Al-Zamili continued, saying that "our ranks must be closed, because the enemy is preparing to eradicate and eliminate us, and we must not give in to the United States but rather must draw up plans confront it." (Photo Credit: Creative Commons)
Provoked by Trump's Crazed Attack, Shiite Militias Threaten US Military
In an angry Tweet, al-Khazali said that Iraqis were a courageous and competitive people, and their response to the US will not be of less severity than that of Iran.
According to al-Bina', Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (the Movement of the Nobles of the Party of God), led by Akram al-Kaabi, thanked Iran because it "once again helped Iraq to regain its sovereignty and prestige by targeting the bases of the evil occupying American forces on the usurped lands of our country in revenge for our dear guest Qasem Soleimani." This Iran-backed militia forms part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a kind of Iraqi National Guard, but it also fights Sunni fundamentalists in Syria. Its leadership was thinking Iran for sending ballistic missiles on Iraqi bases that host US troops.
The movement's official spokesman, Nasr Al-Shammari, warned American soldiers in Iraq, saying: "Do not close your eyes, for the revenge of the martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is inevitably coming at the hands of the Iraqis, until the last American soldier is expelled." In February of 2019, the US had designated the al-Nujaba' a terrorist organization.
On Sunday January 5, the Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdulmahdi asked parliament to vote to expel US troops from Iraq, and the country's legislature did so vote by a majority. This vote was not, as US officials keep saying, "advisory." It was a vote of the parliament, and that body asked the prime minister to implement it in the executive branch.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Trump himself have insisted that US troops won't be withdrawn from Iraq because "the Iraqi people" want them there. I'm not sure where Esper and Trump are finding "Iraqi people" to overrule the elected Iraqi government. But the fact is that if the Iraqi government wants US troops out, they will have to leave or face legal liabilities for any deaths they cause. They could even be prosecuted in US courts in the absence of a Status of Forces Agreement.
Likewise, Qais al-Khazali, the head of the League of the Righteous (Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq), a radical Shiite militia in Iraq that forms part of the PMF, called Wednesday for Iraqi militia attacks on US troops in Iraq to match those of Iran in revenge of the Trump administration murder of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the PMF or Shiite militias. On Tuesday evening, Iran fired some 25 ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases that house US troops, but appear to have been careful to produce no casualties.
The Iraqi parliament in early 2018 recognized the PMF as part of the Iraqi military, and its line of command goes up to Prime Minister Adil Abdulmahdi. This week the United States branded the League of the Righteous a terrorist group and made al-Khazali a "designated global terrorist."
In an angry Tweet, al-Khazali said that Iraqis were a courageous and competitive people, and their response to the US will not be of less severity than that of Iran.
As if in response to his Tweet, two katyusha rockets hit the Green Zone where the US embassy is located late on Wednesday, according to an Iraqi government official. The official, who declined to allow the Iraqi press to use his name, said that the rockets were fired by a coalition of Shiite militias, including the League of the Righteous and the Kata'ib Hizbullah (Brigades of the Party of God). The head of Kata'ib Hizbullah had been al-Muhandis, whom Trump assassinated last week.
The PMF on Wednesday issued a "Covenant of Faithfulness" to the memory of al-Muhandis in which they thanked all ranks of Iraqi society for their brave stance in following in his footsteps and likened his martyrdom to that of Imam Husain, the slain grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Muhandis was laid to rest at Najaf on Wednesday.
The spokesman of the Sadr Movement, Hakim al-Zamili, said that Iraqis have the right to target US troops in Iraq because they are occupation forces. (This is not true; the Iraqi government invited US troops into the country in 2014 after the ISIL terrorist organization took over 40 percent of Iraq and the Iraqi army collapsed).
Al-Zamili continued, saying that "our ranks must be closed, because the enemy is preparing to eradicate and eliminate us, and we must not give in to the United States but rather must draw up plans confront it."
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just four days to go in our Spring Campaign, we are not even halfway to our goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
According to al-Bina', Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (the Movement of the Nobles of the Party of God), led by Akram al-Kaabi, thanked Iran because it "once again helped Iraq to regain its sovereignty and prestige by targeting the bases of the evil occupying American forces on the usurped lands of our country in revenge for our dear guest Qasem Soleimani." This Iran-backed militia forms part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a kind of Iraqi National Guard, but it also fights Sunni fundamentalists in Syria. Its leadership was thinking Iran for sending ballistic missiles on Iraqi bases that host US troops.
The movement's official spokesman, Nasr Al-Shammari, warned American soldiers in Iraq, saying: "Do not close your eyes, for the revenge of the martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is inevitably coming at the hands of the Iraqis, until the last American soldier is expelled." In February of 2019, the US had designated the al-Nujaba' a terrorist organization.
On Sunday January 5, the Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdulmahdi asked parliament to vote to expel US troops from Iraq, and the country's legislature did so vote by a majority. This vote was not, as US officials keep saying, "advisory." It was a vote of the parliament, and that body asked the prime minister to implement it in the executive branch.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Trump himself have insisted that US troops won't be withdrawn from Iraq because "the Iraqi people" want them there. I'm not sure where Esper and Trump are finding "Iraqi people" to overrule the elected Iraqi government. But the fact is that if the Iraqi government wants US troops out, they will have to leave or face legal liabilities for any deaths they cause. They could even be prosecuted in US courts in the absence of a Status of Forces Agreement.
