US Bombs Syria And Ridiculously Claims Self Defense

Biden orders airstrikes against infrastructure used by 'Iranian-backed militant groups' in Syria
Charles Davis
Thu, February 25, 2021, 6:18 PM

The US launched airstrikes Thursday night against "Iranian-backed militant groups" in Syria.

The Defense Department said the strikes were carried out at the direction of President Joe Biden.

The strikes came after rocket attacks targeting US forces in Iraq.

US President Joe Biden ordered the military to carry out airstrikes against the assets of "Iranian-backed militant groups" in Syria on Thursday evening, the Pentagon said in a statement.

The strikes come after militants last week fired rockets that hit an Iraqi airbase used by the US military. That attack killed a US military contractor and wounded nine others.

The Iranian government supports a number of militant groups in Iraq and Syria and has pledged continued retaliation for the January 2020 killing of its general, Qassim Suleimani. That assassination came after Iraqi militant groups, days earlier, had killed another US military contractor in a rocket attack.

Thursday's strikes, according to defense officials, were primarily aimed at the militants' "infrastructure," not necessarily their personnel.

"Specifically, the strikes destroyed multiple facilities located at a border control point used by a number of Iranian-backed militant groups, including Kait'ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kait'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS)," the Pentagon said. The groups have deployed in Syria to support the regime of Bashar al-Assad, a close ally of Tehran.

"The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and Coalition personnel. At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to de-escalate the overall situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq."

The incident comes as the Biden administration is also seeking to engage Iran in diplomacy as part of an effort to restore the 2015 nuclear deal scuttled by former President Donald Trump. Last week, the US State Department said it would attend multiparty talks "to discuss a diplomatic way forward on Iran's nuclear program."

US Bombs Syria And Ridiculously Claims Self Defense

https://caitlinjohnstone.substack.com/p/us-bombs-syria-and-ridiculously-claims

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So we are being told that the United States launched an airstrike on Syria, a nation it invaded and is illegally occupying, because of attacks on "US locations" in Iraq, another nation the US invaded and is illegally occupying. This attack is justified on the basis that the Iraqi fighters were "Iranian-linked", a claim that is both entirely without evidence and irrelevant to the justification of deadly military force. And this is somehow being framed in mainstream news publications as a defensive operation.

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Just remember that Donald Trump was the most anti-war president since John F Kennedy

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/us-airstrike-syria-iranian-backed-militia-facilities-1773305-2021-02-26

Biden: Trump had no authority but I do.

Iraq rocket attack: Air base hosting US-led coalition forces targeted
Published 1 hour ago | BBC

Ten rockets have hit a base hosting US-led coalition forces in western Iraq.

Iraq's military said the rockets caused no significant losses at Al Asad air base, but security sources told AFP news agency that a civilian contractor died after suffering a heart attack.

Last month, a rocket attack in northern Iraq killed a Filipino contractor and injured a US service member.

The US blamed Iran-backed Shia militias and carried out retaliatory air strikes on one of their facilities in Syria.

President Joe Biden said those strikes - the first known use of military force by his administration - were meant as a warning to Iran and its proxies.

But Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilisation force, which is dominated by Shia militias, said the US action pointed to "dangerous future developments".

Pope Francis said his planned visit to Iraq on Friday would go ahead despite the latest violence.

US troops are stationed at Al Asad air base, in western Anbar province, as part of a multinational coalition helping Iraqi security forces combat remnants of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).

Coalition spokesman Col Wayne Marotto said 10 indirect-fire rockets targeted the facility at 07:20 local time (04:20 GMT) on Wednesday.

Iraqi security sources said the projectiles were launched from a platform in the al-Baghdadi area, about 8km (5 miles) to the north-east. AFP news agency cited a Western security source as identifying them as Iranian-made 122mm Arash artillery rockets.

Iraqi security forces are preparing for a historic visit to the country by Pope Francis
Col Marotto did not report any casualties, but Iraqi and Western sources told AFP that a civilian contractor died of a heart attack during the incident.

Denmark and the UK, which also have forces at the base, both condemned the attack.

No group has said it fired the rockets, but Shia militias who want US and other foreign forces to leave the country have been accused of carrying out dozens of similar attacks on Western targets in Iraq in the past year.

A little-known group calling itself as Saraya Awliyaa al-Dam (Guardians of the Blood Brigades) claimed carried out the attack at Irbil International Airport last month which killed the Filipino contractor and wounded six other people, including a Louisiana National Guard soldier and four American contractors.

