12-30-2019, 09:56 PM
*** 31-Dec-19 World View -- American airstrikes on Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah provoke international fury
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** US forces strike facilities of Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria
****
![[Image: g191230b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g191230b.jpg)
Plumes of smoke rise after an explosion at a military base in Iraq on August 12 (AP)
On Sunday, US forces conducted airstrikes against five facilities in
Iraq and Syria belonging to Kataib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades).
The locations included weapon storage facilities and command and
control locations.
Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah (KH) is a different militant Shia organization
than the Lebanon Hezbollah organization that is usually in the news,
but both organizations are puppets of Iran and the militant Iran
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The airstrikes were in retaliation for numerous KH artillery strikes
on American military bases in Iraq, particularly for a strike on
Friday on a US base in Anbar province in western Iraq, killing a US
Army contractor, wounding four US armed forces members, and two
members of the Iraqi Security Forces. Over 25 KH members were killed.
When ISIS was defeated in Iraq two years ago, the US pulled out most
of its troops, leaving behind 5,000 troops at the invitation of Iraq's
government to aid and support the Iraqi security forces as they search
for and clear ISIS eleeper cells hiding in the deserts. One of these
ISIS clearing missions coincided with the US airstrikes against KH.
During the war to eject ISIS from Iraq, US forces fought alongside the
Iran-backed Shia Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), since the mostly
Sunni Iraqi army soldiers did not want to fight against the Sunni ISIS
fighters. After ISIS was defeated, some PMF fighters became Kataib
Hezbollah (KH), and have been using violence to force the US to leave
Iraq.
****
**** Kataib Hezbollah justifications and responses
****
Kataib Hezbollah on Monday sought to justify the artillery strikes
killing Americans. According to KH spokesman Mohammed Mohieh on
Monday:
<QUOTE>"We are warning the United States as we've warned
before -- that their illegal presence means that they're standing
against the Iraqi people, and the Iraqi people have the right to
confront them with all types of resistance."<END QUOTE>
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said:
<QUOTE>"What we did was take a decisive response that makes
clear what President Trump has said for months and months and
months was that we will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran
to take actions that put American men and women in
jeopardy."<END QUOTE>
According to reports, the US warned the Iraq government half an hour
before the planned airstrikes, and they said, DON'T DO IT, but the
US did it anyway.
The Iraqi army is supposed to protect American bases from attacks by
KH and the PMF. There have been numerous attacks in the past,
although Friday's was the first where an American was killed. After
each attack, Iraq promised to investigate the attack and determine
what happened. According to analysts, the PMF are deeply embedded in
Iraq's legislature and government, and so the "investigations" have
gone nowhere although everyone knows which organization is responsible
for the attacks.
After the airstrikes, Iraq's prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued a
statement saying that the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as
an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences.
His reference to the "Iraqi armed forces" reflects the fact that many
of the PMF units have been incorporated into Iraq's army after
defeating ISIS, and therefore the airstrikes targeted Iraq's army on
Iraq's soil.
Not surprisingly, there have been the usual chorus of outrage against
the United States for the airstrikes from the usual stellar
peace-loving world community members as Iran, Russia and China.
****
**** Consequences of the airstrikes on anti-Iran anti-government protests
****
Pundits have been speculating on the consequences and outcome
of the American airstrikes.
Some pundits have speculated that this is just the first step
in a planned American action against Iran, possibly a war.
Others have speculated that the IRGC and KH will now have to retaliate
against the Americans and that, once again, this will lead to war.
Neither of those speculations seems particularly likely.
However, it's possible that the airstrikes will further destabilize
Iraq's government. Iraq has been facing massive anti-Iran and
anti-government protests, as I've described several times. (See "29-Nov-19 World View -- Spiraling bloodbath in Iraq, as anti-Iran and anti-government riots spread"
)
Most of protesters have been objecting to Iran's influence in Iraq,
blaming Iran for Iraq's impoverishment. Most of the protesters are
from the predominantly Shia southern Iraq, and are young kids who are
well aware that their grandfathers and grandmothers were attacked,
raped, tortured, and killed by Iranians during the Iran/Iraq war.
****
**** Iran may have purposely baited the Americans to make the airstrikes
****
A couple of analysts have suggested that the KH attacks on American
bases were ordered by Iran purposely to bait the Americans into
conducting exactly the kind of airstrike that occurred, so that Iran
could unify the Iraqis against the Americans.
This would be typical of Iran's playbook. During the 1979 Iran civil
war, the clerics were able to unite the Iranians by taking over the
American embassy in Tehran and keeping the Americans hostage (the
Iranian Hostage Crisis). Since then, as Iran's younger generations
have grown increasingly pro-Western and pro-American, Iran's hardline
geezer leadership has been desperately using one trick after another
to achieve the same result. What they've discovered, as I've
described many times, is that what works in a generational Crisis era
fails in a generational Awakening or Unraveling era, and today, most
Iranians today see through these desperate attempts by Iran's
leadership.
