On 31 December 2019, members and supporters of the Iranian-directed Iraqi Shia militia Kata’ib Hezbollah besieged and attacked the US embassy in Baghdad. The attack comes after months of sustained protests by Iraqi citizens against Kata’ib Hezbollah and other Iran-directed militias that comprise part of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). The following is a rough timeline of events leading up to the present moment, with regards specifically to the attack on the US embassy. This is in no way meant to be a comprehensive discussion of the Tahrir Square protests, which are arguably more deserving of attention.
Increasingly, starting with an attack in May 2019 near the US embassy in the Green Zone, rockets (usually less than ten) have landed in or near US installations across Iraq. In June, rockets landed at US installations in Baghdad as well as Mosul. No Iraqi or US personnel were injured in any of the attacks, but the message was unmistakable, a threat to US military personnel that they were being watched, and could be attacked at any time, in Iraq. Then, on the 9th and the 11th of December 2019, rockets landed at Baghdad International Airport, injuring a number of Iraqi military personnel. On the 13th, American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iran against further attacks on US interests and outposts in Iraq.
On 27 December 2019 a number of rockets landed at K1 Airbase, a joint US-Iraqi military installation near Kirkuk. One American contractor was killed, several US soldiers were wounded, and several Iraqi Federal Police officers were wounded as well. The attack, launched from a converted delivery truck, could only have taken place with at least some cooperation from local security officials. Kirkuk is under close watch, with Iraqi security forces (including many PMU groups) patrolling the city. The idea that an ISIS cell could assemble and utilize such a weapon, without being noticed, is possible but quite remote.
The American response, as was previously stated by Secretary of State Pompeo, was a series of air strikes against Kata’ib Hezbollah positions in the western Iraqi city of Al Qaim, as well as two strikes in Syria. The American strikes killed between 20-50 militia members, including a high-ranking brigade commander.
Two days later, on 31 December 2019, members and supporters of Kata’ib Hezbollah approached the gates to the Green Zone. Security personnel at the gates were either unable or unwilling to stop the massive crowd, which quickly surrounded the US embassy compound. The US embassy in Baghdad is the largest diplomatic compound in the world, just a little smaller than the Vatican. It is a fortified, castle-like structure designed to survive a siege until reinforcements can arrive.
While additional US military forces were located throughout Iraq (and in Baghdad itself), they were ordered to stand down, but monitor the situation. Thus, the comparisons with the Benghazi attack in 2012 are misleading at best, as emergency reinforcements were immediately available. With all personnel safely inside secured buildings, and only cosmetic damage being done to the embassy itself, the decision to wait until properly-equipped reinforcements could be sent was likely made.
A member of the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Task Force-Iraq monitors the situation at the US embassy from FOB Union III
The immediate reinforcements were drawn from Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) 19.2 based in Kuwait. Currently, SPMAGTF-CR-CC 19.2 is comprised of members from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 161 (VMM-161) and 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They began arriving under cover of darkness aboard VMM-161’s MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, landing inside the US embassy compound. Throughout the night, militia members and their supporters surrounded the embassy compound, lobbing Molotov cocktails and fireworks over the walls. Meanwhile, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters from 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 34th Combat Aviation Brigade flew over the embassy, dropping flares to remind the attackers of their presence.
To further reinforce SPMAGTF-CR-CC 19.2, the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division has been activated and has begun arriving in the area of operations. The deployment will contain at least 700, but likely closer to several thousand 82nd Airborne troops. The 82nd Airborne Division is specially trained for rapid crisis response, and their mission includes fighting behind enemy lines, surrounded by hostile forces. They are the ideal force to deploy to augment US security in Baghdad if one seeks to avoid a repeat of the 1993 Mogadishu Black Hawk Down incident. While strong enough to provide a powerful deterrent to local forces, the 82nd Airborne alone does not constitute a force strong enough to threaten the territorial integrity of Iran. Thus, it is a strictly defensive deployment. While this deployment could always spiral into something larger, and the danger of it doing so is quite high, as of this writing it appears to be defensive in nature.
As of this writing, elements of the 82nd Airborne Division have begun arriving at Ali Al Salem Airbase in Kuwait. Kata’ib Hezbollah has withdrawn to across the river from the US embassy, and elements of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (ICTS), who have often clashed with Kata’ib Hezbollah, have surrounded the compound in a defensive ring. We will continue to monitor this incredibly dangerous situation and keep you updated.
