Iraq’s president, Abdul Latif Rashid, and the prime minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, warned against Iraq becoming an arena of regional conflict.
By Juan Cole, Informed Comment
The Biden administration launched 85 air strikes on Friday against small bases of the Party of God Brigades (Kata’ib Hizbullah), an Iraqi Shiite militia active in Iraq and Syria. The organization is likely the culprit in Sunday’s drone strike against the Tower 22 US base in the far north of Jordan on the border with Syria. The communique issued by something calling itself “the Islamic Resistance in Iraq” said that the strike had been in the cause of “resisting the American occupation forces in Iraq and the region, and in response to the massacres of the Zionist entity against our people in Gaza.”
Sot al-Iraq, an independent Baghdad daily, reported that the US counter-strike on Qaim on the border of Iraq and Syria killed two civilians and wounded 5 other people.
Although US military analysts and spokesmen will say that the US air strikes are aimed at degrading the militia’s capabilities and at deterring it from future such attacks, it isn’t very likely that either goal will be achieved in this way. Bombing guerrilla groups from 30,000 feet is as close to a futile military tactic as you can get. It is not as though these light, mobile forces were likely sitting around in their known bases and hideouts, oblivious that the US was coming for them.
Recent Posts
Butterflies And Batons: The Dog Star Rises Over American Campuses
May 11, 2024
Take Action Now “Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?” We know the answer now. By RJ Eskow, The Zero Hour “The dog-star rages,” wrote the poet…
Students Confront UVa President Jim Ryan, Demand Answers After Police Crackdown On Protesters
May 10, 2024
Take Action Now Ryan walked into the room Thursday expecting a meeting with a student organization. That’s not what he found. By Jason…
IRS Now Targeting People Who Threaten Washington’s “Ability To Govern”
May 10, 2024
Take Action Now The tax agency could now target protesters, broad new guidelines suggest By Ken Klippenstein, KenKlippenstein.com The Internal…
War Culture Hates The Ethical Passion Of The Young
May 9, 2024
Take Action Now In the Thrall of a Dominant Death Culture By Norman Solomon, Tom Dispatch Persisting in his support for an unpopular war, the…