[W:104:1192]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

[PirateMk1]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

They'd better be using drones, though. Iran is bristling with SAMs these days.

Thats why we invented cruise missiles. Tomahawks and the rest of the inventory followed up with Wild Weasel mission equipped planes including naval Growlers and F-16's and F-35's. I guess we are about to find out how good those very expensive F-35's really are. The F-22's and F-15's will provide top cover for the mission strike packages. None of the drones we employ are useful in a contested environment. This is were the Air Force and Navy are going to be wishing they had invested in the Boeing UCAV program back in the 1990's as we had built some freaky advanced **** that worked and well. If we get desperate we could pull the stuff off the shelf though and have it up and running in no time, as the primary programing and debugging was already done it would be a matter of airframe, sensor integration, and communication integration.

 

[Divine_Wind]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Why should I care if Iran is the country rebuilding Iraq? Oh, I forgot, this is about making sure that US corporations profit instead of Iranian or Russian ones. Gotta throw a few more thousand American lives away so Halliburton, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Lockheed can make a few more billion dollars.

You should care, but I can see this conversation has moved outside of my discussion parameters. G'day, sir!

 

[Hamish Howl]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Agreed. Furthermore, he was an Iranian in Iraq to plan more attacks on Americans.

You guys are approaching this all wrong.

He was a commissioned Iranian officer, working under the orders of his nation. Which makes Iran even MORE culpable.

 

[SheWolf]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Absolutely nobody will support us. Boris Johnson was silent, and even Netanyahu tried to distance Israel from the attack on Soleimani.

On the other hand I won't be surprised if Russia supports Iran, not directly with troops, but supplying all sorts of weapons.

If major war breaks out, China will remain neutral but then will take advantage of the chaos and of our being thin-stretched, to make more gains in the South China Sea, just like Putin cashed in on perceived Obama weaknesses to annex Crimea.

The end result of all of this is that the United States will come out of it poorer and with less international clout.

You’re right. I see no good reason to go to war. This is all about Trump trying to prove something. Speaking of Trump, I wonder what he is think right now.

 

[Evilroddy]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

From what I have been able to suss out Iran launched the first wave of ballistic missiles at the same time as the US drone strike on Soleimani's small motorcade last week. Iran also announced that after the second wave of launches that no more attacks would be made if there was no military retaliation from America or her allies. The missiles were launched from a western province of Iraq, but I missed the name when it was announced. The missiles were targeted and an Iraqi military base in Erbil in the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq and at the Iraqi base at AIn al Assad in the Sunni Triangle of Iraq. There are garbled reports of of a third target being the Taji Iraqi base near Baghdad. This third attack may not have happened. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps rather cynically announced that their missiles were targeting the Iraqi barracks and infrastructure in the two (possibly three) bases. There have been causal ties but no reports yet of Western casualties so that's good news for world peace but another tragedy for the poor bloody Iraqis on the bases. The Iranians have warned that any regional state which allows US forces to launch attacks from their soil, then Iraq will attack those states as punishment for attacking Iran indirectly.

I know that Westerners don't want to here it, but this was a well planned and very accurate strike which was both disciplined and offered an opportunity to allow de-escalation.

Maybe it would be a good idea to take the Iranians at their word and wait awhile before launching reprisal attacks which could be launched later. Let diplomacy try to sort this out before the escalation curve goes asymptotic.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.

 

[Questerr]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

You should care, but I can see this conversation has moved outside of my discussion parameters. G'day, sir!

*WHY* should I care? The Iraqi people don't want us there. They seem to want Iran there. Why should our people deal with such hostility?

 

[Divine_Wind]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

He worked for Valiant Integrated Services. He wasn't scrubbing toilets.

Most are weapons systems advisors, not "mercenaries". They are working for their companies who have contracted to sell our military or the Iraqi military on equipment their company sells. Remember when the Russia-aligned Ukrainians shot down an airliner? The missile system used is a very complex system and, while the Separatists were in control of the missile system, there was at least one Russian "tech adviser" there to teach and train. IIRC, the tech said "no so fast" when they wanted to shoot the aircraft overhead but they ignored him.

Same thing for our advisers in Iraq. Again, not mercenaries.

 

[PirateMk1]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

"Contractor" is such a polite word for "mercenary".

Yes. I was a "contractor". Mercs come in all flavors. I was a logistics wienie. I worked for KBR and for the DOD. Most "contractors" do the maintenance and the mundane work. Very few comparatively speaking are "shooters".

 

[Hamish Howl]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Yes. I was a "contractor". Mercs come in all flavors. I was a logistics wienie. I worked for KBR and for the DOD. Most "contractors" do the maintenance and the mundane work. Very few comparatively speaking are "shooters".

I have as much use for mercenaries as the Hague does.

 

[Divine_Wind]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

I think Russia would be really happy if we and Iran keep plinking at each other.

Mostly because Iran is one of their best weapons customers, and that inventory has to move.

Proof there is a upside to everything. Yes, the Russians get to see how their stuff performs.

 

[RAMOSS]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

There will be some kind of reprisal, I'd bet. But, if they struck uninhabited space, well, there are lots of uninhabited things and places to strike in response, if that's what we wish to do. Be interesting to see what Iranian intent was with that launch, but, it seems that more space has opened up for it to not rapidly escalate.

I hope you are right. I am not confident that Trump will follow the best course of action, but I can always hope cooler head prevail and the poll numbers convince him.

 

[braindrain]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Ironic how its always Republicans who start the wars. :roll: 3 GOP presidents, 4 21st century wars.

