“BAGHDAD (AP) — Rockets struck Iraq’s capital Tuesday with four landing inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, Iraq’s military said, killing a child and wounding at least five people, signaling an end to an informal truce announced by Iran-backed militias in October. Two Iraqi security officials said one of the rockets that hit the Green Zone struck close to Iraq’s National Security Service, just 600 meters (2,000 feet) from the American Embassy. Some of the rockets were intercepted by the C-RAM air defense system installed by the U.S. earlier this year, they said. Iraq’s military said three rockets landed outside the Green Zone, one hitting close to Baghdad Medical City hospital, one at the gate of a public park, and a third exploded in the air. One child was killed and five civilians were wounded, the military statement said. Officials said two Iraqi security forces personnel were also wounded inside the Green Zone. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The military said the incident would not go without “prosecution and accountability.” U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003 and left in 2011 but returned in 2014 after the Islamic State group overran large parts of Iraq. Frequent attacks targeting the U.S. Embassy and vehicles transporting equipment for U.S. troops have led Washington to threaten to close its Baghdad diplomatic mission and sparked a diplomatic crisis prior to the U.S. presidential election. The attack comes after a recent announcement by the Pentagon that it would reduce troop levels in Iraq from 3,000 to 2,500. In mid-October, Iran-backed, mostly Shiite, militia groups said they would temporarily halt attacks targeting the American presence in Iraq, including the embassy. That came with the condition that U.S.-led coalition troops withdraw from the country in line with a non-binding resolution passed in the Iraqi Parliament in January. The resolution was passed by mostly Shiite lawmakers and urged the government to take action and expel U.S.-led coalition troops from the country. The resolution followed the Washington-directed airstrike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, and powerful Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, outside Baghdad airport. U.S. officials, supportive of withdrawals in principle, have insisted they take place based on a scheduled timeline. Most Iraqi government officials agree with a gradual drawdown and face pressure from Iran-aligned groups who prefer an immediate exit. A planned drawdown has been underway in Iraq for months, with coalition troops withdrawing from several Iraqi bases. Iraqi forces have increasingly been conducting anti-Islamic State operations without U.S. assistance, triggering the coalition to begin a scheduled drawdown in March that was conceived late last year. Assistance has become increasingly limited to high-level capabilities that Iraqi security forces lack, such as surveillance and air support.
Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera: Trump’s Not Speaking To Me Right Now
112 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera said Tuesday that President Donald Trump isn’t speaking to him because he acknowledges the fact that President-elect Joe Biden won the election. The conservative commentator, who has describ...
Trump Administration Lowballs Unemployment Benefits In New COVID-19 Offer
144 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["The latest stimulus offer from the White House comes with one-time $600 payments for most Americans and a lump of coal for the unemployed. The new proposal offered by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin swapped the $3...
Biden Selects Marcia Fudge As Housing Secretary, Tom Vilsack For Agriculture
88 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden has selected Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his housing and urban development secretary and former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role in his administration,...
Trump: Millions Of Americans Getting COVID-19 Is ‘Terrific’ And A ‘Powerful Vaccine’
130 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["President Donald Trump on Tuesday spun the high number of Americans who have been infected with COVID-19 as “terrific,” claiming falsely that all those cases serve as a “powerful vaccine.” “I think that the vaccine ...
How To Deal With The Co-worker Who Is Constantly Complaining
124 Views0 Comments0 Likes
[]["fizkes via Getty ImagesComplainers may go to you because they feel like they are not being heard anywhere else. Here's how to treat their grievances with compassion.Everyone encounters a constant complainer at som...
MSNBC Names Rashida Jones President, Making History For Major Cable News Networks
175 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["MSNBC has named Rashida Jones its next president, making her the first Black executive to run a major general news cable network, The Wall Street Journal reported. Jones, who currently serves as the senior vice pres...
Bill Nye Explains Why Masks Keep Viruses In Those Pesky ‘Droplets Of Spit And Snot’ At Bay
151 Views0 Comments0 Likes
["Bill Nye explained the science behind face masks in a TikTok video posted on Friday, stressing that their effectiveness in stopping the spread of the coronavirus “is not that hard to understand.” Nye shared two map...