Amid Repeated US Strikes, Pressure Builds in Iraq for Coalition’s Departure

Calls continue to mount in Iraq for the departure of a U.S.-led coalition following a U.S. strike that killed a Shiite militia commander in Baghdad. On Feb. 8, Iraqi army spokesman Yahya Rasool warned that the U.S.-led coalition had become “a factor for instability [that] threatens to entangle Iraq in the cycle of conflict.” One day earlier, the U.S. military carried out what it described as a “unilateral strike” on targets in eastern Baghdad. The strike killed a commander of the Kataib Hezbollah group, an Iraqi Shiite militia said to be linked to Iran. In a statement, the Pentagon said the commander—who it did not name—was responsible for “planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region.” The target of the U.S. strike was later identified as Abu Baqir al-Saadi, commander of the group’s operations in Syria....