There is no proof that Iran is behind the protests in Iraq

[malaise]

The Iraqi people want the illegal invaders and occupants out of their homeland.
You can't cheer on Hong King and condemn the protests in Iraq.
The protests in Iraq have been going on for months. They only reached the US embassy because of the Con's airstrikes on the weekend.

Pay attention and do not let Don the Con or the neo-con media hacks confuse you.

[braddy]

1. The Washington Post has identified 3 pro-Iran militia leaders as leading the attacks, right now I

would not dismiss Iran from this.

[gab13by13]

5. Read what you wrote; pro-Iranian,

the Houthis in Yemen are also pro-Iranian.

We killed Iraqis, we didn't kill Iranians.

[braddy]

7. These Iranian agents leading these attacks are part of the rest of the Iranian supporting attacks

we have been enduring this year. The Iranians are very active in this form of warfare.

I'm not ready to believe that this is just mourners demonstrating.

[gab13by13]

9. Who are "we" are you a Sunni?

The solution to Iraq, which is majority Shia, is to bring back Saddam Hussein from the dead. Put the blame where it belongs, Dick Cheney invaded Iraq and killed the leader of their country which put Iraq in turmoil.

If we want Iraq to become a democracy then why wouldn't the majority, the Shias, have majority control?

[FBaggins]

16. Sorry... that doesn't make sense

I'm sympathetic to the notion that anything Trump does must be the opposite of what should happen... but your post is internally inconsistent.

How could the "solution" for majority-Shia Iraq be to bring back a Sunni dominated regime that brutalized the Shia?

[gab13by13]

22. I agree with you but my point is

that the Shias are the majority in Iraq and Trump is conflating being Shia to being Iranian. Iraq is its own country, so what if the Shias in Iraq are pro-Iranian? Why does that give Trump the right to kill Shias?

[ewagner]

23. That confused me also...

My understanding is that Iraq is majority Shia but Saddam was Sunni and discriminated against the Shia....hence the constant resentment AND the brutal war with Iran.

Is that accurate?

[KG]

2. no reason to believe the u.s. govt, under any admin. when it comes to whats going on in the m.e.

[rampartc]

3. +1

war would be a great diversion from impeachment and could juice up the economy as well.

does that really justify death and destruction.

[Grokenstein]

12. "Hell yeah! No-bid contracts for all my money-laundering buds!"

/snark

[malaise]

18. That simple

Happy New Year to you and yours

[rzemanfl]

29. Or here under this one. n/t

[panader0]

4. So true.

It would be okay with me if the whole of the Middle East nations and Europe
too were behind the protests. The whole world knows that the USA
committed a horrible crime by invading Iraq in the first place. Lie
after lie led to the "shock and awe" and the hundreds of thousands of
deaths and refugee crises.
Recommended.

[gab13by13]

6. There are a heck of a lot

of pro-Iranian militias in Iraq because the fucking country is majority Shiite. Are we giving the ok for Trump to wipe out all of the Shia militias in Iraq? That's a lot of people. As a matter of fact Trump had better start worrying about the 5,600 troops we have in Iraq who are outnumbered by those militias. Trump had better start worrying about the embassy employees who are huddled in safe rooms right now.


Trump had better start worrying about the troops we have in Syria also, because they are outnumbered by Shia militias.

[DanieRains]

10. Trump Worries About Trump

Nothing else.

[Martin Eden]

17. Beat me to it

This ignorant narcissistic sociopath has zero concern about anything other than feeding his own ego, lust, and greed.

If Iraq descends into a worse region of hell than the one Bush 43 plunged it into, IMPOTUS 45 will simply spin false narratives to blame Iran and make himself look good.

Unfortunately, bootlickers and warmongers will back him up.

[ewagner]

24. Trump worries about Trump...and Saudi Arabia

The Saudis have the money he wants. They've bailed out Jared and they have deals going with Trump...


and

the Saudi's are Sunni...not Shia....Iran is their mortal enemy so that's what's pushing Tump...Saudi money = protecting Saudi interests.

[brewens]

8. That marine special response team was created under Obama. It should be noted that is

why it is available to Trump. Before Benghazi, no previous president had felt a unit like that was necessary.

[gab13by13]

11. I have zero problem with those marines

defending our embassy. I have a problem with Trump and the MSM conflating people who are Shias with being Iranian. The US picked a side during the surge, we allied ourselves with the Sunnis, why else would we have troops protecting Saudi oil fields?

[Aussie105]

13. The iran/iraq/middle east scenario

is so convoluted, and so open to misinterpretation and misinformation from the US itself, that no one knows what is going on.

Personally, I believe that US boots on foreign soil are a bad thing. I challenge the US government to come out with a clear list of positive reasons for the expenditure of US government money and putting US personnel in harm's way.

