U.S. warns of military response to rocket attack on Iraq base
WASHINGTON — The White House warned that the U.S. may consider a military response to the rocket attack that hit an air base in western Iraq where American and coalition troops are housed. A U.S. contractor died after at least 10 rockets slammed into the base early Wednesday.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack, the first since the U.S. struck Iran-aligned militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border last week.
“We are following that through right now,” President Biden told reporters. “Thank God, no one was killed by the rocket, but one individual, a contractor, died of a heart attack. But we’re identifying who’s responsible and we’ll make judgments” about a response.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki suggested that the “calculated” U.S. airstrikes last week could be a model for a military response. Those strikes were in response to an attack on American forces in northern Iraq earlier in February.
“If we assess further response is warranted, we will take action again in a manner and time of our choosing,” Psaki said.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the contractor “suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering” from the attack and died shortly afterward. He said there were no service members injured, and all are accounted for. British and Danish troops also are among those stationed at the base.
The U.S. airstrikes last week, which killed one member of the Iran-aligned militia, had stoked fears of another cycle of tit-for-tat attacks as happened more than a year ago. Those attacks included the U.S. drone strike in January 2020 that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad and set off months of increased troops levels in the region.
Wednesday’s death of the contractor heightens worries that the U.S. could be drawn into another period of escalating attacks, complicating the Biden administration’s desire to open talks with Iran over restoring the 2015 nuclear deal.
The latest attack also comes two days before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Iraq despite concerns about security and the COVID-19 pandemic. The much-anticipated trip will include stops in Baghdad, southern Iraq and the northern city of Irbil.
The rockets struck Asad Air Base in Anbar province early in the morning, U.S.-led coalition spokesperson Col. Wayne Marotto said. Kirby said that the rockets were fired from east of the base and that counter-rocket defensive systems were used to protect the troops there.
Kirby said that the U.S. can’t attribute responsibility for the attack yet and that the extent of the damage was still being assessed.
It’s the same base that Iran struck with a barrage of missiles in January of last year in retaliation for the killing of Suleimani. Dozens of U.S. service members suffered concussions in that strike.
The Iraqi military released a statement saying that Wednesday’s attack did not cause significant losses and that security forces had found the launch pad used for the rockets — a truck. Video of the site shows a burning truck in a desert area.
British Ambassador to Iraq Stephen Hickey condemned the attack, saying it undermined the ongoing fight against the militant group Islamic State. “Coalition forces are in Iraq to fight Daesh at the invitation of the Iraqi government,” he tweeted, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. “These terrorist attacks undermine the fight against Daesh and destabilize Iraq.”
U.S. airstrike targeting Iranian-backed militants in Syria was meant as a message from President Biden. What message Tehran took away is unclear.
Denmark said coalition forces at the base were helping to bring stability and security to the country.
“Despicable attacks against Ain al-Asad base in #Iraq are completely unacceptable,” Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod tweeted. The Danish armed forces said two Danes who were at the base at the time of the attack are unharmed.
Last week’s U.S. strike on the Syrian side of the border was in response to a spate of rocket attacks that targeted the U.S. presence, including one that killed a coalition contractor from the Philippines outside the Irbil airport.
The bombings, thought to be the work of Islamic State extremists, were the first such attack to hit Baghdad in years.
After that attack, the Pentagon said the strike was a “proportionate military response.”
Marotto, the coalition spokesperson, said Iraqi security forces were leading an investigation into Wednesday’s attack.
Frequent rocket attacks in Baghdad targeting the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy, during former President Trump’s time in office frustrated the administration, leading to threats of Embassy closure and escalatory strikes. Those attacks have increased again in recent weeks, following a lull during the transition to the Biden administration.
U.S. troops in Iraq significantly decreased their presence in the country last year and withdrew from several Iraqi bases to consolidate chiefly Asad, Baghdad and Irbil.
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