Reports And AnalysisBreakingThe Iraqi ResistanceThe American Response
2024-02-03 10:54Font
Shafaq News / The “resistance” factions in Iraq are preparing to turn to the third phase of the conflict with the United States of America by responding to sources of fire by targeting their bases in neighboring countries or that embrace American forces.
It comes after the United States, at 11 o’clock on Friday evening, began the first round of U.S. retaliation for the killing of 3 soldiers in the Jordan attack.
U.S. fighter jets began launching strikes in areas of Iraq and Syria, and lasted for more than two hours, at a time when US President Joe Biden warned that these strikes would continue.
These strikes on Iraqi security sites in the areas of Akashat and Al-Qaim, west of Anbar province, led to 16 victims and 25 injuries, including civilians.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani directed, on Saturday, the announcement of general mourning in all state departments and institutions, in order to have mercy on the lives of the victims from the armed forces and civilians.
Switching to the third stage
In this context, the spokesman for the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, Sheikh Kazem Al-Fartousi, says that “the targetings that affected the popular crowd and civilians are not a stranger to the occupier and the American enemy, and this is a part of the ongoing war between us and the occupier.”
On the news that spoke about Jordan’s participation in the implementation of these strikes, Al-Fartousi explains to Shafaq News that “a clear and clear message was delivered to these countries that embrace American bases and participate in targeting Iraq such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, with the possibility of turning to the third stage, which is to respond to the sources of fire by targeting US bases located on their territory, and we are able to do so, as evidenced of our arrival at the port of Ashdod and Haifa.”
According to some information, on Saturday, F-16s belonging to the Royal Jordanian Air Force participated in the U.S.-led airstrikes last night.
This was likely in response to the drone attack that took place against a US base on the Jordanian border, known as “Tower 22,” in late January, press sources said.
The sources pointed to the Jordanian planes joining after their targets were identified, according to the Wall Street Journal, and pointed out that Jordan’s role came to show solidarity with the United States in the wake of the drone raid on Tower 22, a military site in Jordan near the Syrian border.
But an official military source at the General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces, said on Saturday, that the Royal Jordanian Air Force did not participate in the airstrikes carried out by the US Air Force inside Iraqi territory.
The source said, according to the official Jordanian agency Petra, that “there is no truth in the press reports that were circulated this morning about the participation of Jordanian aircraft in the operations carried out by US aircraft inside Iraq.”
The source stressed that “the Jordanian armed forces – the Arab army, respect the sovereignty of brotherly Iraq,” stressing “the depth of brotherly relations that bring Jordan with all Arab countries.”
An attempt to stir sedion between countries
For his part, Jordanian writer and political analyst Amer Al-Tal says that “the American strikes are show, as President Biden needs to save the face of the United States of America in front of the American public as he is running the election race.”
Al-Tal believes in an interview with Shafaq News that “the United States of America does not need the Jordanian Air Force to launch strikes, it has enough and is able to hit any area you want, so this talk comes within an attempt to fragment the region politically and morally by provoking strife between the surrounding countries.”
Taking American troops out of the region in general
In turn, the deputy for the Sadiqun bloc, Mohammed Al-Baldawi, confirms that “what the United States of America has done and its agents in the region by bombing and targeting Iraqi territory, violating Iraq’s sovereignty and elevating this good three of martyrs indicates the treachery and cowardice of these actions, and indicates the great danger that threatens the world because of the American presence in this region.”
Al-baladawi adds to Shafaq News that “these criminal acts confirm the need to remove American forces from the region and not only from Iraq, to maintain the security and stability of this region.”
He explains, “The Gulf region is the heart of the beating world and its source of power is located in Iraq, and that the survival of these forces threatens the security and stability of Iraq and the region, so these criminal acts that try to drag the world into a new war must be stopped,” stressing that “the House of Representatives is supportive of the government by removing American forces from Iraqi territory.”
The presidency of the Iraqi Council of Representatives expressed its strong condemnation of the American aggression on the Iraqi security positions in the areas of Okashat and Al-Qaim at dawn today, and neighboring civilian places, which led to 16 victims and (25) injuries, including civilians.
The presidency confirmed in a statement that “the House of Representatives is determined to hold an extraordinary (emergency) session in the coming days, to identify the recurrence of American attacks on the country, and to put an end to the violations by the international coalition forces of the sovereignty and lives of Iraqis,” noting that “the repetition of American targets of Iraqi security headquarters is a great disregard that cannot be accepted.”
