RTWed, 08 Jan 2020 18:29 UTC
© Reuters/Alaa al-MarjaniIraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
Influential Iraqi cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr has declared the "crisis" between the US and Iran over, following statements from the two countries' leaders in the wake of Tuesday's Iranian strikes on US bases in Iraq.
Al-Sadr made his pronouncement on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump gave a relatively subdued speech praising Iran's restraint. Rather than call for retaliation against Iran over a strike that didn't kill any Americans, Trump merely vowed to impose even more sanctions on the Islamic Republic "until Iran changes its behavior."
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in turn vowed to eventually kick all US troops "out of the region" as the "final answer" to the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, killed in a US airstrike last week.
Shia religious leader al-Sadr also called on Iraqi militias to be "patient" and not begin any military actions, claiming that a new "strong" government capable of protecting Iraq's sovereignty would be formed in 15 days and hold early elections. However, Iraq should still evict the foreign troops inside its borders, he said.
The Iraqi foreign ministry condemned Iran's missile attack on the coalition bases, declaring it a "violation of Iraqi sovereignty" in a statement on Wednesday and emphasizing Iraq was an "independent state. We will not allow it to become a battlefield," the ministry added.
Iraqi PM Adel Abdul Mahdi stepped down last month after months of massive protests calling for electoral reforms. He has remained in a "caretaker" role while Iraq's political leaders attempt to move forward. Another prominent Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, warned last month that "foreign interference" in the process would not be tolerated.
Comment: UPDATE 9th Jan 21:00 CETFormer Congressman Ron Paul
comments on the current state of the situation:
It's "not totally unlike Trump to make a lot of noise" and then ultimately "back off a bit" when it comes to handling international conflicts — but that doesn't mean the dangers have passed, former congressman Ron Paul told RT.
Trump backed away from the idea of striking Iran in a much-anticipated address on Wednesday, as the two nations seemed to be on the brink of war over the US killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani. He did, however, double down on promises of more crippling sanctions.
Paul told RT that while Trump's decision not to escalate militarily was positive, problems and dangers still exist because the president has "too many neocons around him trying to aggravate things."
He also called US sanctions on Iran an "act of war" in themselves, and said that Americans would be outraged if another country engaged in economic warfare and blockades against Washington. "There's a war going on" already through sanctions, he said.
Paul reiterated his long-standing view that the US should pull its troops out of Iraq and said that the US's "monstrosity of an embassy" in Baghdad was just "provoking" people into attacks on US personnel.
The former congressman and libertarian said that the US should be "very engaged" in the world, but through diplomacy and trade, rather than military aggression.
He also said the narrative of Iran as the aggressor or initiating force behind recent tensions is misleading, because in its position it simply "can't afford to be" an aggressor.
RT
reports that, although Iran gave the US advanced warning of its intent to strike particular US bases - notably those holding arms, and not troops - a US general is still claiming that Iran was 'shooting to kill':
Although no one died in the Iranian missile strikes on US bases in Iraq, in part due to advance warning from Tehran, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he personally believed that Iran intended otherwise.
"I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, that [the strikes] were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft, and to kill personnel," Army General Mark Milley told reporters on Wednesday.
"That's my own personal assessment," he added. "But the analytics is in the hands of professional intelligence analysts. So they're looking at that."
Milley did not elaborate whether those were the same analysts who "assessed" the truthfulness of the now-debunked 'Russiagate,' or the equally phantom existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, used to justify the 2003 invasion.
The overnight attacks on Al-Asad airbase and Erbil involved over a dozen ballistic missiles, fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in revenge for the US drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani, one of the IRGC's top commanders.
The Iraqi government confirmed that it had received advance warning about the strikes from Iran, enabling US troops to take precautionary measures and activate their "finest in the world" air defenses. No lives were lost as a result.
Both Iran and the US declared victory and stood down on Wednesday morning, with US President Donald Trump describing the outcome as "a good thing for all parties concerned."
It was a stunning turn from Tuesday's hard line championed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and not everyone at the Pentagon seems happy about it, if Milley's comments are anything to go by.
'Worst military briefing ever'
Pentagon officials sent to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on the almost-war apparently didn't do too well either. Emerging from the classified briefing, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) gave a blistering denunciation of what he heard as "probably the worst briefing I've seen, at least on a military issue," adding that the military could not name a single instance in which they would feel it necessary to ask for congressional approval.
Exact details of the briefing are classified, but Lee hinted that the military apparently told lawmakers that they could not debate or discuss the strike that killed Soleimani, or whether a military intervention against Iran was legal, as that would signal division and weakness to Tehran.
"It is not acceptable for officials within the executive branch of government...to come in and tell us that we can't debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against Iran," Lee fumed afterward. "It's un-American. It's unconstitutional and it's wrong."
Lee and fellow Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said the briefing convinced them to change their mind and support the War Powers resolution proposed by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Hillary Clinton's 2016 running mate.
Iraq's Foreign Ministry
intends to summon the Iranian ambassador over the missile strikes:
"The foreign ministry rejects these attacks and considers them a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. It stresses that Iraq is an independent state and that its internal security is its priority. We will not allow it to become a battlefield," the ministry said in a statement.
Commenting on the attacks, the office of Iraqi President Barham Saleh condemned the missile strikes, while saying in a statement that Iraq "has previously declared its refusal to be a starting point for aggression against any country, and also refuses to be a source of threat to any of its neighbours.
In an interview Mike Pence claims that
Iran has asked militias not to target Americans - which is odd because Iran has not and never intended to create American casualties:
Vice President Mike Pence in an interview said the United States has received intelligence indicating that Iran has asked militias not to target Americans in the wake of the killing of commander Qesem Soleimani.
"We're receiving some encouraging intelligence that Iran is sending messages to those very same militias not to move against American targets or civilians. And we hope that that message continues to echo," Pence told CBS News on Wednesday.
See also:
Iran vows to expel US but not kill its soldiers, Trump wants NATO to replace US troops and has suspicions about Ukrainian plane crash
I used to support Trump when he campaigned on a foreign policy that seeks to correct mistakes of the past, but now that he's a gone full NeoCon (most likely because they have a knife to his neck in the form of impeachment), I'm more than done. The entire govt. is completely dirty. The only ones with anything sane to say are Tulsi Gabbard and Rand Paul