US drone strike kills Kataib Hezbollah leader in downtown Baghdad, in a major escalation.

 

The destroyed SUV. BBC/Getty.

An US drone strike has killed a Kataib Hezbollah leader in downtown Baghdad, in what is a major escalation. BBC. The Pentagon claimed that the leader, who was killed along with two bodyguards, was responsible for coordinating attacks on US targets, including an attack on a base in Jordan that killed three US soldiers. The attack comes after Kataib Hezbollah said they would no longer attack US targets or troops to prevent embarrassment to the Iraqi government. The attack was met with outrage in Iraq as there have been strikes against targets in Iraq before but not in Baghdad. Militias have since vowed revenge for the drone strike. 

My Comment:

I've got mixed feelings about this attack. On the one hand it was about time we bombed something in response to the Jordan attack that wasn't an empty building. If the claims that the men killed in this attack were responsible for the three US deaths than it's more than justified. I'm absolutely not morning the death of these men. 

But was it counterproductive? It's very possible. From what it sounds Kataib Hezbollah had made a deal with Iraq to no longer attack US troops and if that was true it was a wasted opportunity to pass up. Instead of waiting to see if they were actually genuine they just killed a major leader, ensuring that the deal was dead. 

More importantly, Iraqi civilians are massively angry about this attack. There have already been protests against the US in Iraq and I am guessing the Iraqi government is going to be angry about this as well. Kataib Hezbollah are a powerful group in Iraq and have some support in the government and it's very possible that Iraq will kick out US troops because of this attack. 

It just goes to show how messed up our policies in the Middle East are right now. We are essentially at war with every militia in the region that is allied with Iran, but we are also not really doing anything effective against them. This is probably the most effective thing we have done and the backlash is going to be strong. 

Regardless, I think we are certain to see more attacks on US troops in the region due to the attack. We are now stuck in the cycle of revenge and people will be attacking US troops because we have not done much to actually degrade the militias. It's only a question of time and luck until more US troops get killed or injured...