Crowd shouting 'down USA' attempts to storm US Embassy in Baghdad report says

[Gefn]

Hundreds of Iraqis attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday after holding funerals for the 25 fighters from an Iran-backed Shiite militia killed in U.S. airstrikes earlier this week, the Associated Press reported.

Reporters for the AP described a chaotic scene on the ground and reported that the crowd shouted,  “Down, down USA!”

Security guards were seen retreating to the inside of the embassy as the protesters hurled water bottles and smashed security cameras outside the embassies, the report said.

The U.S. military carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday — days after a U.S. defense contractor was killed in a rocket attack.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/crowd-shouting-down-usa-attempts-to-storm-us-embassy-in-baghdad-report-says

[TomSea]

U.S. Embassy in Baghdad stormed by protesters after Iraq airstrikes
Protesters chanted "Down, Down USA!" while hurling water bottles, smashing security cameras before entering embassy grounds
Dec. 31, 2019, 10:03 AM UTC
By Alexander Smith

Dozens of protesters stormed the compound of the United States embassy in Iraq on Tuesday in response to American airstrikes that killed dozens of fighters from an Iran-backed militia group.

American fighter jets on Sunday bombed weapons depots in Iraq and Syria that the U.S. said were linked with a group called Kataeb Hezbollah, which it blames for attacks on coalition bases in recent months.

At least 25 militia fighters were killed in the airstrikes, and on Tuesday a large crowd gathered after funerals for some of the dead and marched on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.

Read more at: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-embassy-baghdad-confronted-protesters-after-iraq-airstrikes-n1108861

https://twitter.com/ConflictsW/status/1211977727319957505

We had to respond, I hope, additionally, we are ready for anything that happens. I think a start to being ready was evacuating embassy personnel. A reaction was predictable.

[TomSea]

Joyce Karam
@Joyce_Karam
·

Pro-#Iran Militia Kataib Hezbollah are now inside US Embassy in Baghdad #Iraq. Iraqi security and fortifications failed to stop them.

They’re in reception area. Smoke seen in other videos. Hezbollah refusing calls to leave vicinity:

https://twitter.com/Joyce_Karam

Inside the compound? It says in the reception area? Anyway...

The above account is good to follow, I heard Joyce as a panelist on a show the other day. Pretty good.

Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
·
6m
Dec 31 - Baghdad, #Iraq
Quoting
@thestevennabil

 
"Iraqi supporters in Tahrir square refuse to be associated with [#Iran-backed] militia members attacking the U.S Embassy inside the Green Zone."

Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
·
2m
Of course, #Iran can thank you, @bhrodes
, for the $150 bn in credit & $1.7 bn in cash from the 2015 nuclear deal. Much of the money was probably used to support these militias today storming the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Quote Tweet

Ben Rhodes
@brhodes
 Â· 5m
It’s hard to overstate what a total failure Trump’s Iran policy has been. Nuclear program resumed. Regional provocations escalated. US isolated.

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi

[dfwgator]

Thanks, W.

[Gefn]

Merge with

http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php/topic,387371.0.html

[Wingnut]

This is what middle east nation building looks like. 

[TomSea]

I watched 'House of Saddam' the other day, it was an HBO 4 hour series.  Saddam was a bad character though, Assad is probably in the same ballpark.  Assad has not threatened vital oil interests but it has made me rethink things some.

No matter, going forward, we need to avoid the same errors.

[DCPatriot]

Thanks, W.

"W", my foot!

He dumped Saddam in less than 6 weeks.  The country turned and elected a MFkn anti-American Moslem.

[TomSea]

John Bolton
@AmbJohnBolton
·
59m
The attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad is straight from Iran's playbook in 1979. It's a sign of Iranian control over Shia militia groups, not a sign of Iraqi anti-Americanism. We must protect our citizens from Iranian belligerence.

https://twitter.com/AmbJohnBolton/status/1212006860812890114

Trouble is trouble but I'd agree with Bolton, these troublemakers are Iranian militia types and per reports Iran (Solemani) have killed many Americans (other coalition too).

This is NOT the Iraqi people... a lot of them, probably welcomed the airstrikes, many protesters killed by Iranian forces or Iranian-backed-forces.

[TomSea]

That was during Obama's term when that so-called Christian preacher was burning Korans and in Afghanistan, there was a big ruckus at one of our buildings or compounds. People got killed in that. That was very bad too.

[mystery-ak]

Watch: Hero US Military Embassy Guards Remain in Place During Attack
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2019/12/31/hero-us-military-embassy-guards-n2558736

[TomSea]

Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
·
9m
My thoughts:
During the past 91 days hundreds of Iraqi protesters were murdered attempting to reach Baghdad's Green Zone.

How did these #Iran-backed militia members/supporters penetrate the Green Zone & reach the U.S. Embassy so easily in one day? [/color]

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1212029488873254912

I've heard this too, the "protesters" (antagonists) probably should not have been able to get through the GREEN zone.  I don't know about "hundreds of Iraqi protesters" per above but some.  So, they were let through?

