Us Embassy In Iraq Under Attack

[Stuart Galbraith]

 

Jesus H Christ.

 

Your fainting couch sir, and some pearls to clutch.

Maybe I just hope the poster in Chief of the western world would raise himself beyond sounding like a 12 year old.

[rmgill]

 

 

Jesus H Christ.

Your fainting couch sir, and some pearls to clutch.

Maybe I just hope the poster in Chief of the western world would raise himself beyond sounding like a 12 year old.

 

 

Would you prefer someone go and sign a peace agreement? Make all sorts of correct cooing noises to the mad hat dictator in Iran? It's big stick diplomacy. When your lot was upset that Theodore did these sorts of things, it was stupid hollow words then. It's stupid hollow words now too.

 

Iran isn't going to be deterred by soft cap in hand diplomacy.

[Der Zeitgeist]

 

Iran isn't going to be deterred by soft cap in hand diplomacy.

 

The US Embassy in Baghdad is under rocket fire at this very moment. So it doesn't look as if Iran is being deterred from anything at all right now.

[Stuart Galbraith]

No, I would just settle for him not sounding like a twat.

 

And for the record, I don't believe Iran is going to be deterred at all. If they were not worried by Ronald Reagan or Saddam Hussain, I doubt a NY real estate developer will make them break a sweat.

[Panzermann]

Iran is losing the FB meme war...

 

Isn't Facebook blocked in Iranian internet? that does not keep Irnaians out of facebook, but limits their number.

 

 

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

Iran isn't going to be deterred by soft cap in hand diplomacy.

 

The US Embassy in Baghdad is under rocket fire at this very moment. So it doesn't look as if Iran is being deterred from anything at all right now.

 

 

Who says this was ordered from Teheran and not some local commander? Like e.g. Soleimani's 2nd in command taking revenge.

[Der Zeitgeist]

 

Who says this was ordered from Teheran and not some local commander? Like e.g. Soleimani's 2nd in command taking revenge.

 

 

I don't think it's going to make much of a difference either way.

[Panzermann]

Looking over soleimani's wikipedia page he should be praised by the USA:

 

fought against Saddam

fought drug smugglers

fought the taliban in AFG together with the US

fought ISIS in Iraq and Syria and organized the locals against ISIS

 

 

Well he also stabilized the syrian governemnt. That the US does not like.

[Stuart Galbraith]

One US serviceman killed, and 2 DOD contractors wounded in Kenya.

 

https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-military-confirms-terror-attack-us-base-kenya/story?id=68075337

[Mobius]

And the parliament just voted for it. Of course I was thinking earlier that if Trump's idea was to declare victory over Iranian aggression and go home because the situation subsequently turned untenable, it would be quite in line with his prior policies, and moreover with what he was elected for. Of course you abandon Iraq to Iran, but things have been moving into that direction ever since "Mission Accomplished". Might as well save the blood and treasure, and cut to the case.

Yes, on some level this could be considered a win-win by Trump. It gets him completely out of Iraq without seeming to cut and run. Just doing what the duly elected government wanted. And, the Iraqi economy can become more like Iran's economy. I'm sure Iraq is going to get millions from them. I do wonder if Iran is sending oil to Iraq and mingiling it with their oil to avoid sanctions.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Mobius

[Burncycle360]

Mainstream media seems to be ignoring how popular his death has been with a lot of Iraqis and focusing on how revered he was by certain factions (water is wet) since it maximizes the Trump done screwed America narrative

Edited January 5, 2020 by Burncycle360

[Nobu]

Solemani's second in command might be better off keeping a lower profile for now, lest he share the same experience as the first.

[Burncycle360]

Iran can probably get away with continuing to use their militia to attack the US forces in Iraq. We'll retaliate against them, but since the Iranian backed militia is a bunch of Shia Iraqis for the most part, it's no real skin off their back and it will make our presence increasingly unpopular with the Iraqi Govt, world stage and those with TDS.

If they make the mistake of directly retaliating though all bets are off and Tomahawks will probably start pegging sites within Iran proper.

