In response to the recent escalation in Iraq, President Trump has ordered thousands more US troops to neighboring Kuwait. "At the direction of the Commander in Chief, I have authorized the deployment of an infantry battalion from the Immediate Response Force (IRF) of the 82nd Airborne Division to the US Central Command area of operations in response to recent events in Iraq," Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said in a written statement Dec. 31. "Approximately 750 soldiers will deploy to the region immediately, and additional forces from the IRF are prepared to deploy over the next several days," Central Command also said that a detachment from the Kuwait-based Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force will be deployed to the US embassy in Baghdad to reinforce security. (Military Times [12])
What's particularly maddening is that this is being done in reaction to a situation being almost universally mis-reported in the media. Nearly all coverage (CNN [13], NBC [14], BBC [15], Al Jazeera [16]) is saying the US embassy in Baghdad was attacked by "protesters." It was attacked by Asaib Ahl al-Haq [17]—the Iran-backed pro-government militia that has been massacring protesters.
The US and Iran are playing a geostrategic game [18] for control of Iraq, and the greater region. Both sides are treating the Iraqi people as pawns. As long as ISIS and Sunni jihadists remain a threat, Washington and Tehran can only push things so far. But things could still escalate toward US war with Iran, even if neither side is seeking that outcome. We don't put it past Trump to blunder into a war with Iran through poorly played brinkmanship.
