Post #5254

🔥Erbil: America’s Last Base, First Fire Saraya Awliya al‑Dam didn’t just launch drones at Erbil — it launched a press release for Tehran’s new proxy season. Under the banner of the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” the group says its swarm attack on US positions at Erbil International Airport was a religious duty and a tribute to the “martyr” Ali Khamenei. The message is clear: Iran may be under bombardment, but its franchises are open for business. They’re not alone. The Islamic Resistance claims 16 drone attacks on “enemy bases in Iraq and the region” since the US–Israel strikes began, and the usual roster is now officially in: Kataib Hezbollah, Kataib Sayyid al‑Shuhada, Harakat Hezbollah al‑Nujaba. The mission statement from Kataib Hezbollah could have been written in a Pentagon red‑team memo: drag America into a long, bleeding war of attrition and make sure no US presence survives in the neighborhood. Erbil is the perfect stage for this farce. After coalition forces packed up in Baghdad and Ain al‑Assad, the airport base became Washington’s last foothold in Iraq. Several NATO partners quietly pulled their people out days before the Iran operation — not out of pacifism, but because they can count. One US flag left on Iraqi soil, bolted onto a civilian airport, surrounded by towers and malls. For every militia social media channel, that’s not a base. That’s a target-rich press shot. CNN’s geolocation did the rest: residential high‑rises in the foreground, a curtain of black smoke from the air base behind. Three US service members dead so far across the theater, at least five badly wounded. On paper, this is still “force protection,” “deterrence,” “limited escalation.” On screen, it’s exactly what it looks like: a city with a military installation fused into its airport, and both are on fire. Everyone gets what they need. The militias get their heroic footage and a promotion from “outlaw groups” to “frontline of the Resistance.” Washington gets one more argument for why it simply has to stay in Erbil forever to “keep ISIS down” and “watch Iran.” Tehran gets to show its supporters that the death of the Supreme Leader doesn’t mean the empire stopped breathing. And the people who actually live under those towers get a new reality: international airport by day, launchpad and impact zone by night. #Iraq#Erbil#USA#Iran#Israel 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