Edited January 5, 2020 by Burncycle360

[Panzermann]

Iran can probably get away with continuing to use their militia to attack the US forces in Iraq. We'll retaliate against them, but since the Iranian backed militia is a bunch of Shia Iraqis for the most part, it's no real skin off their back and it will make our presence increasingly unpopular with the Iraqi Govt, world stage and those with TDS.

 

If they make the mistake of directly retaliating though all bets are off and Tomahawks will probably start pegging sites within Iran proper.

 

I think so too. They are going to continue the more or less proxy war.

 

 

 

Still, why did they kill Soleimani now?

[JasonJ]

 

Iraqi parliament holding emergency session in which some politicians are saying they want to make a bill for having a vote on requesting the US to leave Iraq on grounds of violating Iraq sovereignty.

 

 

 

 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq’s parliament is set to convene an extraordinary session on Sunday where lawmakers told Reuters they would push for a vote on a resolution requiring the government to request the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

The session comes two days after a U.S. drone strike on a convoy at Baghdad airport which killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

“There is no need for the presence of American forces after defeating Daesh (Islamic State),” said Ammar al-Shibli, a Shi’ite lawmaker and member of the parliamentary legal committee.

“We have our own armed forces which are capable of protecting the country,” he said.

Despite decades of enmity between Iran and the United States, Iran-backed militia and U.S. troops fought side by side during Iraq’s 2014-2017 war against Islamic State militants.

Around 5,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, most of them in an advisory capacity.

The militia were incorporated into government forces under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilisation Forces which Muhandis led.

Many Iraqis, including opponents of Soleimani, have expressed anger at Washington for killing the two men on Iraqi soil and possibly dragging their country into another conflict.

Since the killings, rival Shi’ite political leaders have called for U.S. troops to be expelled from Iraq in an unusual show of unity among factions that have squabbled for months.

Hadi al-Amiri, the top candidate to succeed Muhandis, repeated his call for U.S. troops to leave Iraq on Saturday during an elaborate funeral procession for those killed in the attack.

A vote to expel U.S. troops would need parliament to pass a law obliging the Iraqi government to ask U.S. troops to leave.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who is now caretaker prime minister after resigning in November under pressure from street protests, on Friday called for parliament to convene an extraordinary session to take legislative steps to protect Iraq’s sovereignty.

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-parliament/iraq-parliament-to-convene-amid-calls-to-expel-us-troops-idUSKBN1Z407Z

Non-binding

Yeah, soft response.

[JasonJ]

One US serviceman killed, and 2 DOD contractors wounded in Kenya.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-military-confirms-terror-attack-us-base-kenya/story?id=68075337

Seems unrelated with Iran. On an update, he two wounded ended up killed. Several aircraft "destroyed" which could mean just damaged with bullet holes. 5 attackers killed.

https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/05/al-shabaab-attack-us-military-base-kenya

[Nobu]

 

 

Iran can probably get away with continuing to use their militia to attack the US forces in Iraq. We'll retaliate against them, but since the Iranian backed militia is a bunch of Shia Iraqis for the most part, it's no real skin off their back and it will make our presence increasingly unpopular with the Iraqi Govt, world stage and those with TDS.

 

If they make the mistake of directly retaliating though all bets are off and Tomahawks will probably start pegging sites within Iran proper.

I think so too. They are going to continue the more or less proxy war.

 

 

 

Still, why did they kill Soleimani now?

The powers that be wanted an escalation. Let us see what they do with it.

[Ivanhoe]

Still, why did they kill Soleimani now?

Infinite number of possible answers. Most likely is that the intel squirrels were detecting a big ramp-up in attacks. Another is that, as with al Qaeda, by killing top dogs you cause a flurry of courier flights that can be tracked, leading to HVTs.

 

And of course, there is the possibility that the Embassy thing was to test Trump's engagement in global security, vice the impeachment circus. So the missile strike was Trump's way of sending a message.

[Jeff]

Looking over soleimani's wikipedia page he should be praised by the USA:

 

fought against Saddam

fought drug smugglers

fought the taliban in AFG together with the US

fought ISIS in Iraq and Syria and organized the locals against ISIS

 

 

Well he also stabilized the syrian governemnt. That the US does not like.

