Reports of an attack on U.S. Coalition forces in Iraq are coming in. A sustained rocket barrage has struck the Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province according to Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman, Colonel Wayne Marotto. Forces on the ground stated that at least 10 rockets targeted the western Iraq military base that hosts the U.S. led coalition forces in the region Wednesday. Casualties are unknown at this time.
Ain al-Assad air base hosts both Iraqi forces and US-led coalition troops helping fight the Islamic State, as well as the unmanned drones used for targeted strikes. The drone that killed Iranian Quds Force Commander Major General Qasim Soleimani would have come from a forward base like Ain al-Assad. Soleimani was known to have supplied and led terrorist groups in the area against Coalition Forces, and led Iran’s intervention in the Syrian Civil War supporting Bashar al-Assad.
10 Indirect Fire rockets and Iraqi Security Forces are investigating.
— OIR Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto (@OIRSpox) March 3, 2021
The Iraqi military has released a statement saying that the attack “Did not cause significant losses and that security forces had found the launch pad used for the missiles.” An Iraqi military official speaking on condition of anonymity said they were found in the al-Baghdadi area of Anbar, according to the Associated Press.
Responses from Britain and Denmark to Attack…but Not Biden?
British and Danish forces are stationed in Anbar province as part of the U.S. led coalition and both governments have responded to the attacks. However, the Whitehouse is so far silent.
The AP reports,
“Despicable attacks against Ain al-Asad base in #Iraq are completely unacceptable,” Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod tweeted. The Danish armed forces said two Danes, who were in the camp at the time of the attack, are unharmed.
British Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey condemned the attack, saying it undermined the ongoing fight against the Islamic State group. “Coalition forces are in Iraq to fight Daesh at the invitation of the Iraqi government,” he tweeted, using the Arabic acronym for IS. “These terrorist attacks undermine the fight against Daesh and destabilize Iraq.”
Biden’s Airstrike Backfired
These attacks come just days after the Biden-Harris regime ordered airstrikes on the Al-Bukamal militia base located in eastern-Syria, supposedly in response to a smaller scale rocket strike in the Baghdad Green zone that left several injured. The US airstrike on Al-Bukamal left 17-22 militia fighters from Kait’ib Hezbollah and Kait’ib Sayyid al Shuhada dead according to various reports.
A state department spokesman stated immediately after that,
“What will not do is lash out and risk an escalation that plays into the hands of Iran and contributes to their attempts to further destabilize Iraq.”
Objectively, this effort has failed and clearly backfired. Biden’s airstrike in Syria had indeed invited a larger, more precise rocket attack on a more strategically valuable target. And this latest attack absolutely signals an escalation in the region following the Biden-Harris regime’s impulsive response to a comparatively minor rocket attack that resulted in no casualties.
US Forces in Iraq were in the process of drawing down under President Trump and handing off control to local Iraqi forces, having withdrawn from several bases throughout and concentrating forces at Ain al-Assad airbase. This places American-led forces in the region into a now more vulnerable position thanks to this misstep by the Biden government.
A government seemingly intent on drawing the US back into the middle east and reversing Trump’s progress toward peace made under the Abraham accords.