So what exactly do you call Syria and Libya. Or what we were doing in Africa. Oh let me guess. Those don't count.

 

[Atomic Kid]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

You think the Iranians didn't learn from that 10(?) year conflict and all the losses? Do you really think the Iranian families who lost so much would sit idly by while their government did it to them again?

Do you really think the Sunni Gulf nations have a love for Iran? A complete lack of concern? Why do you think Saudi Arabia, among others, have been building up their military so much for the past 30 years? Because of Israel?

I invite you to read some history, specifically the Sunni/Shia split in 632 AD

Oh for Christ's sake. I and anyone else who dabbled in the enigma of the Middle East else has heard of the Sunni/Shia split. Which doesn't really have much of anything to do with this or anything that I had asked you. This is a nation that has demonstrated by weathering all our sanctions and the appalling losses they endured in a previous war their willingness to endure the almost unendurable. How much do you we would be willing to endure? And when it's all said and done what exactly would it be that we have then 'won'? Do you have any answer for that? You might as well forget about the Saudi's as well. Except for their oil money they're pretty much useless. We have given them the best military equipment and weapons that money can buy and they still seem to can't fight their way out of wet paper bag.

 

[trixare4kids]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

The kind that lead us to get the **** out of the middle east. And bring our boys home.

This warmongering by people, unpatriotic warmongering, is sickening.

non-sequitur
Perhaps you could learn to follow the discussion. I was speaking of the Iranians.

 

[Hamish Howl]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Proof there is a upside to everything. Yes, the Russians get to see how their stuff performs.

Well, either the Iranians were aiming to miss, or the Russian stuff is ****.

 

[Fred C Dobbs II]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

And it's wrong....which is why I'm actually a little surprised Trump would risk ticking off Russia in this case. Maybe Putin said "Okay, Donnie, you can have 3 airstrikes but nothing more. I'm serious!!!"

Adam Schiff has had quite an influence on those willing to manufacture conversations when they lack the facts.

 

[GreatNews2night]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Iranian foreign minister tweets that attack was "proportionate" and in "self-defense"- they are already backing down. They apparently fired a dozen missiles at nothing, taking care of not killing anybody, and they are saying that's their retaliation.

If Trump wisely doesn't do anything, this thankfully could be over.

Trump shouldn't mock them and force their hand. He should let them appease their domestic protesters by appearing to have attacked us (when they ultimately didn't).

But I'm not too hopeful that Trump will keep his small fingers off his smartphone's keyboard.

 

[Bullseye]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

A rocket attack on December 27 killed a US contractor and injured four US service members at a base in Kirkuk, which is in the northeastern part of Iraq. The US has blamed the deadly attack on Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia. The US retaliated with airstrikes thought to have killed dozens of the militia's fighters. Subsequently, the US Embassy in Baghdad was the subject of violent protests, prompting the US to send about 100 more Marines to the embassy for protection.

An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, leaves both sides blind and toothless.

And showing weakness in combat means your side will be gumming their MREs.

 

[JANFU]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Iranian foreign minister tweets that attack was "proportionate" and in "self-defense"- they are already backing down. They apparently fired a dozen missiles at nothing, taking care of not killing anybody, and they are saying that's their retaliation.

If Trump wisely doesn't do anything, this thankfully could be over.

Or it may embolden Trump-Pompeo??

 

[Divine_Wind]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Oh for Christ's sake. I and anyone else who dabbled in the enigma of the Middle East else has heard of the Sunni/Shia split. Which doesn't really have much of anything to do with this or anything that I had asked you. This is a nation that has demonstrated by weathering all our sanctions and the appalling losses they endured in a previous war their willingness to endure the almost unendurable. How much do you we would i be willing to endure? And when it's all said and done what exactly would it be that we have then 'won'? Do you have any answer for that? You might as well forget about the Saudi's as well. Except for their oil money they're pretty much useless. We have given them the best military equipment and weapons that money can buy and they still seem to can't fight their way out of wet paper bag.

You seem to be under that false impression I favor war with Iran. I don't.

Your disregard for Sunni Arabs is interesting. Why do you think the Shia's are so much better?

 

[beerftw]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

A rocket attack on December 27 killed a US contractor and injured four US service members at a base in Kirkuk, which is in the northeastern part of Iraq. The US has blamed the deadly attack on Kataeb Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia. The US retaliated with airstrikes thought to have killed dozens of the militia's fighters. Subsequently, the US Embassy in Baghdad was the subject of violent protests, prompting the US to send about 100 more Marines to the embassy for protection.

An eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth, leaves both sides blind and toothless.

First time I head a quote like that was the film adaptation of fiddler on the roof

 

[braindrain]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Quite interesting that Obama hasn’t been president for 3 years and the area has been stable until Trump recklessly threw caution to the wind — less than a week ago.

Iran never bombed us when Obama was in office. Just saying!!!

You think the middle east has been stable. Wrote. You might want to do a bit of research before making such silly comments.

 

[Hamish Howl]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

Or it may embolden Trump-Pompeo??

Depends who Trump is listening to.

 

[trixare4kids]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

It seems they are being careful not to hit any Americans, and are just doing this for political standing at home. They do have more precise weapons they could have used.

I think you may be correct.
Hopefully, this is the end of it.

 

[ElChupacabra]

Re: [W:104]Iran state TV: Tehran fires at Iraqi base housing US troops

He was a member of the military and a terrorist.

Of that there's no debate, the question is whether killing him and announcing it was the smart thing to do considering the much larger blowback that it would cause. Had he been taken out without the bluster, the Iranians would have suspected anyway, but making a spectacle of it forced an escalation.