Earlier today, local time, protesters broke through the heavily guarded compound of the United States Embassy in Baghdad and lit fires inside to express their anger over American airstrikes that killed 24 members of an Iranian-backed militia over the weekend.
Those American airstrikes that killed two dozen members of an Iranian-backed militia over the weekend have now made Washington the focus of public hostility, reducing the heat on Tehran and its proxies, for many in the Middle East.
Iraqi leaders accused the US yesterday of violating Iraq’s sovereignty and expressed fear that increasing tensions between the United States and Iran could escalate into a proxy war on Iraqi soil.
The one thought that kept running through my mind [under the draft deferment couple – Bush in the National Guard, and Cheney with his 5] – back in late ’02 and early ’03 – was that it would be a morass… NOT worthy of American lives.
That theme has proven to be true in every way possible: politically, militarily, economically, and foreign policy wise.
The airstrikes targeted an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia, Kataib Hezbollah, which the United States accused of carrying out a missile attack on an Iraqi military base that killed an American contractor and wounded American and Iraqi service members.
The size of the American response – five strikes in Iraq and Syria that killed two dozen fighters and wounded dozens of others – prompted condemnation from across the political spectrum – world-wide.
One group of today’s protesters ended up separated from United States troops by only a pane of glass, according to a video shared on social media. It was NOT immediately clear how many Americans were inside the compound.
What are we trying to accomplish here?
Donald John Trump‘s ignorance and unwillingness to solicit and take advice from people who actually know something of what they’re talking about is bound to lead to much, much, much, much, worse.
Tuesday, November 3, 2020.
Lobster on the Prairie 