The predictable result of the Trump administration’s
reckless bluster, escalation and miscalculation in the Middle East is that the
super power is now hurtling closer to an unauthorized war with Iran. America
has the surprising audacity of attributing to Iran the protests of the Iraqi
people against (Washington’s) savage killing of at least 25 Iraqis.
The embassy incident came seven years after the 2012 attack
by armed militants on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that
resulted in the death of the US Ambassador and three other Americans and led to
multiple congressional investigations.
The unprecedented attack on an American diplomatic mission
in Iraq marked a sharp escalation of the proxy conflict between the United
States and Iran - both influential players in the country - and plunged US
relations with Iraq to their worst level in years.
Mark Esper, US Defense Secretary said on Thursday that there
were indications Iran or the forces it backs may be planning additional attacks
and said it was possible the United States might have to take preemptive action
to protect American lives.
“There are some indications out there that they may be
planning additional attacks, that is nothing new ... we’ve seen this for two or
three months now,” Esper told reporters.
“If that happens then we will act and by the way, if we get
word of attacks or some type indication, we will take preemptive action as well
to protect American forces to protect American lives.”
Iranian-backed demonstrators who hurled rocks at the U.S.
embassy in two days of protests withdrew on Wednesday after Washington
dispatched extra troops.
Donald Trump, US President, who faces a re-election campaign
in 2020, accused Iran of orchestrating the violence. He threatened on Tuesday
to retaliate against Iran but said later he did not want war.
The unrest outside the US embassy in Baghdad followed US air
raids on Sunday against bases of the Tehran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group.
Washington said the air strikes, which killed 25 people, were in retaliation
for missile attacks that killed a US contractor in northern Iraq last week.
The protests marked a new turn in the shadow war between
Washington and Tehran playing out across the Middle East.
“The game has changed and we are prepared to do what is
necessary to defend our personnel and our interests and our partners in the
region,” Esper said.
During the same press briefing, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff Mark Milley said there had been a sustained campaign by Kataib
Hezbollah against US personnel since at least October and the missile attack in
northern Iraq was designed to kill.
“Thirty-one rockets aren’t designed as a warning shot, that
is designed to inflict damage and kill,” Milley said.
