Renewed violence in Baghdad. Thousands of supporters of Hachd Al-Chaabi, a coalition of pro-Iranian Shiite militias, forced the entry of the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday December 31, prompting US forces to fire tear gas canisters to disperse them.
Angry crowds protested US air strikes that killed twenty-five fighters of Kataeb Hezbollah ("Hezbollah phalanges"), an Iraqi Shiite armed group, a member of Hachd Al-Chaabi, a paramilitary coalition dominated by pro factions, on Sunday. -Iran and integrated into the regular forces.
US President Donald Trump accused Iran on Tuesday of having "Orchestrating" the attack on the American Embassy, writing on Twitter:
"Iran is orchestrating an attack on the American embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. We also expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the embassy. "
Mark Esper, the Minister of Defense, for his part announced the dispatch of "Additional forces to support" embassy staff. According to a military source, it is a small number of marines. The embassy is not intended to be evacuated, said a spokesman for the US State Department.
A funeral procession that has degenerated
Thousands of Hashd fighters and supporters, who were in the funeral procession of the killed fighters, passed through the checkpoints of Baghdad’s ultra-secure "green zone", home to the US Embassy and Iraqi institutions. Security forces had opened access, journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
#AFP Thousands of Hashd fighters and supporters attack the US Embassy in Baghdad Flags burned… https://t.co/4PcurC4VFB
#AFP American forces fire tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the thousands of combatants … https://t.co/fG2j7eniwG
They then entered the vestibule where embassy security screens visitors, burned security facilities outside, tore off surveillance cameras, threw stones at the turrets of its guards and covered the armored windows with flags of Hashd and Hezbollah brigades, despite attempts by Iraqi forces to prevent them. US forces first briefly fired live ammunition before using tear gas and stun grenades from inside the Chancellery. The Hachd reported sixty-two wounded. The US ambassador is currently outside Iraq, diplomatic sources say, and staff "Not essential" Chancellery has already been recalled several months ago.
Eventually, Iraqi special forces deployed around the embassy, causing the protesters to ebb, while two American helicopters flew over the area. Hundreds of people have set up tents outside the embassy and are apparently planning to stay overnight, some starting to prepare dinner for the sit-in participants.
"No to America", "Closed by order of the resistance brigades", they wrote on a wall, as well as "Soleimani is my chef", in reference to the powerful Iranian general Ghassem Soleimani, who had presided over the negotiations to form the future government in Iraq. The Iraqi government has announced three days of national mourning for the 25 fighters killed in the bombing on Sunday.
Senior Hashd leaders – Iraqi state officials who regularly interact with American officials – were present in the funeral procession, AFP journalists said. Whether Falih Al-Fayyadh, Hachd's number one and Prime Minister's advisor for national security, or Hadi Al-Améri, head of the Hachd parliamentary bloc, "Be involved says a lot about the failure of US policy and the nature of the Iraqi state they helped create", said Fanar Haddad, an Iraqi specialist.
Exacerbated anti-American sentiment
The US strikes were in retaliation for the death of a US contractor on Friday in the eleventh rocket attack in two months, unclaimed but attributed by Washington to Kataeb Hezbollah.
Since these bombings, anti-American sentiment has been exacerbated by pro-Iran supporters in Iraq, a country shaken since 1st October by a popular revolt which denounces the Iraqi power accused of corruption and incompetence, as well as the growing influence of the Iranian neighbor.
Pro-Iranian armed and political factions are waging a campaign to denounce the US-Iraqi cooperation agreement that frames the presence of 5,200 American soldiers in Iraq. The Americans, who invaded the country in 2003 and overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, withdrew in 2011. However, troops returned in 2014 as part of the coalition against the jihadist Islamic State (IS) organization.
In addition to US troops, the Hachd has helped the Iraqi government in the fight against IS. But today, the Hashd – of which many factions were born in the fight against the American occupation – is a more serious threat to the Americans than the IS, according to American sources. Another campaign is also taking place in the green zone: in Parliament, more than 100 deputies have signed a call in the past two days to put the ouster of foreign troops from Iraq on the agenda.
After the strikes, Washington accused the Iraqi government of not knowing " protect " his soldiers and diplomats, present in Iraq " (to his) invitation ". The Iraqi government replied that "The American forces acted according to their priorities". Mr. Adel Abdel Mahdi admitted to having been informed of the strikes shortly before they took place by the Pentagon. For months, Iraqi leaders have warned sworn enemies Iran and the United States against using their country as a battlefield.
