Iran Just Got Set Up In Iraq

Ed.'s note: Here we go. The final push against Iran. Something tells us at the pinnacle of power Iran is in on this. Iran had nothing to say about the US installing a Sunni government in Baghdad when Iran is predominantly Shiite? See how it works? Consent is manufactured.

News update for 2 January 2019: Manufacturing consent for war on Iran: U.S. threatens Iran with 'pre-emptive action'

Russia and the USA both finish the year with a "Grand Finale" of sorts
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Source: Mail Online

Pentagon prepares 4,000 paratroopers for rapid deployment to Kuwait after Donald Trump said Iran will 'pay a very BIG PRICE' for the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad

• Pentagon prepares 4,000 paratroopers for rapid deployment to Kuwait after Donald Trump said Iran will 'pay a very BIG PRICE' for the attack on the US embassy in Baghdad
• U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s alert brigade was issued orders to deploy rapidly to Kuwait on Tuesday
• At least 750 paratroopers are already en route and alert brigade of 4,000 has been put on notice
• A swarm of pro-Iran Shiite militiamen attacked the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq earlier on Tuesday
• Militia fighters broke through the compound gate and set fires within the high-security complex
• Pentagon deployed 100 additional Marines to the embassy in Chinook helicopters to beat back the attack
• Trump has vowed to hold Tehran accountable for the embassy attack, which is in retaliation for US air strikes
• Those USAF strikes were themselves in retaliation for last week's killing of an American contractor in Kirkuk
• Trump tweeted Tuesday: 'Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. 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'

By KEITH GRIFFITH and ROSS IBBETSON and MARLENE LENTHANG FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and WIRES

PUBLISHED: 23:39 GMT, 31 December 2019 | UPDATED: 11:09 GMT, 1 January 2020

The U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s alert brigade has been issued orders to deploy rapidly to Kuwait following an attack on the American embassy in Baghdad by a pro-Iranian mob.

At least 750 paratroopers are already making their way to the Middle East, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper confirmed in a statement on Tuesday, saying additional forces are prepared to deploy over the next several days.

'This deployment is an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today,' said Esper.

A total of 4,000 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne's Deployment Ready Brigade have been put on notice for imminent deployment in the next 96 hours, three U.S. defense officials told Fox News.

The snap deployment comes amid rapidly rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. and a series of violent tit-for-tat escalations between the two countries.

On Tuesday, some 6,000 pro-Iran Shiite militia fighters stormed U.S. embassy in Baghdad, set walls ablaze and chanted 'Death to America!' in a violent retaliation for American air strikes. There were no reports of American casualties, and the attack was repelled after 100 Marines rapidly reinforced the compound.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the attack an act of 'state-sponsored terrorism' in an interview with CBS News, and President Donald Trump vowed that the Iranian government will be held 'fully responsible' for the attack.

Pompeo said in a statement that the attack was 'orchestrated by terrorists' and 'abetted by Iranian proxies', tweeting pictures that he said showed US-designated terrorists with Iranian ties outside the embassy.

Please go to the Mail Online to read the entire article.
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Source: Land Destroyer

The Syrian War: America's "War on Terror" Exposed

December 31, 2019 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem recently described the US as using the so-called "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) as "a scarecrow" the US uses to menace targeted nations all while secretly encouraging, protecting, and helping them "move from one area to another."

Maullum's comments perfectly encapsulate the twenty-plus year so-called "War on Terror" the US has used to expand itself across the globe militarily and to serve as a stand-in for legitimate economic and political development both within the United States and between the United States and the international community.

Maullum's comments come at a time when - despite Washington's collapsing machinations in Syria - the US is still working to undermine, divide, and destroy the Syrian nation by aiding its enemies while using all political, economic, and military options available to pressure Syria itself.

Muallem was also quoted as saying:

All nations that were victimized by this system need to join forces and resist those sanctions.

In many ways, this is already happening. Russia's intervention in Syria from 2015 onward is part of growing international momentum working against US special interests, their collective hegemony, and the toxic impact it has had not only on international relations and development, but also on the US itself.

From Convincing Pretext to Obvious State-Sponsored Terrorism

Following the events of September 11, 2001 the United States embarked on a multi-decade "War on Terror." Its invasion of Afghanistan was seen and supported by many nations and their respective populations as a necessary and justified means of combating the scourge that allegedly carried out the deadly attacks on 9/11.

By 2003 - after a time of reflection and in the face of an America eager to spread its "War on Terror" across the globe - it became clear that this "War on Terror" was merely a stand-in to continue America's hegemonic designs pursued during the now concluded Cold War. This included a pretext for NATO's continued existence and the alliance's use by Washington as a means of exerting control over Europe as well as using Europe, its people, and resources to exert influence and control across Africa and Eurasia.

By 2011 and the US interventions in Libya and Syria - it was abundantly clear that not only was the "War on Terror" a false pretext, but it was one artificially created and deliberately perpetuated by Washington itself.

This included revelations that the US had been arming and directing the very Al Qaeda terror network and its affiliates allegedly responsible for the 9/11 attacks - using them as a virtual mercenary force to target nations the US sought regime change within.

The so-called "rebels" in Libya were little more than Al Qaeda affiliates - poorly dressed as freedom fighters seeking "democracy." These same literal terrorists the US armed and aided in overthrowing the Libyan government in 2011 would be shipped to Syria where the US sought to replicate its "success" in Libya against Damascus.

The war in Syria however failed to produce Washington's desired results - and as the conflict dragged on - through the growth and influence of alternative media - the true nature of America's "War on Terror" emerged.

