Besieged by the Kataib Hezbollah militia Dec. 31, 2019, 73-year-old Donald Trump was determined to not repeat the Nov. 12, 2012 Benghazi, Libya attack that killed 52-year-old Amb. Christopher J. Stevens and two other U.S. contractors in Baghdad. Trump blamed former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton for the lax security to prevent the deadly attack on the U.S. consulate While there was plenty of blame to go around, former President Barack Obama backed a policy to topple Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, sending Libya into anarchy, killing 69-year-old Gaddafi Oct. 20, 2011, letting various Sunni and Shiite terrorist groups to flood Libya. Since Hillary was Obama’s Secretary of State , Republicans blamed her for the Libyan consulate attack, resulting in the death of three Americans. Instead of blaming Hillary directly for the consulate attack, Republicans were better off questioning Obama’s reckless foreign policy.
When U.S. marines pushed back today in Baghdad, anti-American demonstrators retreated from their attack on the U.S. embassy. Iraqi Prime Minister Abel Abdul-Mahdi backed off his earlier remarks, blaming the U.S. for ordering air strikes on the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia, despite claiming to be part of Iraq Defense Forces, a loose coalition of militia group aimed at attacking largely Sunni terror group, like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] and al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden’s terror group. Demonstrators at the embassy trying to batter through the embassy’s fortified door claimed Trump attacked Iraqis, not terrorists. Yet when Kataib Hezbollah missiles hit a U.S.-backed Iraqi military base Dec. 28, killing a U.S. contractor, Trump had no choice, blaming Iran for the attack. Militia groups in Iraq recruit local inhabitants to do the bidding of Iran to control Iraq, something that happened after Obama pulled U.S. troops out of Iraq Dec. 15, 2011.
Military analysts blame Obama for the rise of ISIS that eventually seized 33% of Iraq’s territory in 2014. ISIS’s late leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ran a muck for five years, killing thousands of Iraqis and Syrians, until his death from a U.S. airstrike Oct. 26, 2019. When you consider the Bagdad embassy attack could have been worse, Trump promised it wouldn’t turn into another Benghazi. Bagdad “will not be another Benghazi,” Trump said Dec. 31, ordering the Pentagon to send in reinforcements. Militants backed off when a new contingent of U.S. marines showed up at the scene, reminding terrorists that Trump would respond forcefully to any attack on U.S. interests. It’s been handled very well,” Trump said in his New Year’s greeting, thanking U.S. marines for responding so quickly. Trump said he would neve let Baghdad turn into another Benghazi, blaming Hillary obliquely for failing to provide enough security to prevent the 2011 terror attack.
Trump thanked the Iraqi government for also ridding the Green Zone near the U.S. embassy of anti-American protestors. If you listened to U.S. press, it indicated that al-Mahdi was disgusted with U.S. foreign policy. While condemning Trump’s air strikes that killed 25 Kataib Hezbollah militants, Al-Mahdi also assisted U.S. marines in clearing demonstrators out on the Green Zone. U.S. media said Trump’s actions drove Iraq closer to Iran, bringing up more anti-American sentiment. Al-Mahdi knows that without U.S. presence in Iraq, Baghdad was realistic target of Sunni or Shiite terror groups. Iraqis remember well when ISIS controlled some 33% of Iraq’s sovereign territory. Al-Mahdi knows that without U.S. help, ISIS would still hold Iraq’s oil fields in Kirkuk and Mosul. Trump’s rapid response in Iraq sent a loud message to Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that there would be military consequences to attacking U.S. interests in Iraq, Syria or anywhere in the Middle East.
Iran’s influence in Iraq was underscored by Iraq cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, once a bitter enemy of the U.S. during the first and second battles of Fallujah in 2004. Al-Sadr fled to Tehran and was give temporary asylum while pursued by U.S. forces. After the recent incident at Baghdad’s U.S. embassy, al-Sadr told Al-Mahdi that he should be doing more to reign in terror groups on Iraqi soil. Unlike the U.S. press, al-Sadr did not blame U.S. air strikes for bombing the Katab Hezbollah militia. While it’s true Iraqis were upset about 25 militants killed in U.S. airstrikes, they also know better than to attack U.S. assets. Trump won’t allow Baghdad to turn into another Benghazi but, more importantly, another Tehran U.S, embassy where Iran seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran , keeping 52 hostages 444 days before releasing them Jan. 20, 1981, the day President Ronald Reagan was sworn in. Baghada’s incident ended quickly when demonstrators faced superior force.
Lessons learned from Tehran and Benghazi enabled Trump to avoid the same mistakes of former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Obama. Reinforcing U.S. embassies in hostile parts of the world helps prevent the kind of incident that happened in Benghazi. Resolving the matter quickly, demonstrators found out that Trump means business when U.S. interests are attacked around the globe. When the crisis resolved quickly today, the U.S. press gave Trump none of the credit, continuing to blame him for the airstrikes that killed 25 Iraqi militants. Trump said he wants “peace” but won’t allow U.S. interests to be attacked with impunit. Of all the presidential candidates, Trump consistently wants peace, despite portrayed as a war monger by Democrats.. Since taking office Jan. 20, 2017, there has been no escalation of existing military activities or new wars under Trump’s watch. Trump emphasized today in his New Year’s greeting that he wants peace, even with Iran.