[mystery-ak]

Donald Trump vows to hold Iran 'fully responsible' for attack on US embassy in Baghdad: Under-siege American soldiers wound 20 of pro-Tehran mob that stormed complex in retaliation for US airstrikes on Hezbollah

    American soldiers inside the embassy have fired tear gas, stun grenades and warning shots at hundreds of fighters who broke down the compound gate and set fires within the complex on Tuesday
    The ambassador was on leave at the time of the attack and embassy staff had already been evacuated before the US Marine guard became besieged at the compound
    Trump has vowed to hold Tehran accountable for the embassy attack, which is in retaliation for US air strikes on the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah on Sunday night
    Those USAF strikes were themselves in retaliation for last week's killing of an American contractor in Kirkuk
    'Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will.' Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning. 'Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!'
    The embassy's security team evacuated some local staff through a rear gate while others left by helicopter as the rest remained inside 'safe' areas within the embassy, an employee said
    Twenty people have been reported injured in the carnage by the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces

By Ross Ibbetson For Mailonline and Afp

Published: 03:52 EST, 31 December 2019 | Updated: 10:24 EST, 31 December 2019

more w/many photos
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7839679/US-embassy-Baghdad-evacuated-angry-Iraqi-protesters-descend-complex.html

[mountaineer]

Steven nabil  @thestevennabil

The  storming of the U.S embassy compound in Baghdad is happening in the presence government and paramilitary officials including Faleh Al Fayadh , Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, Hadi Al Amere and many Militia leaders and some Iraqi MPs


5:02 AM · Dec 31, 2019
----------------------------------

Michael P Pregent  @MPPregent
These photos are so important - the men in these photos are tied directly to Qassem Soleimani.

This is an IRGC-QF militia rally - the men in these photos run Iraq for Tehran - they are the reason for the real protests outside the greenzone - The Shia militia greenzone now.

6:53 AM · Dec 31, 2019

[TomSea]

One comment said "was this a disproportional response" (meaning ours) BUT, they'd been hurling missiles at our compounds, bases, embassies for quite some time.

Also, it does look like some guards wearing red berets did let the antagonists in.  I think those guards were meant to protect us.

[mystery-ak]

Lindsey Graham: Trump Has World on Notice, ‘There Will Be No Benghazis on His Watch’

Joshua Caplan 31 Dec 2019

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Tuesday lauded President Donald Trump’s warning to Iran after a pro-Tehran mob attacked the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.

Protesters stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday, denouncing a series of deadly American airstrikes against an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia group in Iraq and Syria.

Hundreds of protesters marched through the heavily fortified “Green Zone” near the compound in anger over Sunday’s strikes against the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia, which had been blamed by the Pentagon for the death of a U.S. contractor in Kirkuk, Iraq, late last week.

Social media posts showed protesters breaking the embassy’s windows and setting fires outside its walls.

Hours later, President Trump warned Iran that the U.S. will hold it responsible for the attack.

“We strongly responded, and always will,” the president tweeted. “Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible.”

President Trump’s comments drew praise from Graham, who said his remarks put the “world on notice,” signaling that “there will be no Benghazis on his watch,” a reference to the 2012 terror attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith.

In a subsequent tweet, Graham issued a stern warning to Iran: “Be careful what you wish for — a country that depends on the ability to refine oil for its existence needs to be cautious. President Trump, unlike President Obama, will hold you accountable for threats against Americans and hit you where it hurts the most. Choose your battles wisely.”

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/12/31/lindsey-graham-on-iraq-embassy-threats-there-will-be-no-benghazis-on-trumps-watch/

[mystery-ak]

Defense chief: US sending additional troops to embassy in Baghdad
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/476354-defense-chief-us-sending-additional-troops-to-embassy-in-baghdad

[mystery-ak]

State Department: US ambassador to Iraq will return to Baghdad
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/476356-state-department-us-ambassador-to-iraq-will-return-to-baghdad

[Wingnut]

Graham issued a stern warning to Iran: “Be careful what you wish for — a country that depends on the ability to refine oil for its existence needs to be cautious. President Trump, unlike President Obama, will hold you accountable for threats against Americans and hit you where it hurts the most. Choose your battles wisely.”

I have been waiting since 1979 for a President to put his boot in Iran's Ass.   Maybe this is the one?

[TomSea]

Sotiri Dimpinoudis
@sotiridi
#Breaking: just in - Reports that #US special forces are now inbound, and will be repelling down with a rope on the roof at the US embassy building in #Baghdad, in #Iraq. After a day of #Hezbollah supporters protested around and inside the compound perimeter of the embassy.

https://twitter.com/sotiridi/status/1212081728124264448

Sotiri Dimpinoudis
@sotiridi
#Update: More flares are being dropped by an Apache helicopter near the perimeter of the #US embassy building in #Baghdad in #Iraq, to give US soldiers who are inside the compound and on the roof a brighter look around the area.

https://twitter.com/sotiridi/status/1212067581542256640

Joyce Karam
@Joyce_Karam
After failure of #Iraq Security that it helped train/equip post-Saddam to protect its own Embassy, US taking matters into its own hands.

US commander tweets video of Apache helicopter + flares in sky of Baghdad tonight following embassy attack

https://twitter.com/Joyce_Karam/status/1212072242881990656

Video footage in above.

Night in Baghdad, someone posted this, seems okay actually, apropos:

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

[mountaineer]

Am I the only one who wishes we could just bomb Iraq and Iran into oblivion? 

[Wingnut]

Am I the only one who wishes we could just bomb Iraq and Iran into oblivion? 

You can think it.... but you just can't say it!

[mystery-ak]

Am I the only one who wishes we could just bomb Iraq and Iran into oblivion? 

No....I agree

[mystery-ak]

100 Marines are on the way..hope that is enough

[mountaineer]

You can think it.... but you just can't say it!

Ha! There's a lot I can't say. The internet never forgets, you know.