“The situation is out of control”
For his part, political analyst Ali Al-Sahib says that “the American strikes are a blatant attack on the sovereignty of Iraq, and as long as there is an occupying power trying to impose its domination on the Middle East in general and the Gulf region in particular, these strikes will remain, which will confuse the political scene in the region in general.”
Al-Sabib continues his talk to Shafaq News, that “the Iraqi-American crisis has begun to worsen, as the armed factions consider the American presence a serious intervention that must be removed, while American forces refuse to leave the country, at a time when the Iraqi government is trying to calm the situation, but it seems that the situation is out of its control.”
He stresses the importance of “taking a serious pause from Iraqi diplomacy to denounce the American presence, and send strongly worded messages to the US ambassador and file a complaint even to the Security Council, because these attacks have fell in them many martyrs and terrified citizens.”
Speaking about the White House National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, to inform the Iraqi government before launching the airstrikes, the political analyst considered that they “lies that America fabricate to shake the Iraqi political reality, and create sedition between society or the citizen and his government.”
He explains, “The United States wants to convey a message of this claim to political parties or society, that the Iraqi government is in solidarity with it in these targets, and this is not the first time that the US administration has claimed that its operations have been completed with the approval of the Iraqi government, but this is contrary to reason, because the sovereignty of Iraq is the responsibility of the government and the state as a whole.”
The Iraqi government spokesman on behalf of Al-Awadi denied that there was prior coordination between Baghdad and Washington on strikes by US forces targeting security forces positions in the western province of Anbar.
In turn, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry summoned the charge d’affaires of the United States Embassy in Baghdad, in protest against what it called the “American aggression” that targeted Iraqi military and civilian sites.
According to a State Department statement, reported to Shafaf News, the ministry will summon the charge d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, David Berker, because US Ambassador Alina Romanowski is not present.
According to the statement, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry Berker will hand over an official protest note regarding the “American attack” that affected military and civilian sites in the areas of Akashat and Al-Qaim on Friday evening.
Warnings of counterattacks
In a related context, the professor of political science at George Washington University, Dr. Nabil Michael, “an escalation of the military scene and the war operations currently conducted by America in both Syria and Iraq, which will lead to a kind of instability, and US strikes may lead to counterattacks, especially in Iraq.”
Speaking to Shafaq News, Mikhail describes the U.S. response as “abnormal because it creates a state of war and makes Biden a president of war,” likely “continued strikes against pro-Iran militias in Syria, with Hezbollah opening a front in Lebanon.”
Early on Saturday morning, the U.S. Army Central Command reported that its forces had carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria targeting positions of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.
U.S. military forces hit more than 85 targets with several aircraft containing long-range bombers launched from the United States, the command said in a statement today.
According to the statement, the airstrikes used more than 125 precision-guided munitions, noting that the targets included command and control headquarters, intelligence centers, missile stores, darves, munitions and logistics of militias and the Revolutionary Guards.
US President Joe Biden had directed the military forces to strike targets in Iraq and Syria that are used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and its militias to attack American forces, he said, stressing that although the United States does not seek an escalation in the Middle East, it will inevitably respond to those who harm the Americans.
‘A futility war leads to disaster’
For his part, the writer and political researcher, Kifah Mahmoud, says that “Iraq’s absurd war while it is out of a group of wars that destroyed its economy and its opportunities for progress and increased the rate of poverty and unemployment, not to mention its great impact on the psychology of society over decades, will lead the country to a disaster with the presence of armed groups outside the law and tampering with peace and security of society.”
Mahmoud adds to Shafaq News that “the militias are expected and know the results of this, but it seems that the war is their source of livelihood and the legitimacy of its existence, especially as it uses Palestine as a hager for its behavior,” he said.
“What is going on is a great challenge to the Sudanese government, which the militias are working to thwart and thwart its program that it promised the people,” the writer said.
U.S. and international coalition forces in Iraq and Syria have been subjected to more than 165 attacks since mid-October, many of which have adopted the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” an alliance of Iran-backed armed factions that oppose U.S. support for Israel in the Gaza war and the presence of US troops in the region.
Washington responded to previous attacks with a series of strikes in Iraq targeting pro-Iranian groups.
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