BAND OF BROTHERS
US troops head to Middle East as Donald Trump says Iran will ‘pay big price’ for Baghdad embassy riots
THE FIRST wave of 750 US paratroopers has been deployed to Kuwait after Donald Trump warned Iran will "pay a very big price" for the US embassy attack.
Some 4,000 troops in total are on alert ahead of possible snap deployment orders.
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On Wednesday at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, paratroopers from the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division boarded C-17 Globemaster aircraft transports bound for Kuwait.
The official account for the 82nd Airborne, America's Division tweeted: 'Early this morning more than 650 All American Paratroopers and equipment began their deployment to the @CENTCOM (U.S. Central Command) area of operations.
'This is why we exist. Your @Strike_Hold (1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division) Paratroopers have trained and prepared for events like these. @OIRSpox (spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve), they are on the way.'
The US deployment from a rapid reaction force comes in response to the assault on the US embassy in Baghdad, where 6,000 pro-Iran militiamen stormed the compound.
Gunfire was heard and troops fired tear gas after the Shia militiamen chanted "death to America", smashed down the gates and set fire to a guard post.
The Iran-backed militiamen withdrew from the US Embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday after two days of clashes with American security forces, but tensions remain high.
A furious Trump warned Iran's government will be held "fully responsible" for the attack, before the US marines were deployed.
The US President tweeted: "The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is, & has been for hours, SAFE! Many of our great Warfighters, together with the most lethal military equipment in the world, was immediately rushed to the site.
"Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat. Happy New Year!"
The rising tensions followed U.S. airstrikes Sunday on five Iranian-backed militia positions in Iraq and Syria. The strikes came in response to a series of rocket attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq; one of those attacks killed a US contractor and wounded four American troops.
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TRUMP BLAST
US soldiers could be seen taking up defensive positions on the roof and inside the main building embassy as a huge plume of smoke rose over the fortified Green Zone.
Iraqi officials confirmed the ambassador and diplomatic staff were safely evacuated.
According to the Washington Post, US diplomats and staffers inside the embassy were huddled in a fortified safe room.
President Trump accused Tehran of being behind the attack, which came after funerals for Iran-backed paramilitary fighters killed in air strikes on Sunday.
He tweeted: "Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will.
"Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the US Embassy in Iraq.
"They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!"
Today's violence sparked painful memories of the murder of the US ambassador to Libya in the Benghazi embassy siege by Islamist terrorists in 2012.
The mob began attacking the Baghdad compound after thousands marched in protest at US air strikes that killed 25 fighters from an Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria.
Protesters raised yellow flags belonging to the Kataeb Hezbollah armed group over the walls.
They also smashed security cameras and hurled water bottles and stones as they surged into the compound shouting “Down, Down, USA”, “Death to America”, and “Death to Israel”.
They went on to taunt embassy security guards, who retreated inside and remained behind the glass windows as marchers approached.
Some protesters sprayed graffiti on the wall and windows in red in support of the Kataeb Hezbollah militia, saying: “Closed in the name of the resistance.”
Iraqi special forces and riot squads were called in as reinforcements after US troops fired tear gas in an attempt to disperse the crowd.
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The US military carried out strikes on Sunday against the Iranian-backed Kataeb Hezbollah militia after last week's killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base which was blamed on the group.
The US attack – the largest targeting an Iran-sanctioned militia in recent years – and the calls for revenge represent a new escalation in the proxy war playing out in the Middle East.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the strikes send the message that the US will not tolerate actions by Iran that threaten American lives.
The Iranian-backed Iraqi militia vowed on Monday to retaliate.
Thousands of Iraqis have been protesting at the Iranian presence in the country, but today it was the Shiite militia on the streets.
The protest began after mourners held funerals for those killed in a Baghdad neighbourhood, after which they marched to the heavily fortified Green Zone until they reached the sprawling US embassy compound.
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