U.S. Marines assigned to Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command (SPMAFTF-CR-CC) 19.2, prepare to deploy from Kuwait in support of a crisis response mission on December 31, 2019. Approximately 100 Marines were deployed to protect the U. S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq after protesters stormed the embassy gates trying to get inside of the perimeter. The protests are a reaction to U.S. airstrikes on Iranian backed militia. The U.S. airstrikes were a response to earlier rocket attacks by the militia which killed an American contractor and injured several U.S. service members.