Likewise, Qais al-Khazali, the head of the League of the Righteous (Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq), a radical Shiite militia in Iraq that forms part of the PMF, called Wednesday for Iraqi militia attacks on US troops in Iraq to match those of Iran in revenge of the Trump administration murder of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the PMF or Shiite militias. On Tuesday evening, Iran fired some 25 ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases that house US troops, but appear to have been careful to produce no casualties.
The Iraqi parliament in early 2018 recognized the PMF as part of the Iraqi military, and its line of command goes up to Prime Minister Adil Abdulmahdi. This week the United States branded the League of the Righteous a terrorist group and made al-Khazali a "designated global terrorist."
In an angry Tweet, al-Khazali said that Iraqis were a courageous and competitive people, and their response to the US will not be of less severity than that of Iran.
As if in response to his Tweet, two katyusha rockets hit the Green Zone where the US embassy is located late on Wednesday, according to an Iraqi government official. The official, who declined to allow the Iraqi press to use his name, said that the rockets were fired by a coalition of Shiite militias, including the League of the Righteous and the Kata'ib Hizbullah (Brigades of the Party of God). The head of Kata'ib Hizbullah had been al-Muhandis, whom Trump assassinated last week.
The PMF on Wednesday issued a "Covenant of Faithfulness" to the memory of al-Muhandis in which they thanked all ranks of Iraqi society for their brave stance in following in his footsteps and likened his martyrdom to that of Imam Husain, the slain grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Muhandis was laid to rest at Najaf on Wednesday.
The spokesman of the Sadr Movement, Hakim al-Zamili, said that Iraqis have the right to target US troops in Iraq because they are occupation forces. (This is not true; the Iraqi government invited US troops into the country in 2014 after the ISIL terrorist organization took over 40 percent of Iraq and the Iraqi army collapsed).
Al-Zamili continued, saying that "our ranks must be closed, because the enemy is preparing to eradicate and eliminate us, and we must not give in to the United States but rather must draw up plans confront it."
According to al-Bina', Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (the Movement of the Nobles of the Party of God), led by Akram al-Kaabi, thanked Iran because it "once again helped Iraq to regain its sovereignty and prestige by targeting the bases of the evil occupying American forces on the usurped lands of our country in revenge for our dear guest Qasem Soleimani." This Iran-backed militia forms part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a kind of Iraqi National Guard, but it also fights Sunni fundamentalists in Syria. Its leadership was thinking Iran for sending ballistic missiles on Iraqi bases that host US troops.
The movement's official spokesman, Nasr Al-Shammari, warned American soldiers in Iraq, saying: "Do not close your eyes, for the revenge of the martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis is inevitably coming at the hands of the Iraqis, until the last American soldier is expelled." In February of 2019, the US had designated the al-Nujaba' a terrorist organization.
On Sunday January 5, the Iraqi prime minister Adil Abdulmahdi asked parliament to vote to expel US troops from Iraq, and the country's legislature did so vote by a majority. This vote was not, as US officials keep saying, "advisory." It was a vote of the parliament, and that body asked the prime minister to implement it in the executive branch.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Trump himself have insisted that US troops won't be withdrawn from Iraq because "the Iraqi people" want them there. I'm not sure where Esper and Trump are finding "Iraqi people" to overrule the elected Iraqi government. But the fact is that if the Iraqi government wants US troops out, they will have to leave or face legal liabilities for any deaths they cause. They could even be prosecuted in US courts in the absence of a Status of Forces Agreement.
Likewise, Qais al-Khazali, the head of the League of the Righteous (Asa'ib Ahl al-Haqq), a radical Shiite militia in Iraq that forms part of the PMF, called Wednesday for Iraqi militia attacks on US troops in Iraq to match those of Iran in revenge of the Trump administration murder of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of the PMF or Shiite militias. On Tuesday evening, Iran fired some 25 ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases that house US troops, but appear to have been careful to produce no casualties.
The Iraqi parliament in early 2018 recognized the PMF as part of the Iraqi military, and its line of command goes up to Prime Minister Adil Abdulmahdi. This week the United States branded the League of the Righteous a terrorist group and made al-Khazali a "designated global terrorist."
In an angry Tweet, al-Khazali said that Iraqis were a courageous and competitive people, and their response to the US will not be of less severity than that of Iran.
As if in response to his Tweet, two katyusha rockets hit the Green Zone where the US embassy is located late on Wednesday, according to an Iraqi government official. The official, who declined to allow the Iraqi press to use his name, said that the rockets were fired by a coalition of Shiite militias, including the League of the Righteous and the Kata'ib Hizbullah (Brigades of the Party of God). The head of Kata'ib Hizbullah had been al-Muhandis, whom Trump assassinated last week.
The PMF on Wednesday issued a "Covenant of Faithfulness" to the memory of al-Muhandis in which they thanked all ranks of Iraqi society for their brave stance in following in his footsteps and likened his martyrdom to that of Imam Husain, the slain grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Muhandis was laid to rest at Najaf on Wednesday.
The spokesman of the Sadr Movement, Hakim al-Zamili, said that Iraqis have the right to target US troops in Iraq because they are occupation forces. (This is not true; the Iraqi government invited US troops into the country in 2014 after the ISIL terrorist organization took over 40 percent of Iraq and the Iraqi army collapsed).
Al-Zamili continued, saying that "our ranks must be closed, because the enemy is preparing to eradicate and eliminate us, and we must not give in to the United States but rather must draw up plans confront it."