It is now common knowledge that the United States and its Saudi, Turkish, and Qatari allies deliberately armed Al Qaeda militants and their affiliates in a bid to destabilize and overthrow the Syrian government. It is now also common knowledge that when this bid failed - the US and its allies created ISIS to serve as both an additional pressure point against Damascus as well as a pretext for direct US military intervention.

Please go to Land Destroyer to read the entire article.
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Source: Fort Russ

What Is Unfolding In Iraq Right Now?

By Yusuf Mshahwar | Jan 1, 2020

The U.S. has fomented war in Iraq for going on forty consecutive years now. From backing and encouraging Saddam to attack Iran in the 80s to genocidal sanctions that murdered 500,000 children and a direct war in the 90s to a full scale invasion and the creation of Daesh in the 2000s. Iraq has been the epicenter of U.S. aims to redivide the Arab world and lay the groundwork for the violent overthrow of the Islamic revolution and the wholesale liquidation of Iran’s ancient civilization.

Iraq's vibrant agriculture and industrial economy were wiped out. The U.S. has worked tirelessly to transform Iraq into a destitute, war based economy. Iraq has been in a carefully constructed trap propped up by U.S. occupation and influence. While Iraq exists within this trap, no leader can begin to truly reconstruct Iraq. That is the basis for the protests that have raized the country for months now. Unfortunately, many have failed to note the outwardly sectarian nature of some of the demonstrations and the violent scapegoating of Iran. It is clear that the U.S. has had a hand in turning demonstrators toward their objectives in Iraq and away from their responsibility.

The U.S. attempted to capitalize on this situation by, without evidence as they like to do, framing an attack against them on the popular resistance forces in the country (Popular Mobilization Units) who they claim to be controlled entirely by Iran. On Sunday the U.S. carried out strikes killing dozens of PMU fighters and injuring dozens more. The PMUs have been the real anti-Daesh forces in the country who stand for the sovereignty and freedom of Iraq. The U.S. cannot accept that these forces have helped align Iraq with those resisting colonialism in the region, threatening the trap the U.S. has built so carefully to eternally subjugate Iraq. Iraq's popular resistance makes the alliance of anti-colonial forces in the region so powerful that the U.S. has become desperate.

The demonstrations today are a message to the U.S. that Iraqis will not stop fighting for the freedom of their people and the region. This is the popular will of Iraq. Their struggle if victorious will be another nail in the coffin of genocidal U.S. world domination.
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Source: Check Point Asia

America's New War: Let's Not Pretend That Iraqi Paramilitaries Drew First Blood

A US-enabled Israeli hunting season on Iraqi militias had been going on for months before the first US casualty

Marko Marjanović | January 1, 2020

The US had been using its position in Iraq and Syria to allow Israel kill Iraqi servicemen since July

As the Trump administration would have it history began yesterday. On December 27 A rocket salvo struck a US base near Kirkuk killing a US contractor and wounding four US soldiers, as well as, according to the Americans, two Iraqi soldiers.

So two days later the US — deducing that the attack must have come from the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah paramilitary that right now hates the Americans' guts the most — bombed five Kataib facilities on the Iraq-Syrian border, ie nowhere near Kirkuk, killing 25 and wounding 55 Kataib paramilitaries that almost certainly had nothing to do with the Kirkuk base attack themselves.

So according to the Americans albeit their airstrikes, against an outfit that is formally part of Iraq’s official security forces, may have technically violated Iraqi sovereignty that is a technicality since the paramilitary is a proxy for Iran, and in any case these Iranian proxies started it by killing an American first in attacks on guests of the Iraqi government.

Americans also suppose that since they have been granted basing rights in Iraq and the right to act militarily (against ISIS) on Iraq's territory that comes with the right to defend themselves. Americans also emphasize the attack allegedly by Kataib also wounded two Iraqi soldiers.

So the American telling is something like 'Iranian proxies are attacking us who are guests of the Iraqi government and hurting Iraqi servicemen in the process, so we bombed them to defend ourselves and teach them a lesson.'

On its face that sounds almost reasonable, but there is a number of problems with such a retelling.

Firstly, as probably the single most influential man in Iraq, the Shia cleric al-Sistani pointed out, even if it were true that Kataib paramilitaries had gone rogue in attacking US facilities it does not follow that Americans, a foreign military with mere basing rights, have the liberty to take matters into their own hands and be the judge, jury and executioner in revenge attacks on a state-sanctioned paramilitary 500 kilometers from the place of the actual attack on the US base.

Secondly, there is a matter of scale. Because "Iranian proxies" (as Americans would have it) injured a pair of Iraqi servicemen it does not follow that Americans are now entitled to kill or wound seventy-seven Kataib paramilitaries who are also Iraqi servicemen.

Thirdly, unlike the Trump gang would have it, history did not begin on December 27th. Between July 19 and September 22 Iraqi paramilitaries were hit in their Iraqi bases on at least eight different occasions. In August the Israeli PM Netanyahu confirmed that Israel was carrying out these strikes "against Iranian consolidation". (That was also just the latest escalation on top of Israeli strikes on Iraqi paramilitaries positioned against ISIS in eastern Syria.)

Please go to Check Point Asia to read the entire article.
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Related:

Washington's Iraq Catastrophe

Pompeo: US will hold Iran 'accountable' for any 'malign activity,' after Baghdad embassy attack

Watch: Apache Gunships Attempt To Disperse Iraqi Mob As Kataib Hezbollah Flags Erected Over Embassy Walls

US Complains As Russia Bombs its Terrorists

US-Turk Support For SNA Turkmen Terrorists Outflanks Syria In Idlib