Who saw this coming? Anyone familiar with the region, that's who. Anyone and everyone who works on the Joint Staff planning and ops cells has some experience with what went on in Iraq from about 2005 to present. This was a known risk.
The war in the Middle East is pushing the U.S. military back into combat in Iraq against an old foe—Iran-backed militia groups that two decades ago battled American troops on the streets of Baghdad. Iraqi militias have attempted dozens of small-scale drone and rocket attacks since the war began in a show of support for Tehran, including against a U.S. military base and consulate in northern Iraq and a State Department facility at the Baghdad International Airport. On Saturday, rockets targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called a “terrorist act” by “rogue groups.”
The U.S. said Sunday it has been carrying out attacks against the militias, acknowledging that the war in Iran is spilling over into neighboring Iraq and drawing American forces back into a place where they spent years fighting insurgents and endured heavy casualties after the 2003 invasion that deposed Saddam Hussein.
“We have conducted operations in Iraq as part of Operation Epic Fury, but it’s in defense of U.S. troops as they’ve come under attack by Iran-aligned militia groups,” said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the region. Epic Fury is the operation name for the Iran campaign.
The tactics are a significant shift for the Pentagon, which has mostly avoided targeting Iraqi militias in recent years, seeking to disengage from a painful conflict once and for all.
Iraqi officials say there have been multiple airstrikes apparently by U.S. warplanes on militia strongholds, including at bases near the towns of Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad, and al-Qaim, along the Iraqi-Syria border. Both locations have been used for years as depots for weapons supplied by Iran and to launch attacks at U.S. bases in Syria and Jordan.
The conflict is trying to spread...
Also, this has been making the rounds. Add grains of salt as needed.