Trump Admin May Deploy 4,000 Troops to Middle East After U.S. Embassy Attack In Iraq
The Iranian-provoked attack at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq took the world by storm. President Donald Trump has already threatened to hit Iran where it hurts most – likely regarding their oil supplies.
We’ll have to wait to see how this all plays out and, first and foremost, how this whole situation came about, seemingly out of thin air. Really, what the heck happened to cause this?
Until then, military troops are on high alert. As many as 4,000 could be headed back to the Middle East. Here’s what’s up, via Fox News:
The U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division’s alert brigade has been issued orders to deploy rapidly to Kuwait amid the unrest in Baghdad, three U.S. defense officials told Fox News on Tuesday.
At least 750 paratroopers are set to deploy to the region immediately, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a statement.
Videos from earlier in the day…
VIDEO: AH-64 Apaches protect @USEmbBaghdad. 🚁“We have taken appropriate force protection actions to ensure the safety of American citizens…and to ensure our right of self-defense. We are sending additional forces to support our personnel at the Embassy.”~@EsperDoD 🇺🇸🇮🇶 pic.twitter.com/amABHBAOcL
— OIR Spokesperson (@OIRSpox) December 31, 2019
#BREAKING : UNCONFIRMED reports of Kata'ib Hezbollah's protesters burning the outside wall of the U.S Embassy in #Baghdadpic.twitter.com/244CCn07x1
— حسن سجواني 🇦🇪 Hassan Sajwani (@HSajwanization) December 31, 2019
JUSTin : Electrical and communication cabins supplied to the US embassy building torched while embassy staff are still inside. !! https://t.co/KaBaGUi8iw
— حسن سجواني 🇦🇪 Hassan Sajwani (@HSajwanization) December 31, 2019
The alert brigade of roughly 4,000 paratroopers, known as the DRB — the Deployment Ready Brigade — has been told to prepare for a possible deployment in the days ahead after hundreds of Iranian-backed militiamen tried to storm the U.S. embassy in Baghdad Tuesday.
Within that alert brigade, three rifle battalions had a certain alert sequence, 18 hours, 36 hours and 54 hours for the third. The entire brigade had a 96-hour alert window to deploy.
Ultimately, the US embassy in Iraq came under siege by throngs of violent protesters, with gunfire and large-scale fires breaking out en masse.
The demonstration was a repercussion of two previous events: A rocket attack by the aforementioned Iran-backed militia that killed an American contractor and wounded several US soldiers, followed by an airborne US retaliation that saw the demise of over two dozen of these violent actors.