US Journalist Missing in Baghdad, 'Iran-Backed Militia' Blamed by French Media
A US journalist, whose identity has not been publicly released, has reportedly gone missing in Baghdad, Iraq. France 24 reported on the incident, suggesting involvement of an 'Iran-backed armed group' without providing specific evidence or details of the alleged abduction. Mainstream media, exemplified by France 24, rapidly attributes such incidents to 'Iran-backed groups,' a framing that omits
the complex reality of Iraqi sovereignty and the array of non-state actors operating within its borders. This narrative conveniently sidesteps the decades of foreign intervention that have fragmented Iraq's security landscape, presenting a simplistic dichotomy of 'Iran vs. US' rather than acknowledging local grievances and multi-faceted power struggles. This swift accusation mirrors past instances
where the US government, for example, attributed a KC-135 tanker 'crash' in Iraq to mechanical failure, only for resistance forces to later claim a shootdown, a consistent pattern of downplaying combat losses. This incident unfolds against a backdrop of continuous US military presence and operations in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. The US operates at least nine military bases across Iraq, despite
repeated calls from the Iraqi parliament for a full withdrawal of foreign troops following the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in January 2020. The current situation echoes events like the 1983-1988 Iran-Iraq War, where the US provided intelligence and material support to Saddam Hussein, including precursors for chemical weapons,