The New Year's Eve attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad has exposed a deepening divide between the
United States and
Iraq over Iran's role there, even as the
Pentagon embarks on a more aggressive mission to counter Iranian influence across the Mideast.
“The game has changed,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday, telling reporters that violent acts by Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq will be met with U.S. military force.
Esper spoke before Iraqi TV and three Iraqi officials said Friday that Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, had been killed in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport.