US Wages War On Iraq, In Defense Of ISIS Terrorists In Syria, Claiming To Defend Itself From Iran!

US Acting as ISIS Air Force Again, Wages War on Iraq in Name of Fighting Iran

In an egregious violation of Iraqi sovereignty and what amounts to an open declaration of war against the country it claims as its own ally, the US military on December 29 launched a series of airstrikes against several sites of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) stationed on both the Iraqi and Syrian side of the Iraqi-Syrian border; in what US officials claim is retaliation for an earlier rocket strike against an Iraqi military base that houses US soldiers, which injured several Iraqi and US soldiers and allegedly killed a US mercenary, though no evidence has been produced thus far to substantiate this claim.

The US government and its lapdog corporate media stooges blamed the rocket attack against the US base on a faction of the Iraqi PMUs, which it claims is an 'Iranian proxy'; although the entire PMU is in fact a part of the Iraqi military, under Bagdad's authority. Mike Pompeo previously threatened the US would take action if such 'Iranian sponsored' attacks continued, and sure enough, this time the US responded with heavy attacks against the militia it claims was responsible for the rocket attacks, called Kataib Hezbollah, and one faction of the PMU.

No evidence whatsoever has been produced demonstrating responsibility for this or any of the numerous previous such rocket attacks by any faction of the Iraqi PMU whatsoever. The US has accused them of launching 11 such attacks over the past several months, the first of which the Iraqi government announced never even took place! This most recent attack could have easily been launched by ISIS, who has in fact been caught using these very same rockets in Syria which were used here; and the attack indeed bears all the red flags of being a potential false flag, including no proof of the 'dead' American mercenary they claimed was killed.

Nor have they produced any evidence that the PMUs are actually Iranian proxies, when they are most certainly a wing of the Iraqi military itself. But that did not stop them from engaging in a reckless and blatant act of war against its own alleged Iraqi allies. The strikes targeted Iraqi PMU locations actively engaged on the frontline of fighting ISIS along the Syrian border, stationed near the one and only Syrian-Iraqi border crossing not under US control. The US has voiced its opposition to this border crossing from the time it was setup, and has also been a repeat target of Israeli airstrikes.

The attacks killed at least 25 Iraqi fighters, including one commander, and wounded at least 55 more. The Iraqi PMUs are Iraqi Shia militias originally trained by Iran to fight ISIS terrorists during the peak of the terrorist group's rise to power in Iraq and Syria, and are currently the front line of defense against ISIS terrorists attempting to infiltrate into Iraq from Syria.

"The strikes were designed to kill those who still fight ISIS in its most virulent hide outs," MOA reports; and this is indeed so clearly the case!

Like usual, US military action is directed towards those who are fighting the US proxy terrorists in the region, at a time when Syria is once again on the offensive against these US-backed Jihadists, making gains as they increasingly advance within terrorist-occupied Idlib province. ISIS recently claimed several attacks on Syrian oil facilities which coincided with the new Syrian offensive, so it would appear that as ISIS attempts to come to the rescue of its ideological allies under fire in Idlib, the US likewise is coming to the rescue of ISIS. Once again, US appears to be acting as the ISIS air force, just as Israel has been frequently doing, but this time targeting Iraqi forces on the front line in the battle to defeat ISIS rather than the Syrian army.

The Pentagon said the attacks were “defensive strikes” against the Kata’ib Hezbollah militia group, which US officials said was backed by Iran, though the strikes came a whole two days after the attack took place.

“We will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy,” Pompeo told reporters after the briefing, although even according to their own narrative it was members of Iraqi PMUs and not the Republic of Iran which took those actions.

Despite US claims of carrying out this attack to 'protect Iraq's sovereignty' against a meddling Iran, and of Iraq being its ally, and that it is in the country at the invitation of its government; Iraqi officials unanimously condemned the attacks as a blatant violation of its sovereignty, reiterated its demand that the US leave its country immediately because the US occupation is no longer welcome, and never once spoke of Iranian influence as the problem. Incidentally, Iran is currently one of Iraq's closest allies in the region, and it makes no sense why Iran would attack or direct proxy forces to attack its own ally, as the US narrative absurdly suggests.

"We strongly condemn this aggression on Iraqi soil and say it's an example of terrorism," Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "The U.S. has to respect the territorial integrity and independence of Iraq and to stop interfering in Iraqi internal affairs."

Iraqi President Barham Saleh likewise said the attack was "unacceptable and considered as an aggressive action and violation of Iraqi sovereignty."

The Iraqi Prime Minister also made a similar statement of condemnation:

"We have previously confirmed our rejection of any unilateral action by the coalition forces or any other forces inside Iraq, and we consider it as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a dangerous escalation that threatens the security of Iraq and the region," Abdul-Mahdi said of the U.S. strikes.

“The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences,” his office said.

Not only that, but the Iraqi government was even warned ahead of time about the attacks by Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, and Iraqi leaders begged the US not to carry out the attacks.

From NBC::

In a statement, [former PM] Abdul-Mahdi said Secretary of Defense Mark Esper had called him about a half-hour before the U.S. strikes Sunday to tell him of U.S. intentions to hit the bases of the militia suspected of being behind Friday's rocket attack. Abdul-Mahdi said he asked Esper to call off the U.S. plan.

But, what do you know, they attacked Iraq anyway, showing how little they actually care about the Iraqi government's concerns and wishes.

The targeted Iraqi militia has vowed to take retaliatory action, Common Dreams reports:

Kataib Hezbollah quickly vowed retaliatory action, saying the Trump administration's actions have left it with "no choice but confrontation."

"Trump should know that he will pay a heavy price in Iraq and the countries where his criminal forces are present," the group said.

It is obvious the US presence in Iraq is no longer welcome, especially after this blatant disregard for Iraqi interests and sovereignty.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi himself also called on the U.S. to "end its occupation in the region."

There is no way whatsoever that this move will help US interests in the region. As Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge accurately concludes:

One byproduct of the major US strikes on Sunday is sure to be that more and more of the Iraqi population will view the Americans, and not the Iranians, as the foreign occupiers.

This dramatic escalation by Washington is only likely to push more popular support toward the Shia PMF, and strengthen the movement in parliament to have US forces legally expelled, especially with the demise of the ISIS threat.

And as the Moon of Alabama Blog puts it,

The U.S. and Israel have already killed hundreds of Iraqi forces that are aligned with Iran. But these were the most egregious strikes. There is no doubt. The U.S. forces will have to (again) leave Iraq

This unprovoked attack and blatant violation of Iraq sovereignty, which will only serve to further push the Iraqi government towards stronger attempts to expel the 5,000 US occupation forces from its country, is in the interest of only one entity in the region, and there should be no confusion as to whose interest those are. You guessed it, Zionist Israel and its criminal Prime Minister Netanyahu now facing corruption charges (but seeking a war with Iran to save face and help win the coming election).

Mike Pompeo tweeted on the 30th that he had a "productive call" with Netenyahu regarding the "defensive strikes":

And again on New Year's,

Almost as if Pompeo is receiving his marching orders on how to orchestrate a war on Iran straight from Tel Aviv...