US REINFORCES BAGHDAD EMBASSY AS GREEN ZONE INCURSION CONTINUES, ISRAEL AND KURDISTAN WEIGH IN ON TUESDAYS ATTACKS
A mob waving Iraqi and Hezbollah flags gathers outside the US Embassy Compound in the Baghdad Green Zone as outer buildings burn around them. (Credit; Khalid Mohammed, AP).
All consular activity was halted at the US Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday, as Iranian-linked militiamen were still active outside the compound after 24 hours of rioting and destruction of property.
All US citizens were warned to stay away from the internationally recognized "Green Zone" while 100 additional Marines were rushed to Baghdad to augment the defensive force at the embassy. The Trump Administration and the Pentagon announced that 750 additional paratroopers were being sent to Kuwait in order to secure other US installations across the region.
The rapid response to the embassy attack stalled its momentum, as thousands of members of the Iranian-sponsored Kataib Hezbollah militia and their supporters were noticeably less hostile today. US diplomatic and military personnel are still alert across the region, however, as both Hezbollah and their Iranian benefactors have repeatedly threatened to attack both the Israeli and American presence in the region with their rocket arsenal.
The riots began Monday morning after the funeral of Kataib Hezbollah militiamen killed in US airstrikes the day before. US warplanes struck 5 sites in Iraq and Syria after s rocket attack against a joint Iraqi-US military base near Kirkup resulted in casualties last week. The Israeli military has also struck Kataib Hezbollah bases in Syria and Iraq in 2018.
Israeli Finance Minister Israel Katz commented that Iran made a "grave mistake" in attacking the US embassy, calling on the international community to stand against the Tehran regime.
Kurdistan Regional Government president Nechirvan Barzani also weighed in on yesterday's attack, calling it "unequivocally unacceptable" and calling on Baghdad to protect foreign embassies.
Sources:
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/010120203
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/01/01/US-embassy-in-Baghdad-says-all-public-consular-operations-suspended.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-sending-hundreds-troops-mideast-after-attack-embassy-compound-n1109196
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-sending-hundreds-troops-mideast-after-attack-embassy-compound-n1109196
https://sethfrantzman.com/2018/06/20/the-june-18-airstrike-on-iraqs-kataib-hezbollah-in-syria-has-been-blamed-on-israel-heres-how-it-unfolded/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/fm-katz-iran-made-grave-mistake-with-attack-on-us-embassy-in-baghdad/
https://president.gov.krd/en/a-statement-from-president-nechirvan-barzani/