Rocket attack near US base in Iraq amid US-Iraq dialogue

[Disir]

Reports on Saturday evening said a rocket had landed near Camp Taji, a large base in Iraq that has housed US-led coalition personnel. Iraq's Security Media Cell confirmed the attack and said two rockets had struck the base and caused limited damage. It comes in the context of US-Iraq strategic dialogue and tensions between the US and Iran.

.... Confirmation came an hour and a half after the rockets fell at Taji, with Iraq's security forces noting the location they were fired from, but not who the culprits were. Iraqi media and Gulf media reported the projectiles to be katyusha rockets, the same type that Iranian-backed forces have used in the past. Considering the tensions and strategic dialogue and anniversary of the fatwa, the rocket may be designed to send a message.

Rocket attack near US base in Iraq amid US-Iraq dialogue

The reported rocket attack also comes on the six-year anniversary of the fatwa by Iraqi Ayatollah Ali Sistani that helped create the Popular Mobilization Units to fight ISIS.

www.jpost.com

That's ok. It's just Iran, amiright?

 

[toobfreak]

Reports on Saturday evening said a rocket had landed near Camp Taji, a large base in Iraq that has housed US-led coalition personnel. Iraq's Security Media Cell confirmed the attack and said two rockets had struck the base and caused limited damage. It comes in the context of US-Iraq strategic dialogue and tensions between the US and Iran.

.... Confirmation came an hour and a half after the rockets fell at Taji, with Iraq's security forces noting the location they were fired from, but not who the culprits were. Iraqi media and Gulf media reported the projectiles to be katyusha rockets, the same type that Iranian-backed forces have used in the past. Considering the tensions and strategic dialogue and anniversary of the fatwa, the rocket may be designed to send a message.

Rocket attack near US base in Iraq amid US-Iraq dialogue

The reported rocket attack also comes on the six-year anniversary of the fatwa by Iraqi Ayatollah Ali Sistani that helped create the Popular Mobilization Units to fight ISIS.

www.jpost.com

That's ok. It's just Iran, amiright?

I don't understand how this could have happened! I mean, it isn't like the base is named after a Confederate general or something!

 

[Tom Paine 1949]

A somewhat more expansive view of recent developments in U.S.-Iraq and U.S.-Iranian relations here:

Iraq and US affirm commitment to American troop withdrawal

In joint statement, Washington said it does not seek a permanent military presence in Iraq - but no timeline set for withdrawal

www.middleeasteye.net

Of course the real issue is how much the U.S. is willing to shell out in off-the-books bribes to Iraqi military officers and economic aid to the government, which cannot meet its expenses let alone rebuild with oil prices this low. The U.S. has vetoed Chinese major investments in Iraqi oil facilities and infrastructure. The Iranians are having their own problems now, thus the temporary compromise with the U.S. to allow a new Iraqi Prime Minister sympathetic to Uncle Sam’s CIA. The U.S., for its part, is apparently reciprocating by slightly drawing down its forces in the Gulf and soon apparently also in Iraq. But so long as sanctions against Iran and Syria continue, and U.S. hostility to Shia militia remains intense, minor anonymous attacks against U.S. forces will likely go on, and a return to open conflict is possible at any time. U.S. plans to bring down the government in Iraq and support Sunni provincial autonomy have apparently been put on hold.