Us Embassy In Iraq Under Attack

[rmgill]

Sure seems better to kill the generals at the top than job lots of private snuffys and poor random civilians.

[glenn239]

I strongly agree with that approach - focus on the generals.

 

FYI, generally, I like the Echo Five Mike approach - if its off, it's off. If it's on, its way on. But sometimes situations are "sticky" and its hard to be that clear. So all I'm saying is that if we are the Democrats and Jeff Sessions is the AG, we don't want to replace him with a really solid professional like Barr, just because we can.

Edited March 19, 2020 by glenn239

[Colin]

1) A commander needs to ask himself this. Does killing this guy advance the conflict resolution or set it back? if you keep whacking the successor just to hear the thunk, then what Darwin says is that you are really doing is selecting for the guy smart enough not to get thunked . Once a dud is in charge, why kill ‘em? He’s already as stupid and lethargic as the situation will allow.

 

2) In WW1 when the snipers would shoot the mugs out of soldier’s hands and such, the demonstrations tended to cause the soldiers to be less enthusiastic about doing their jobs. So, the answer is, shows of force to make these guys less enthusiastic about doing their jobs. Of course, not everyone responds with cooperation, which goes back to (1) above - does killing this guy advance towards the resolution of the bigger problem?

 

3) Sure, Roger Waters called it the bravery of being out of range. Problem is going forward is what happens when the “out of range” bit no longer is true. The Israelis are trying to get around that by ramping up to the 100-for-1 retaliation ratio, but that seems more of a stop gap than a permanent solution. We talk about threats to democracy. Hey, you what would be a threat to democracy? What if every time there was an election the leaders got whacked by some enemy power whose leaders we're hunting? Is that going to happen today? No, but 30 years from now....? Who knows. What comes around goes around, right?

 

I think it was Obama that realised that just droning the other guys leaders because you could didn't resolve anything. You need good intel on the enemy's organisation, right down to the individual level. Think of drones more like pruning clippers than a chain saw.

My impression the head of the Quds force was a mover and shaker, so very hard to replace with competent people. Plus a lot of stuff dies with him, due to the needs for secrecy, so plans and alliances are pushed back. Being able to kill the leaders also makes everyone suspect everyone else. The Brits used to release CT's back into the jungle with the threat of exposing them as double agents if they did not report back, so eventually trust and communication broke down within the CT organization.

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 20.10.2020

Iran, Ukraine talk compensation for downed passenger plane

Iran mistakenly shot down Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 at a time of spiraling military tensions with the US. Now Iranian and Ukrainian officials are meeting to reach a deal on compensation for the victims' families.

Representatives from Ukraine and Iran are meeting in Tehran to negotiate compensation for the victims of a Boeing 737-800 passenger plane crash that was accidentally shot down by the Iranian military in January.

The Kyiv-bound Ukraine Airlines Flight 752 crashed minutes after taking off from the Iranian capital's main airport on January 8, killing all 176 people on board.

Iranian authorities initially denied responsibility and blamed the tragedy on a technical problem. But days later, Iran's armed forces admitted the plane had been misidentified and targeted by two missiles.

Most of the crash victims were Iranian-Canadians, but there were also citizens from the United States, France, Ukraine, Britain, Afghanistan and Sweden among them.

Compensation for victims

Three days of negotiations over compensation for the crash victims got underway in Tehran on Monday, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported. A first round of talks was held in Kyiv in July.

Iran's Foreign Ministry has said it is willing "in principle" to pay damages as soon as the technical and legal details of the incident were clarified.

In a statement quoted by the Agence France-Presse news agency, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry welcomed "Iran's decision to take full responsibility for bringing down the Ukrainian plane and its readiness to ensure the same compensation for all the relatives of the victims, regardless of their citizenship."

A third round of talks between Iranian and Ukrainian officials is expected to be held in Kyiv at a later date.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/iran-ukraine-talk-compensation-for-downed-passenger-plane/a-55331781

[BansheeOne]

Quote

December 30, 2020 11:53 AM Updated 11 hours ago

Iran allocates $150,000 for each family of victims of Ukraine plane crash

By Reuters Staff

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran’s Cabinet on Wednesday allocated $150,000 for the families of each of the 176 victims of a Ukrainian plane shot down in Iranian airspace in January, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Describing Iran’s handling of the situation as “unacceptable”, Ukraine said the amount of compensation should be negotiated and called for those responsible to be brought to justice.

According to the IRNA report, an Iranian government statement said: “The cabinet approved the provision of $150,000 or the equivalent in euros as soon as possible to the families and survivors of each of the victims of the Ukrainian plane crash.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have said they accidentally shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane shortly after takeoff, mistaking it for a missile when tensions with the United States were high.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the compensation should be set through talks, taking into account international practice, after establishing the causes of the tragedy and bringing those responsible to justice.

[...]

Iran’s transport minister Mohammad Eslami told state television that the final report on the crash had been sent to the countries participating in the investigation.