 

And I'm sure he made the trains run on time.

[Jeff]

Iran can probably get away with continuing to use their militia to attack the US forces in Iraq. We'll retaliate against them, but since the Iranian backed militia is a bunch of Shia Iraqis for the most part, it's no real skin off their back and it will make our presence increasingly unpopular with the Iraqi Govt, world stage and those with TDS.

 

If they make the mistake of directly retaliating though all bets are off and Tomahawks will probably start pegging sites within Iran proper.

 

That was Soleimani's mistake. Don't think that Trump will just sit back and let Iran hammer Americans by proxy, that's why they have a "help wanted" ad on Indeed for a new terrorist spymaster.

[Jeff]

 

 

Iran can probably get away with continuing to use their militia to attack the US forces in Iraq. We'll retaliate against them, but since the Iranian backed militia is a bunch of Shia Iraqis for the most part, it's no real skin off their back and it will make our presence increasingly unpopular with the Iraqi Govt, world stage and those with TDS.

 

If they make the mistake of directly retaliating though all bets are off and Tomahawks will probably start pegging sites within Iran proper.

I think so too. They are going to continue the more or less proxy war.

 

 

 

Still, why did they kill Soleimani now?

The powers that be wanted an escalation. Let us see what they do with it.

 

 

Iran had all the power to choose the escalation path, Trump stomped on that and he will again if they fail to learn. He doesn't play by rules that benefit his opponents, he scrambles the board where he does well. He was elected to do just that.

[Simon Tan]

If you cant win, change the rules.

[Murph]

 

 

 

Iran can probably get away with continuing to use their militia to attack the US forces in Iraq. We'll retaliate against them, but since the Iranian backed militia is a bunch of Shia Iraqis for the most part, it's no real skin off their back and it will make our presence increasingly unpopular with the Iraqi Govt, world stage and those with TDS.

 

If they make the mistake of directly retaliating though all bets are off and Tomahawks will probably start pegging sites within Iran proper.

I think so too. They are going to continue the more or less proxy war.

 

 

 

Still, why did they kill Soleimani now?

The powers that be wanted an escalation. Let us see what they do with it.

 

 

Iran had all the power to choose the escalation path, Trump stomped on that and he will again if they fail to learn. He doesn't play by rules that benefit his opponents, he scrambles the board where he does well. He was elected to do just that.

 

He also does not hate America like Obama did, plus he is a man unlike most all leftists.

[Simon Tan]

There is another audience for this.

[Mistral]

 

One US serviceman killed, and 2 DOD contractors wounded in Kenya.https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-military-confirms-terror-attack-us-base-kenya/story?id=68075337

Seems unrelated with Iran. On an update, he two wounded ended up killed. Several aircraft "destroyed" which could mean just damaged with bullet holes. 5 attackers killed.https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/05/al-shabaab-attack-us-military-base-kenya

It seems even Trump can not stop the swamp from keeping the US mired in endless wars.

[Stuart Galbraith]

Its very easy to fall into the potholes of set responses here. I dont blame Trump for killing Soleimani, if they felt he needed vapourizing, he probably did. Personally, I dont think any of this brings the US and Iran closer to war. They have always been headed in that direction since the JCPOA fell over. At this point there is a sheer inevitability about it.

 

Do I think the US is going to win a war with Iran? No, I think it will be a long, drawn out struggle like it was between Iran and Iraq, particularly as there is no physical ability to invade Iran.So why do it? Thats the point at which im lost. You dont start a war without recognizing it needs to end at some point, usually after achieving your war aims. I dont think its possible to bomb Iran into being more reasonable or compliant and never was. If it was, Reagan would have done it in the 1980's. If its a case of Tit for Tat, this is the road Reagan went down, and it ended with the Iranian's lofting a load of silkworm missiles at the US Fleet. The idea you can achieve escalation dominance over them is a complete pipe dream.

 

What do we want, Iran to become a democracy and a friend? That is never going to happen. Not without a regime change and everything we are doing right now is welding the Iranian people to the regime, just when they looked on the brink of splitting.