Shocking photos show what the US Embassy in Baghdad looked like after it was attacked by swarms of violent protesters
On Tuesday, thousands of violent protesters stormed the outer gates of the embassy. They threw rocks, smashed windows, graffitied walls, and torched a reception center and a security kiosk. The protesters failed to breach the main compound.
As the embassy was under siege, the US decided to send in Marines assigned to a special crisis-response unit to reinforce the facility alongside local security forces.
Source: Business Insider
Efforts to clear militia members and their supporters from the area immediately surrounding the embassy were still going on Wednesday, but by that evening, most of the attackers had retreated.
Source: Department of State
The assault on the embassy was an apparent response to US airstrikes on Iran-backed Iraqi militias, strikes conducted in retaliation for a rocket attack that killed a US civilian contractor and wounded several service members.
President Donald Trump has blamed Iran for the rocket attack as well as for the assault on the embassy. Trump tweeted Tuesday that Iran would "pay a very BIG PRICE" for damage to the diplomatic post.
Source: Business Insider
Since May, the US has deployed about 15,000 troops to the US Central Command area of operations to counter Iran, and there are concerns that the events unfolding could drag the US into a proxy war with Iran or ignite a broader regional conflict.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the press on Thursday that the embassy is secure and warned that anyone who tries to overrun it will "run into a buzzsaw."
Source: Business Insider
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said at the same briefing Thursday that "the game has changed," explaining that the US will take whatever steps necessary to protect US personnel and interests in the region, including pre-emptive strikes on Iranian-backed militias.
Source: Business Insider
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