Iraq's Resistance Reveals How
U.S. Troops Will Be Removed From Its Country
By Moon Of Alabama
March 16, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" -
March 14, 2020 -
Yesterday the U.S.
attacked five sites in Iraq and killed 3 Iraqi
soldiers of the 19th Division, two policeman and a
civilian. The strikes came after some 10+ rockets,
fired by unknown people, had hit the joint base Camp
Tali and had killed 2 U.S. and one British soldiers.
Today the U.S. received the revenge for its
strikes.
The U.S. Central Command
had
argued that the "defensive precision strike"
against the five sites created deterrence i.e. they
would prevent other attacks:
We believe that this is going to have an effect
on deterring -- on deterring future strikes of
this nature. We've seen in the past what happens
when you don't respond. Now people know that
we're not going to -- we're not going to
tolerate these direct attacks on American or
coalition service members, and we're willing and
able to respond.
Even hawkish analysts find that the argument is
nonsense.
The U.S. claims that the group Kataib Hezbollah,
part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and
under command of the Iraqi government, fired the
missiles. But the positions the U.S. hit were not
Kataib Hezbollah positions. U.S. intelligence in
Iraq is not up to date with regards to where Kataib
Hezbollah units or those of the other 20+ PMU groups
are stationed.
TØM CΛT -
12:05 UTC · Mar 14, 2020
After asking a military source in 19th
Commando Division about the Al-Atheer facility
and presence of "Iranian missiles", the response
I got was that KH withdrew from the site 7+ days
ago and the unit took their place.
So yeah, the Mussayib site was under Iraq Army.
British forces were supposed to join yesterday's
U.S. strike but the Wall Street Journal
reports that the Brits were called back by their
government because the attribution of the original
rockets strike to Kataib Hezbollah was shady and
because there was no legal justification for the
strikes.
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The Iraqi government announced that it
would protest at the United Nation about the
U.S. breach of its sovereignty. Ayatollah
Sistani condemned the U.S. attack and even
the Iraq Joint Operational Command, which
includes coordinating U.S. officers,
protested against the strikes.
The Iraqi parliament and government have told the
U.S. to leave Iraq. The Trump administration is not
willing to do that. In consequence more U.S.
soldiers will have to die in Iraq.
That the "deterrence" strikes did not deter
anything was proven today when another rocket salvo
was fired at Camp Taji in broad daylight:
A hail of rockets landed on a military base
housing U.S. and other coalition troops north of
Baghdad Saturday morning, wounding three
coalition soldiers and two Iraqi soldiers.
The same base, Camp Taji, was the target of a
rocket attack on Wednesday which killed three
servicemen, including two Americans and one
British.
The U.S. in Iraq is not fighting some "Iran
backed" groups but is an occupation force and
therefore a legitimate target for Iraqi government
forces:
“We can’t forget that the PMF is a recognized
entity within the Iraqi security forces; they
aren’t isolated from the security forces and
often are co-located on the same bases or use
the same facilities,” said Sajad Jiyad, a
researcher and former managing director of the
Bayan Center, a Baghdad-based think tank.
“Now the (Iran-backed) groups who supported
the initial strike in Taji, who were the most
outspoken, feel obliged, authorized, maybe even
legitimized to respond, ostensibly to protect
Iraqi sovereignty but really to keep the
pressure up on Americans,” he added.
“There are no red lines anymore," Jiyad said.
(I bet $10 that the "(Iran backed)" in that quote
is not from Sajad Jiyad but was added by the
NBC/AP writer or editor. Sajad Jihad
often stresses that these groups do have motive
and means to act on their own.)
(Added: Sajad Jihad has now confirmed to me that
the politicizing words in the parenthesis are not
from him but were added by the NBC/AP
writers.)
The Iraqi police found the launch site from where
today's rocket volley was fired. Its pictures tell a
lot about how this fight will go on until the U.S.
occupation forces leave Iraq.
This is a fixed camouflaged position under a
roof. It was probably built months if not years ago.
The launcher cases were dug into the ground of some
shed. They were already adjusted to the planned
strike direction. To launch the rockets one had
simply to clear the top of camouflage, pull up the
rocket launcher from the front and set the height
adjusting stick up. One man could do that within a
few minutes. The electrical launch command would
then come from remote by a wire or cellphone.
The setup of the position reminds one of similar
positions the Lebanese Hizbullah has built in
Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. The people who set up
this launch position in Iraq seem to have received
some training from experienced staff.
If there is one well prepared positions aimed at
Camp Taji how many others are there? Ten? One
hundred? Or even a thousand? How many exist around
other sites in Iraq where U.S. troops are stationed?
Previous strikes had come from mobile platforms.
That the resistance in Iraq now revealed one of its
fixed camouflaged launch sites is intentional. It is
a warning to the U.S. to ponder about the above
questions and potential consequences.
These secret launch sites are a real deterrence.
In 2006 Israel attacked Hizbullah in Lebanon with
the intention to disarm the group. But Hizbullah's
defenses were stubborn and hundreds of rockets were
fired each day against Israeli positions. Israeli
bombers then tried to find the launch sites but
those where hidden and not detectable from the air.
In the end it was Israel which had to file for
peace. Since then its forces have not dared to again
enter Lebanon.
The U.S. in Iraq has no way to protect its troops
from such unpredictable rocket volleys. It has no
way deter or even win against the forces that are
now working to evict it from Iraq as well as other
places in the Middle East.
It should finally recognize that and leave.
