On Sunday, the United States conducted a series of airstrikes against sites in Iraq and Syria supposedly under control of a Shiite militia group supported by the government of Iran. But on Tuesday morning, protesters enraged by those airstrikes surrounded the U.S. embassy and set fire to a sentry box. In a scene that might have been lifted from 1979, dozens of protesters broke into the embassy compound itself, throwing bottles at embassy guards, while hundreds more surrounded the compound chanting "Down, down USA.”
As ABC News reports, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq was not in the building as the protesters encircled the area. Officials are preparing to evacuate the remaining staff.
The U.S. airstrikes came after a series of rockets were launched at an Iraqi base where several U.S. soldiers and contractors were present. One contractor was killed, and four soldiers were wounded. Donald Trump placed blame for the contractor’s death on Iran and said that the missiles fired by F-15 fighter jets represented a “strong response” to that action. A spokesperson from the Kataib Hezbollah militia indicated that the strikes killed 25 and wounded 20 others.
On Tuesday, Trump responded to the protests by again blaming Iran, which, he says, “is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.” Trump also issued a warning to the government of Iraq that he expected that nation to “use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”
Half an hour before the airstrikes on Sunday, the U.S. contacted the Iraqi prime minister to make him aware of the impending action. Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi responded by strongly objecting and insisting that the U.S. call off the strikes. Abdul-Mahdi called the U.S. action a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and worried that it could spark a conflict with Iran. However, the U.S. strike went ahead over his objections. It is unclear how willing Iraq is to risk its forces in a confrontation over an attack it did not endorse. It’s equally unclear how Trump will react should Iraq fail to protect the U.S. embassy.
Many of those now gathered outside the embassy in Baghdad are dressed in militia garb, and there seems to be little effort to control the situation. At least one member of the gathered crowd threatened to kill “every single employee” inside the embassy. The situation is, to say the very least, volatile.