and Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq.All of Iran’s networks of leaders know each other. Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis of Kataib Hezbollah and Qassem Soleimani of the IRGC Quds Force all work closely together. All these Shi’ite-based groups see Soleimani as their leader. They fight for Iran first. This doesn’t make them equal allies of Iran, but agents of it.Israel Air Force commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin said Tuesday that the US strikes in Iraq and Syria are a game changer. That remains to be seen as the turmoil in the region continues and US engagement remains questionable. Were the bombings the beginning of a new change in policy or a one-off that will not continue?Former IDF Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin also sees the strikes as a game changer but potentially limiting Israel’s freedom of action. Israel might need to coordinate more with the US now, he warned, because the US is also dealing with the same Iranian threats. Based on the pace of recent high-level visits by IDF officers to Washington and US military officers to Israel, the coordination is already at a high level. That is good and Israel and the US should prepare to confront the rising Iranian danger together.It is a danger not just to Israel and to the US but also to the whole region. Iran has shown it is working to destabilize the Gulf and to swallow up Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. Average Iraqis, Syrians, Lebanese and Yemenites don’t want that. Average Iranians don’t want that. Now is the time to work to stop Iran.
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