Although the press is describing the KH attacks and retaliatory
airstrikes as a conflict between the US versus Iraq and Iran, it's
really a conflict between Iraq versus Iran, replaying some of the
bitter, violent clashes of the 1980s Iran/Iraq generational crisis
war.
The United States has played the role of Policeman of the World since
the Truman Doctrine was announced in 1947. Whenever the US plays
policeman, it has always received blame for not doing it right, or for
doing it for the oil. Today, we're hearing pundits blame the problems
in the Mideast on the US because the US has been withdrawing from the
Mideast. Presumably these people believe that we should somehow
intervene between Iraq and Iran in the current mess. I'm sure that
would go well.
Sources:
Related Articles:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Iraq, Iran,
Kataib Hezbollah, KH, Mohammed Mohieh, Hezbollah Brigades - Iraq,
Popular Mobilization Forces, PMF, Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC,
Lebanon, Hezbollah,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Mike Pompeo, Adel Abdul Mahdi, Russia, China,
Iran/Iraq war, Iranian Hostage Crisis,
Truman Doctrine
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- US forces strike facilities of Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria
- Kataib Hezbollah justifications and responses
- Consequences of the airstrikes on anti-Iran anti-government protests
- Iran may have purposely baited the Americans to make the airstrikes
****
**** US forces strike facilities of Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria
****
Plumes of smoke rise after an explosion at a military base in Iraq on August 12 (AP)
On Sunday, US forces conducted airstrikes against five facilities in
Iraq and Syria belonging to Kataib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades).
The locations included weapon storage facilities and command and
control locations.
Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah (KH) is a different militant Shia organization
than the Lebanon Hezbollah organization that is usually in the news,
but both organizations are puppets of Iran and the militant Iran
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The airstrikes were in retaliation for numerous KH artillery strikes
on American military bases in Iraq, particularly for a strike on
Friday on a US base in Anbar province in western Iraq, killing a US
Army contractor, wounding four US armed forces members, and two
members of the Iraqi Security Forces. Over 25 KH members were killed.
When ISIS was defeated in Iraq two years ago, the US pulled out most
of its troops, leaving behind 5,000 troops at the invitation of Iraq's
government to aid and support the Iraqi security forces as they search
for and clear ISIS eleeper cells hiding in the deserts. One of these
ISIS clearing missions coincided with the US airstrikes against KH.
During the war to eject ISIS from Iraq, US forces fought alongside the
Iran-backed Shia Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), since the mostly
Sunni Iraqi army soldiers did not want to fight against the Sunni ISIS
fighters. After ISIS was defeated, some PMF fighters became Kataib
Hezbollah (KH), and have been using violence to force the US to leave
Iraq.
****
**** Kataib Hezbollah justifications and responses
****
Kataib Hezbollah on Monday sought to justify the artillery strikes
killing Americans. According to KH spokesman Mohammed Mohieh on
Monday:
<QUOTE>"We are warning the United States as we've warned
before -- that their illegal presence means that they're standing
against the Iraqi people, and the Iraqi people have the right to
confront them with all types of resistance."<END QUOTE>
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said:
<QUOTE>"What we did was take a decisive response that makes
clear what President Trump has said for months and months and
months was that we will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran
to take actions that put American men and women in
jeopardy."<END QUOTE>
According to reports, the US warned the Iraq government half an hour
before the planned airstrikes, and they said, DON'T DO IT, but the
US did it anyway.
The Iraqi army is supposed to protect American bases from attacks by
KH and the PMF. There have been numerous attacks in the past,
although Friday's was the first where an American was killed. After
each attack, Iraq promised to investigate the attack and determine
what happened. According to analysts, the PMF are deeply embedded in
Iraq's legislature and government, and so the "investigations" have
gone nowhere although everyone knows which organization is responsible
for the attacks.
After the airstrikes, Iraq's prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi issued a
statement saying that the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as
an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences.
His reference to the "Iraqi armed forces" reflects the fact that many
of the PMF units have been incorporated into Iraq's army after
defeating ISIS, and therefore the airstrikes targeted Iraq's army on
Iraq's soil.
Not surprisingly, there have been the usual chorus of outrage against
the United States for the airstrikes from the usual stellar
peace-loving world community members as Iran, Russia and China.
****
**** Consequences of the airstrikes on anti-Iran anti-government protests
****
Pundits have been speculating on the consequences and outcome
of the American airstrikes.
Some pundits have speculated that this is just the first step
in a planned American action against Iran, possibly a war.
Others have speculated that the IRGC and KH will now have to retaliate
against the Americans and that, once again, this will lead to war.
Neither of those speculations seems particularly likely.
However, it's possible that the airstrikes will further destabilize
Iraq's government. Iraq has been facing massive anti-Iran and
anti-government protests, as I've described several times. (See "29-Nov-19 World View -- Spiraling bloodbath in Iraq, as anti-Iran and anti-government riots spread"
)
Most of protesters have been objecting to Iran's influence in Iraq,
blaming Iran for Iraq's impoverishment. Most of the protesters are
from the predominantly Shia southern Iraq, and are young kids who are
well aware that their grandfathers and grandmothers were attacked,
raped, tortured, and killed by Iranians during the Iran/Iraq war.
