Protesters shot while storming Green Zone in Baghdad

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 05/20/2016 - 12:00pm

Three weeks ago I pointed out that the Baghdad government was increasingly unstable.
Today the crisis peaked.

(Reuters) - Security forces fired tear gas and live bullets on Friday at protesters who stormed into Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, according to a Reuters witness and live video.
Witnesses said dozens of people were injured. The protesters included supporters of powerful Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and people from other groups who are displeased with the government’s failure to approve anti-corruption reforms and provide security.

At least 33 people were injured and three people may have been killed.
The Baghdad government is one of the ten most corrupt governments in the world.

Protesters managed to break into parliament and the office of Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Iraqi authorities have implemented a mandatory curfew in response to the breach, and have reportedly shut down all entrances into the capitol.

The unstable situation in Baghdad was already distracting attention from the War on ISIS. It's now certain to get worse.

In another sign of the challenge to liberate Mosul from ISIS, Col. Steve Warren, a military spokesman based in Baghdad, said 50 percent of the Iraqi security forces were in Baghdad to keep order amid recent uprisings against embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.

Not only will the war on ISIS continue into the next presidency, but if events keep spiraling out of control, the huge U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, and our roughly 5,000 troops in Iraq, might be in danger.

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Comments

Submitted by DonMidwest on Fri, 05/20/2016 - 1:17pm

What if hundreds of US troops killed in green zone?

Well, they might be contractors, and they might not count.

Obama sneaked in and out of Afghanistan under the cover of darkness. That was a line from Juan Cole that I used as the title of a diary a few years ago when he made the trip. I was zapped for saying bad things about the POTUS. In that diary I also said that after all the years in Iraq, the road from the airport to the city of Baghdad is still not secure. So much for security.

But this takes the cake. After spending about $1 billion on the most expensive embassy in the world, what if the US was unable to protect it? ISIS or others fly a few drones over and drop bombs?

Nick Turse has written about the escalation of special forces all around Africa and then later pointed out the growth of terrorist cells all around Africa.

Who could have known?

What if ISIS or some other group planned and executed a major, major assault on the Green Zone? That is kind of like the World Trade Center of hardened embassies.

What if the US could not protect any embassy in the world? With special ops forces in 130 countries, they could be deployed to protect buildings.

The possibilities are endless but our money is not and the empire could collapse even faster than it is now ....

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 05/20/2016 - 3:05pm

Iraq's government has been at a standstill since April 30

link

The current crisis has impeded the building of even basic understandings. Protesters stormed the parliament building on April 30 and parliament has not yet convened due to a boycott by many parliamentary blocs. Abadi's new ministers cannot attended cabinet meetings, having not been sworn into office yet.
Most parliamentary blocs are not convinced that they need to return to parliament, despite ongoing intense efforts by Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and Abadi to see the legislative body continue to operate and the new cabinet to take office. In a statement issued on May 8, Jabouri called on lawmakers to attend sessions and start their work, but did not specify a date for the holding of the next parliament session. The postponement of the latest scheduled session was attributed to a delay in "technical preparations" for the parliament building, yet the real reason is likely more complicated.

Submitted by gjohnsit on Fri, 05/20/2016 - 3:21pm

Invasion of Libya to happen "any day"

the more the better

After a week of rumblings that the US was preparing to arm and deploy Special Forces to Libya, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford said on Thursday that a military deployment to Libya could happen "any day."
...
“There will be a long-term mission in Libya,” said Dunford. In fact, US Special Forces have been on the ground in an advisory role since late last year.
But by backing the fledgling GNA, the US makes a risky political move. Despite being backed by the UN, neither the Libyan House of Representatives nor the General National Congress in Tripoli have fully accepted the GNA.
Additionally, US arms sent to Libya could eventually end up in the hands of the very terrorists they were meant to fight, as has happened in Syria and Iraq.