US officials said the group was merely a front for one of the main Shia militias, and the retaliatory strikes on the Syrian side of the border with Iraq targeted buildings believed to belong to several of them, including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

The Pope has insisted he will not postpone his historic trip to Iraq despite his predecessor Benedict XVI and others warning of the risks posed by militant groups and a second wave of the country's Covid-19 epidemic.

"The people cannot be let down for a second time," the 84-year-old said in an address on Wednesday, referring to a cancelled visit by John Paul II in 2000.

US warns of military response to rocket attack on Iraq base
SAMYA KULLAB and LOLITA C. BALDOR
Wed, March 3, 2021, 12:28 AM

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House warned that the U.S. may consider a military response to the rocket attack on Wednesday that hit an air base in western Iraq where American and coalition troops are housed, raising concerns this could trigger a new round of escalating violence.

A U.S. contractor died after at least 10 rockets slammed into the base. And while no group claimed responsibility, it was the first strike since the U.S. bombed Iran-aligned militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border last week.

Heightened tensions with Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq could lead to more attacks, complicating the Biden administration’s desire to open talks with Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal, as well as the ongoing U.S. strategy to focus more attention on Asia.

Asked about the attack, President Joe Biden told reporters, “we are following that through right now." He added, “Thank God, no one was killed by the rocket, but one individual, a contractor, died of a heart attack. But we’re identifying who’s responsible and we’ll make judgments” about a response.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested that the “calculated” U.S. airstrikes last week could be a model for a military response. Those strikes were in response to an attack on American forces in northern Iraq earlier in February.

“If we assess further response is warranted, we will take action again in a manner and time of our choosing,” Psaki said.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. contractor “suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering” from the attack and died shortly afterward. He said there were no service members injured and all are accounted for. British and Danish troops also are among those stationed at the base.

The U.S. airstrikes last week, which killed one member of the Iran-aligned militia, had stoked fears of another cycle of tit-for-tat attacks as happened more than a year ago. Those attacks included the U.S. drone strike in January 2020 that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani in Baghdad and set off months of increased troops levels in the region.

The latest attack also comes two days before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Iraq despite concerns about security and the coronavirus pandemic. The much-anticipated trip will include stops in Baghdad, southern Iraq and the northern city of Irbil.

The rockets struck Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province early in the morning, U.S.-led coalition spokesperson Col. Wayne Marotto said. Kirby said the rockets were fired from east of the base, and that counter-rocket defensive systems were used to defend forces at the base. He added that while 10 rockets hit the base, he didn't have information on what, if any, impact the defensive systems had in stopping any strikes. He said damage assessments were ongoing.

Asked if the attack may have come from Iranian-backed Shia militia groups, Kirby said the U.S. can't attribute responsibility for the attack yet. He acknowledged, however, during a Pentagon briefing, that “we have seen rocket attacks come from Shia-backed militia groups in the past. So in that way, certainly it certainly coincides with our past experience here.”

It's the same base that Iran struck with a barrage of missiles in January of last year in retaliation for the killing of Soleimani. Dozens of U.S. service members suffered concussions in that strike.

The Iraqi military released a statement saying that Wednesday's attack did not cause significant losses and that security forces had found the launch pad used for the rockets — a truck. Video of the site shows a burning truck in a desert area.

British Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey condemned the attack, saying it undermined the ongoing fight against the Islamic State group. “Coalition forces are in Iraq to fight Daesh at the invitation of the Iraqi government,” he tweeted, using the Arabic acronym for IS. “These terrorist attacks undermine the fight against Daesh and destabilize Iraq.”

Denmark said coalition forces at the base were helping to bring stability and security to the country.

“Despicable attacks against Ain al-Asad base in #Iraq are completely unacceptable," Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod tweeted. The Danish armed forces said two Danes who were at the base at the time of the attack are unharmed.

Last week's U.S. strike along the border was in response to a spate of rocket attacks that targeted the American presence, including one that killed a coalition contractor from the Philippines outside the Irbil airport.

After that attack, the Pentagon said the strike was a “proportionate military response.”

Marotto, the coalition spokesperson, said the Iraqi security forces were leading an investigation into the attack.

Frequent rocket attacks in Baghdad targeting the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy, during Donald Trump’s presidency frustrated the administration, leading to threats of embassy closure and escalatory strikes. Those attacks have increased again in recent weeks, since President Joe Biden took office, following a lull during the transition period.

U.S. troops in Iraq significantly decreased their presence in the country last year and withdrew from several Iraqi bases to consolidate chiefly in Ain al-Asad, Baghdad and Irbil.