Iranian Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said an indictment will be issued in less than a month against “those whose negligence caused the accident”, the semi-official news agency Fars reported. Iranian officials have said the case was being handled by a military court.

In a preliminary report in July, Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization blamed a misaligned radar system and lack of communication between the air defence operator and his commanders for the downing of the plane.

Under United Nations rules, Iran retains overall control of the air investigation while the United States and Ukraine are accredited as the countries where the jet was respectively built and operated.

A spokesman for the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) confirmed by email that it has received the draft report from Iran.

[...]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-ukraine-plane-compensation/iran-allocates-150000-for-each-family-of-victims-of-ukraine-plane-crash-idUSKBN29413H

[BansheeOne]

On 1/22/2020 at 9:29 AM, BansheeOne said:

https://www.dw.com/en/iran-lashes-out-against-albania-after-soleimani-killing/a-52102170

Well this one's new. For Iran, that is; the role of Ramstein as a relay station in US drone strikes has been a fringe controversy in Germany for some time.

Quote

Date 03.01.2021

Author Shamil Shams

Iran blames Germany, other countries, for Qassem Soleimani assassination

January 3 marks the first anniversary of the death of senior Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US-directed drone attack while visiting Baghdad.

Iran's state media has alleged that in addition to the United States, several countries, including Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Germany and Britain, had played a role in the assassination of its senior military leader Qassem Soleimani.

Soleimani was killed in a US drone strike on January 3, 2020, while visiting Baghdad.

According to DEFA Press, more countries would be added to the list once the investigation into Soleimani's killing is completed.

"We must learn from this experience, which came at a great price, and we must make every effort to preserve national unity and cohesion that was achieved due to the blood of martyrs," it said.

On Wednesday, Iranian prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr claimed that a British security firm and an airbase in Germany had a hand in Soleimani's assassination. Without providing evidence, he said that London-based security services company G4S played a role in the killing.

The Iranian government alleges the US had used the Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany for targeting Soleimani.

Iran vows revenge

Speaking on the eve of the first anniversary of Soleimani's killing, Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami vowed to respond to any "action the enemy takes," as he visited a strategic Gulf island near the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions with the US.

[...]

https://www.dw.com/en/iran-blames-germany-other-countries-for-qassem-soleimani-assassination/a-56117972

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Date 06.04.2021

Iran charges 10 officers over downing of passenger jet

Iran had denied responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the January 2020 crash before admitting that a "disastrous mistake" had occurred. Now, 10 officers have been indicted in Tehran.

An Iranian military court has brought charges against 10 officers for the shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January, 2020, a prosecutor said on Tuesday.

The Ukraine International Airlines flight was accidentally taken down by Iran's Revolutionary Guard shortly after taking off from Tehran, resulting in the death of all 176 on board.

Shot down amid heightened tensions with US

"Indictments have been issued for 10 officials involved in the crash of the Ukrainian plane... and necessary decisions will be taken in court," Gholam Abbas Torki, the outgoing military prosecutor for Tehran province, was quoted as saying by Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency.

The victims from the crash were mainly Ukrainian and Iranian, though Canadian, Afghan, British and Swedish nationals also perished.

Tehran later said the incident was a "disastrous mistake" by its forces at a time when they were on high alert, days after a US drone strike killed Qassem Soleimani, a leading Iranian general, and just hours after retaliatory Iranian strikes on US facilities in Iraq.

Tehran report blames 'human error'

In a 285-page final assessment of the crash, issued last month, Iran said "human error" was to blame and agreed to pay each victim's family $150,000 (€126,500) in compensation. 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has repeatedly called for those responsible to be held to account by means of a trial.

The Iranian leadership, though, only admitted responsibility after initial denials, which led to anti-government protests, as citizens said there had been an attempt at a cover-up.

https://www.dw.com/en/iran-charges-10-officers-over-downing-of-passenger-jet/a-57113649

[bojan]

It was a human error, but it is a sign of much bigger underlying problem.

[BansheeOne]

Quote

Iraq: Rockets hit near Baghdad airport base with US troops

14h ago

Three rockets landed near the area of the airport that houses US forces. More rockets were defused from the rooftop of an empty house. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At least three rockets were fired near the Baghdad International Airport, Iraqi military officials said late on Thursday. An Iraqi soldier was wounded, the AFP news agency reported.

The rockets landed near an area that is home to US forces.  

Security forces also said they found and defused unfired rockets from the rooftop of an empty house that was used to launch the rockets, the statement said. 

US officials blamed Iran-backed militias for the attack, although no group initially claimed responsibility.

Previous attacks against US interests

Earlier this month, several rockets had hit an Iraqi air base hosting US forces, injuring two foreign contractors and three Iraqi soldiers. In February, more than a dozen rockets had targeted the military complex inside the airport. 

[...] 

https://m.dw.com/en/iraq-rockets-hit-near-baghdad-airport-base-with-us-troops/a-57306040

[Ivanhoe]

That news story makes it sound kinda like the rockets were fired with a timer or remote.