Tag Archives: Iraq

Major US Cities Step Up Anti-Terror Efforts After Strike

The Guardian reports: Law enforcement agencies in several major US cities have issued alerts advising residents to be vigilant in the wake of the US strike against Iran’s top general as officials said they were stepping up security efforts at sensitive locations. Chad Wolf [photo], acting secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, said his agency was working with …

Read More »

Ex-CIA Chief: US Strike Will Result In “Dead Americans”

CBS News reports: The targeted killing of Qassem Soleimani, one of Iran’s top military leaders, has escalated tensions between the U.S. and Iran, with Iran vowing revenge. CBS News senior national security contributor, and former acting and deputy CIA director Michael Morell told “CBS This Morning” the drone strike on Soleimani will lead to “dead civilian Americans.” “Soleimani was an …

Read More »

Schumer: Trump Needs Our Permission For Iran War

Reuters reports: The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate said on Friday that President Donald Trump does not have the authority to go to war with Iran without congressional authorization, and said he should have consulted with top congressional leaders before the U.S. killed a top Iranian commander. “It is my view that the president does not have the authority …

Read More »

State Department Travel Advisory For US Citizens: Draft Your Will And Plan Your Funeral Before Entering Iraq

Via press release from the State Department: Do not travel to Iraq due to terrorism, kidnapping, and armed conflict. U.S. citizens in Iraq are at high risk for violence and kidnapping. Numerous terrorist and insurgent groups are active in Iraq and regularly attack both Iraqi security forces and civilians. Anti-U.S. sectarian militias may also threaten U.S. citizens and Western companies …

Read More »

Trump Claims Dead Iranian General Killed “Millions”

The Independent reports: Donald Trump says that Iran general Qassem Soleimani was “caught” as he was “plotting to kill” many Americans, after years of anti-US military actions that have left thousands “killed or badly wounded.” The president ordered the air strike on Soleimani, the leader of the elite Quds Force, on Friday morning, raising concerns of unrest and destabilisation in …

Read More »

Pelosi: Trump Acted Without Authorization Of Congress

NBC News reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling on the Trump administration to immediately brief lawmakers on the U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian commander in Iraq and what the White House plans to do next. “Tonight’s airstrike risks provoking further dangerous escalation of violence. America — and the world — cannot afford to have tensions escalate to …

Read More »

War Hawk John Bolton Thrilled With US Airstrike

Mediaite reports: Former National Security Advisor John Bolton offered congratulations for the U.S. airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran’s top military commanders, and expressed his hope for regime change in the country. Bolton, known as one of the more relentlessly hawkish foreign policy minds in the United States, served as Trump’s national security adviser until he left in …

Read More »

Lindsey Graham To Iran: If You Want More, You’ll Get It

ABC News reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tweeted in support of the U.S. airstrike that killed seven in Baghdad on Thursday including Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Officials said Solemani orchestrated several attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the past several months, and approved attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq earlier this week. …

Read More »

Pentagon: Airstrike Was “Decisive Defensive Action”

Via press release from the Department of Defense: At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization. General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq …

Read More »

Pompeo: Iraq Airstrike Was Due To “Imminent Threats”

CNN reports: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the airstrike ordered to kill top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani “saved American lives,” after Pompeo said on Twitter Friday morning that the decision to eliminate Soleimani was in response to “imminent threats to American lives.” “I can’t talk too much about the nature of the threats. But the American people …

Read More »

US Airstrike Kills Top Iranian General In Baghdad, Iran Vows Revenge, State Warns US Citizens To Leave Iraq

The Washington Post reports: Iran on Friday vowed “severe revenge” in response to a U.S. airstrike that killed Tehran’s most powerful military commander, Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, and dramatically sharpened tensions across the Middle East. Soleimani was a towering figure in Iran’s power projection across the region, with close links to a network of paramilitary groups that stretches from Syria …

Read More »

Pompeo Postpones Ukraine Trip Due To Iraq Protests

CNN reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo postponed a planned trip to Ukraine to deal with the ongoing developments out of Baghdad, the State Department announced Wednesday. Following a second day of protests, a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday that “the situation around Embassy Baghdad has improved,” but that efforts by Iraqi government security forces “to clear militia members from …

Read More »

Iran Taunts Trump: “You Cannot Do A Damn Thing”

Reuters reports: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei strongly condemned U.S. attacks on Iran-allied militia group in Iraq, Iranian state TV reported on Wednesday, blaming the United States for the violence in the neighbouring country. “The Iranian government, nation and I strongly condemn the attacks,” state TV quoted Khamenei as saying. “Again that guy (Trump) has accused Iran for the …

Read More »

Trump To Iran: Back Off US Embassy, “This Is A Threat”

Raw Story reports: On Tuesday, just hours before the New Years celebration, President Donald Trump issued a self-proclaimed “threat” against Iran, proclaiming that they “will be held fully responsible” for the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Iraq, and adding that they will pay “a very BIG PRICE!” The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is, & has been for hours, SAFE! …

Read More »

IRAQ: Thousands Storm US Embassy In Baghdad

The New York Times reports: Protesters broke into the heavily guarded compound of the United States Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday and lit fires inside to express their anger over American airstrikes that killed 24 members of an Iranian-backed militia over the weekend. Chanting “Death to America!” thousands of protesters and militia members demonstrated outside the embassy compound, throwing rocks, …

Read More »

Pence And Mother Make Surprise Visit To Iraq Troops

Reuters reports: Vice President Mike Pence visited Iraq on Saturday to reassure Iraqi Kurds of U.S. support after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria drew criticism that Washington had betrayed its Kurdish allies there. Pence’s trip, which included a visit with Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, and a phone call with …

Read More »

Diplomat Who Busted Bush On Iraq/WMDs Dies At 69

The New York Times reports: Joseph C. Wilson, the long-serving American diplomat whose clash with the administration of President George W. Bush in 2003 led to the unmasking of his wife at the time, Valerie Plame, as a C.I.A. agent, resulting in accusations that the revelation was political payback, died on Friday at his home in Santa Fe, N.M. He …

Read More »

Indicted GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter Claims He “Probably Killed Hundreds Of Civilians” During Iraq Deployment

CNN reports: California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter said that as an artillery officer, his unit “killed probably hundreds of civilians” during his 2004 tour in Fallujah, Iraq. During a Barstool Sports interview for a podcast that was released on Monday, Hunter defended his support of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL facing a premeditated murder charge in the stabbing death of …

Read More »

US Embassy Staff To Leave Iraq Over “Iranian Threats”

CNBC reports: Washington ordered the departure of non-emergency government employees from Iraq on Wednesday, after repeated U.S. expressions of concern about threats from Iranian-backed forces. The U.S. State Department has ordered the pullout of the employees from both the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and its consulate in Erbil, the embassy said in a statement. On Tuesday, the U.S. military reaffirmed …

Read More »

Pompeo Makes Surprise Iraq Visit Amid Iran Tensions

The Associated Press reports: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a lightning visit to Baghdad on Tuesday to show U.S. support for the Iraqi government as Washington steps up warnings to Iran against any action against American interests in the Middle East. The unannounced trip began and ended after nightfall and under heavy security. Pompeo’s visit came as the …

Read More »