Charging that Iran was ‘fully responsible’ for the attack, the President ordered about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East as about 3,000 more prepared
Smoke rises at a gate from inside the compound of the U.S. embassy, in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 1, 2020.Charging that Iran was “fully responsible” for an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, President Donald Trump ordered about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East as about 3,000 more prepared for possible deployment in the next several days.
The 750 soldiers deploying immediately were in addition to 14,000 U.S. troops who had deployed to the Gulf region since May in response to concerns about Iranian aggression, including its alleged sabotage of commercial shipping in the Persian Gulf. At the time of the attack the U.S. had about 5,200 troops in Iraq, mainly to train Iraqi forces and help them combat Islamic State extremists.
While blaming Iran for the embassy breach, Trump also called on Iraq to protect the diplomatic mission.“Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many,” he tweeted from his estate in Florida. “We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible.
Robert Ford, a retired U.S. diplomat who served five years in Baghdad and then became ambassador in Syria, said Iran’s allies in the Iraqi parliament may be able to harness any surge in anger among Iraqis toward the United States to force U.S. troops to leave the country. Ford said Trump miscalculated by approving Sunday’s air strikes on Kataeb Hezbollah positions in Iraq and Syria – strikes that drew a public rebuke from the Iraqi government and seem to have triggered Tuesday’s embassy attack.
Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican and supporter of Trump’s Iran policy, called the embassy breach “yet another reckless escalation” by Iran.
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