U.S. sends additional Marines to protect Baghdad embassy
The Pentagon deployed additional Marines to defend U.S. Embassy Baghdad Tuesday as protesters breached the compound and intensified their demands that the U.S. leave the massive diplomatic complex.
Marines from Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response Central Command deployed in darkness aboard MV-22 Osprey aircraft to augment the Marine Security Guard Detachment that has been on the ground protecting the embassy since before the protests began as part of their regular duties.
Earlier in the evening, U.S. attack helicopters fired flares over the complex as a warning to the protesters.
“The Department of Defense is working closely with the Department of State to ensure the security of our embassy and personnel in Baghdad,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in statement Tuesday.
The protesters breached the embassy’s security walls Tuesday and set fire to several structures in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes over the weekend that killed dozens of Iranian-backed militia members. The strikes were launched after a series of rocket attacks by the militias killed a U.S. contractor.
The direct violence now targeting the embassy is the most visible sign of the escalating tension between Iran and the U.S. as each works to maintain influence within Iraq.
The massive embassy complex cost more than $600 million to build, and contains blast-protected apartments to house staff and other facilities. At the height of its operation, more than 14,000 U.S. diplomatic and support personnel were assigned to Iraq.
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 3:18 PM.
