In a demonstration against U.S. military presence in Iraq, thousands of protesters stormed the American embassy on New Year’s eve.

They managed to get inside the compound in a scene that reminded some Americans of the incident in Benghazi, in 2012, or the Iran Hostage crisis, 40 years ago.

The siege of the embassy in Baghdad is now over, but it reignited a fire in U.S.-Iran relations.

To discuss all of this:

• Ahmed Rushdi is senior foreign policy adviser to the Iraqi Parliament.
• Edmund Ghareeb is a Middle East scholar and analyst.
• Tony Shaffer is president of the London Center for Policy Research.
• Kaveh Afrasiabi is an author and Iranian affairs analyst.

For more:

Opinion: America is sowing chaos in Iraq yet again #CGTNOpinion https://t.co/omoaxvPoBx

— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) January 2, 2020

Sixteen years after America invaded Iraq with the hope of installing a friendly government, it can barely keep its own embassy safe https://t.co/ymL89Qt2sJ

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) January 2, 2020