****
**** Iran may have purposely baited the Americans to make the airstrikes
****
A couple of analysts have suggested that the KH attacks on American
bases were ordered by Iran purposely to bait the Americans into
conducting exactly the kind of airstrike that occurred, so that Iran
could unify the Iraqis against the Americans.
This would be typical of Iran's playbook. During the 1979 Iran civil
war, the clerics were able to unite the Iranians by taking over the
American embassy in Tehran and keeping the Americans hostage (the
Iranian Hostage Crisis). Since then, as Iran's younger generations
have grown increasingly pro-Western and pro-American, Iran's hardline
geezer leadership has been desperately using one trick after another
to achieve the same result. What they've discovered, as I've
described many times, is that what works in a generational Crisis era
fails in a generational Awakening or Unraveling era, and today, most
Iranians today see through these desperate attempts by Iran's
leadership.
Although the press is describing the KH attacks and retaliatory
airstrikes as a conflict between the US versus Iraq and Iran, it's
really a conflict between Iraq versus Iran, replaying some of the
bitter, violent clashes of the 1980s Iran/Iraq generational crisis
war.
The United States has played the role of Policeman of the World since
the Truman Doctrine was announced in 1947. Whenever the US plays
policeman, it has always received blame for not doing it right, or for
doing it for the oil. Today, we're hearing pundits blame the problems
in the Mideast on the US because the US has been withdrawing from the
Mideast. Presumably these people believe that we should somehow
intervene between Iraq and Iran in the current mess. I'm sure that
would go well.
Sources:
- America's Iraq War May Escalate After Airstrikes On Iranian-Backed Groups (National Interest, 30-Dec-2019)
- Hizbullah Brigades In Iraq Following U.S. Attack: 'Trump Will Pay A Heavy Price In Iraq (Memri, 30-Dec-2019)
- Iraq slams US airstrikes, warns of consequences (Deutsche Welle, 30-Dec-2019)
- US hits back at Iran-linked militia in Iraq after rocket attack (Deutsche Welle, 29-Dec-2019)
- Iraq: US civilian killed in attack on military base (Deutsche Welle, 28-Dec-2019)
- Kataib Hezbollah / Iran-backed Iraqi militia vows revenge to US strikes (AP, 30-Dec-2019)
- Iraq condemns U.S. air strikes as unacceptable and dangerous (Reuters, 30-Dec-2019)
- Trump briefed by top aides on 'successful' U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, Syria (Reuters, 30-Dec-2019)
- US airstrikes kill 25 Iran-backed militia fighters in Iraq and Syria (Rudaw, Kurdistan, 29-Dec-2019)
- Iran Warns US of ‘Consequences’ After Airstrikes in Iraq, Syria (Epoch Times, 30-Dec-2019)
- Statement From Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Jonathan Hoffman (DoD, 30-Dec-2019)
- Iran Raps US Airstrikes on Iraq as Act of Terrorism (Tasnim, Tehran, 30-Dec-2019)
- Iran-backed Iraqi militia vows revenge after U.S. airstrikes (Canadian Broadcasting, 30-Dec-2019)
- How Israel airstrikes targeting Iranian militias in Iraq hurt the US-led anti-ISIS mission (Military Times, 20-Nov-2019)
- U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria hit sites linked to Iran (The Week, London, 30-Dec-2019)
- Iraqi PM Condemns 'Dangerous Escalation' as US Kills 25 With Airstrikes and Threatens Iran (Common Dreams, 30-Dec-2019)
- US airstrikes target Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria (Jerusalem Post, 30-Dec-2019)
- US envoy urges EU to ban Hezbollah after Iran militia kills American (Jerusalem Post, 28-Dec-2019)
Related Articles:
- Spiraling bloodbath in Iraq, as anti-Iran and anti-government riots spread (29-Nov-2019)
- Anti-Iran, anti-government protests spread across Iraq (03-Nov-2019)
- Massive anti-government street protests paralyze Lebanon (21-Oct-2019)
- Riots in Iraq's Basra evoke fault lines of 1980s Iran-Iraq war (09-Sep-2018)
- Iraqi Sunnis are turning against al-Qaeda in Iraq (01-Apr-2007)
- Massive Beirut explosion killing Rafiq Hariri puts Lebanon into state of shock (16-Feb-2005)
- President Harry Truman and the Truman Doctrine (19-Sep-2006)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Iraq, Iran,
Kataib Hezbollah, KH, Mohammed Mohieh, Hezbollah Brigades - Iraq,
Popular Mobilization Forces, PMF, Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC,
Lebanon, Hezbollah,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Mike Pompeo, Adel Abdul Mahdi, Russia, China,
Iran/Iraq war, Iranian Hostage Crisis,
Truman Doctrine
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
