Attacks on US troops in Iraq have increased, US commander says.
The U.S. military brought in additional defensive capabilities, such as Patriot missile defense systems, to be ready if Iran were to take more aggressive actions to force the U.S. out of the area, McKenzie said."We've done what we need to do to protect our forces."
"That's very dangerous, because I don't think they have an appreciation for where our red line would be," he said."They might believe they can continue to attack us with rockets and missiles in Iraq and we won't respond and that would be a very dangerous thing for them to believe.""The decision to respond is not a military decision," he said.
"We've been well on our way to this for a while," McKenzie said, explaining that the Iraqis have become more capable and are doing more operations on their own."As a result of the Iraqis doing better, we are able to mentor them, to interact with them at a higher level, rather than accompanying them on all these operations.", consolidating them to a few locations, mainly in Baghdad, Irbil and out west at Ain al-Asad. Already in 2020, the U.S.
The December 2019 attack against the U.S. military in Kirkuk set off a series of tit-for-tat attacks between the U.S. and Iran, beginning with the U.S. killing the Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and ending with Iran launching missiles at the al-Asad Airbase, inflicting traumatic brain injuries on dozens of U.S. service members.
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