[HissyFit]

14. As I sit here with my coffee,

I cannot help being quite pessimistic about 2020. News reports here on this bright, sunny New Year's Day are troubling. I have several family members on active military duty, so this growing unrest in Iraq is very disturbing. Our continued military presence in that country just ensures more unrest. More U.S. troops heading to the Middle East... Heart wrenching pictures out of Australia. Clemson is in The National Championship game again, and Agent Orange is still President...and this is only Day 1.

[Maribelle]

15. But we do have ample proof Trump cannot be believed about anything.

But what a tangled mess he weaves when all the while he attempts to deceive!

[Vinca]

19. Don wants to drop a bomb on someone so he'll have something to crow about

on the campaign trail. It appears he's settled on Iran. It doesn't seem to phase him that he's picking on a rattlesnake.

[modrepub]

20. House of Saud

It's pretty easy to understand why the Shiites in Iraq would roughly align with Iran based on their common form of Islam. The Saudis have generally held the flag of the majority Sunni branch of Islam by their control of the Holy cites of Mecca and Medina and have always expressed their hatred of Shiite factions in the ME. Trump has openly shown which side of this religious battle they prefer (but note nary a mention that the Islamic State expressed their preference to the Wahhabi strain that the house of Saud openly supports). This administration doesn't seem to understand, and neither do most American politicians as far as I can tell, that they may be supporting the more extreme faction of Islam via their support for the House of Saud (remember which brand of Islam the people who flew the planes into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon followed).

[ewagner]

25. Bingo!!! n/t

[gab13by13]

26. Well said,

Trump doesn't know the difference between Sunni, Wahhabi, and Shiite. What Trump knows is that the Saudis spent/spend a lot of money buying space at Trump Tower, SA put Trump Tower in the black, and the Saudis let Trump touch the glowing orb. Why else do we have troops protecting Saudi oil fields?

What bothers me is that pretty much every Shia in Iraq is most likely pro-Iran, but does that give Trump the right to kill them?

[crickets]

32. Excellent points. nt

[uponit7771]

37. +1,

[superpatriotman]

21. Kick

[Iliyah]

27. These . . .

illegal corrupt persons in the WH, off the hall pentagon personnel, unpatriotic Republicans, are doing that same damn thing that the last fucked up Republican administration did, and once again using Iraq, this time moving forward to strike Iran. There was a reason for all the military build up in Saudi Arabia.

[NCjack]

28. What is Putin telling Useful-Idiot-#45? That is the proof. nt

[usaf-vet]

30. But could be weapons of mass destruction Somewhere north, south, east or west of who knows?

I have this uneasy feeling this might have something to do with BOLTON! He is and has been one of the biggest hawks when it comes to Iran.

I can see the tRump folks stirring up Iran trouble to maybe appease Bolton and get him to think well maybe just maybe this could be the start of my dream best stay mum on what I know about Ukraine.

How's that for starting off the NEW YEAR with a conspiracy theory...... or not.

[malaise]

31. Had the same thought

Bomb Iran and I'll keep quiet

[uponit7771]

38. +1,

[GoCubsGo]

33. Yep. I never believed it for a minute.

Fat Nixon says Iran is behind it, but EVERYTHING he says is a goddamn lie. I wouldn't put it past him and his thugs to stage their own version of the Gleiwitz Incident, just so they have an excuse for a wag-the-dog war with Iran.

[roody]

34. I knew from the adjectives in the reporting

that the news stories are not trustworthy.

[scarletwoman]

35. Thank you for posting this, I totally agree! Brava!

[malaise]

39. Watching them suggest that the people outside the embassy

are not about Iraqi nationalism is sad but comical.
Joe Scum is back to his true self.

Happy New Year

[uponit7771]

40. +1

[Sewa]

42. How many times did they say Iranian Proxy

It was used in almost every sentence that was spoke in the first segment

[malaise]

44. I turned it off and went for my morning walk

Happy New Year

[scarletwoman]

43. Happy New Year to you, too!

U.S. news media seem to operate under the assumption that the U.S. "owns" Iraq - it can't conceive of Iraqis as autonomous actors in their own land.

[malaise]

45. Iraq?

You mean this planet and the universe itself

[Aristus]

36. The proof is still undergoing the manufacturing process.

[scarytomcat]

41. now that is the truth

[mathematic]

46. The protests that have been going on for months in iraq have nothing to do with the US

Those protests were not sectarian and not aimed at the united states. I heard this directly from participants in a gathering of people from the middle east or with family from there that was raising awareness of the iraqi protests.

Why do you believe that the iraqi protests over the last few months have been directed at the united states? Is this just a general anti-american bias or have you been talking to iraqi immigrants too?

[malaise]

47. I posted about the protests in Iraq weeks ago

You are correct - nowhere then or here did I say that the Iraqi protests were directed at the United States. The attacks on the embassy were a direct response to the killing of Iraqis by US forces during an air strike a few days ago.