Iraq: US Troops Being Examined for Brain Injuries After Militia Attack

Facts

• The US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that several American personnel stationed in Iraq are undergoing traumatic brain injury evaluations following an attack targeting the al-Asad air base on Saturday that reportedly wounded an Iraqi service member, adding that damages were still being assessed.¹
• The Iran-aligned Islamic Resistance Iraq umbrella group has claimed responsibility for the barrage of rockets and missiles launched against the base hosting US soldiers in the western province of Anbar, alleging that the attack was conducted in retaliation for US support for Israel in the ongoing Gaza war.²
• This was the latest and most successful attack that Iran-backed militias carried out so far against US troops in Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war broke out, with two projectiles out of at least 17 fired at the base getting through air defense systems and injuring at least two US soldiers.³
• Since October last year, US troops have reportedly been under attack at least 83 times in Syria and another 58 times in Iraq — including last week when three armed drones were intercepted and shot down in Iraq near where US and other international forces are stationed.⁴
• There are currently at least 2.5K US troops in Iraq, most of them at the al-Asad base, reportedly training and advising Iraqis to fight the Islamic State group (IS), which invaded northwest Iraq and occupied the country's second-largest city, Mosul, in 2014.⁵
• Meanwhile, on Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, who has recently announced moves that would eventually lead to the withdrawal of US troops from his country, warned Iran-backed militia groups and the US against further escalation inside Iraqi territory.⁶

Sources: ¹Business Insider, ²PressTV, ³The New York Times, ⁴FOX News, ⁵The Cradle and ⁶Tech For Good.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by VOA. Americans must be assured that the Biden administration will not allow this extremely serious ballistic missile attack on a base that hosts its troops to go unanswered. As Iran-backed militias have ramped up their attacks, so will the US to establish deterrence and to hold such groups accountable for their wrongdoing.
• Republican narrative, as provided by The Wall Street Journal. As the commander-in-chief of the US, Joe Biden should have done better to protect troops overseas from enemy assaults. He may well have thought that retaliating Iran-backed militias would be enough to restore deterrence, but by now it's clear that such moves have failed to achieve that goal. America must change its focus to the instigator of all these attacks and make Iran pay for its actions.
• Pro-Iran narrative, as provided by Nour News. Iran has nothing to do with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, thus it has nothing to do with the repeated attacks that Iraqi resistance groups have launched against US bases and facilities recently. US officials must realize that they are ultimately responsible for this escalation of violence, as their choice to support the Israeli massacre in Gaza has fueled anti-American sentiment in the region.

Predictions