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US Brushes Off Iraqi Criticism of Airstrikes

Jeff Seldin

   The United States is defending the use of airstrikes on Sunday to
   target an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, warning it could
   strike again, despite criticism from top Iraqi officials and renewed
   threats from the militia itself.

   "We are not going to let Iran get away with using a proxy force to
   attack American interests," a senior State Department official told
   reporters Monday, describing the strikes as defensive in nature.

   "It has been a feature of Iran's expansionist foreign policy to conduct
   deniable attacks," the official added. "We are not giving Iran the
   fiction of deniability any longer."

   The U.S. airstrikes targeting Kataeb Hezbollah weapons storage
   facilities, and command and control locations across Iraq and eastern
   Syria, killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more.

   U.S. officials said the strikes were in response to a rocket attack on
   an Iraqi military base on Friday which killed a U.S. defense
   contractor. Officials said the evidence left no doubt Kataeb Hezbollah
   was responsible.

   The strikes have sparked anger and criticism by top Iraqi officials.

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