Massachusetts delegation slams Trump over Iraqi militia’s attack on U.S. embassy in Baghdad

Members of the Massachusetts delegation blamed President Trump’s foreign policy Tuesday after members of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey slammed Trump for “his mismanagement of the Middle East.”

“Once he pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran, he has unleashed these forces, these elements that now spill over into Iraq, into Syria,” Markey said Tuesday at an Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign rally. “We need a coherent foreign policy, otherwise I’m afraid that the president’s policy towards Iran is going to bring us closer and closer to a tripwire that could result in a catastrophic consequence for our country and the world.”

The Iraqi militia was acting on its threats to retaliate for a U.S. airstrike that killed about 25 of its members. The U.S. military said its airstrike was in response to last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, which the U.S. had blamed on the militia.

“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. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy,” Trump tweeted Tuesday.

But Markey claimed Trump “has no policy” in the region and that it could “lead to escalation.”

U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, who is challenging Markey for his Senate seat, called the embassy attack “extremely concerning.”

“I think the administration has to recognize once again the danger of getting involved militarily in the Middle East, without a clear idea” of the impacts and long-term solutions, Kennedy said.

He added, “We’ve now been engaged militarily in Iraq for a very long time under a war over false pretenses that I think is gravely concerning.”

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley blamed the attack on a “short-sighted decision made by this administration.”

Warren said she had just learned of the attack after her speech in Boston Tuesday. She later tweeted, “Trump’s reckless decisions to walk away from the Iran Deal and now to launch airstrikes in Iraq without Iraqi government consent have brought us closer to war and endangered U.S. troops and diplomats. We should end the forever wars, not start new ones.”

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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