After violent protests, Pentagon says that anyone who tries to overrun the US embassy in Baghdad will 'run into a buzzsaw'

DoD photo by British Lt. Col. Adrian Weale

A U.S. Army Soldier maintains overwatch at the U.S. Embassy Compound in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 1, 2020.

• The Pentagon has issued a stern warning against future attacks on US diplomatic outposts in Iraq, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley telling reporters Thursday that "anyone who attempts to overrun" the embassy in Baghdad "will run into a buzzsaw."
• In response to violent protests outside the embassy Tuesday, the US dispatched around 100 Marines to reinforce the position and deployed hundreds of Army paratroopers to the Middle East to boost security.
• "The game has changed. We're prepared to do what is necessary," Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Thursday.
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The Pentagon warned Thursday morning that anyone who tries to breach the US embassy in Baghdad will face a "buzzsaw."

Swarms of violent protesters, apparent supporters of Iran-backed Iraqi militias targeted by recent US airstrikes, stormed the gates of the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, forcing the Pentagon to react.

First, around 100 Marines from a special crisis response unit created after the 2012 attacks on US diplomatic posts in Benghazi, Libya were sent in to reinforce the embassy, and then 750 paratroopers of the Army 82nd Airborne Division's Immediate Response Force deployed to the US Central Command area of operations.

Speaking at a press briefing Thursday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said that "we are very confident in the integrity of that embassy."

"It is highly unlikely to be physically overrun by anyone," he added, explaining that "anyone who attempts to overrun that will run into a buzzsaw."

The protests Tuesday began after the US conducted airstrikes against five Kataib Hezbollah positions on Sunday. The strikes were in retaliation for a rocket attack days earlier against an Iraqi base that killed a US contractor and wounded several American service members.

The US has pinned the larger blame for both the rocket attack and the assault on the embassy on Iran.

"Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible," President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday, adding later that "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."

The past year has been largely characterized by heightened tensions with Iran, which the US military has deployed roughly 15,000 troops to counter since May.

Speaking at the press briefing Thursday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said, according to VOA, that the US "will take preemptive action" against Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias in Iraq "to protect American forces, to protect American lives."

He added that the "game has changed" and explained that "we're prepared to do what is necessary."

Esper said that there are indications that groups opposed to the US presence in the area may be planning additional attacks. "Do I think they may do something? Yes. And, they will regret it," he said.

The Department of State told Insider Wednesday that the situation around the embassy in Baghdad "has improved," adding that the Iraqi security forces have stepped in to provide additional security for the embassy, clearing protesters away from the outpost. The embassy cost an estimated $750 million and is sited in a 104-acre compound in the fortified Green Zone, making it the world's largest embassy.

"Though the situation around the Embassy perimeter has calmed significantl, post security posture remains heightened," the emailed statement read. The Pentagon has left the door open for sending more troops to the Middle East to counter threats to US personnel in the region.

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