US-Iran War Has Begun! Iran launches dozens of ballistic missiles!

[Valmy]

Yes, the Iranian General was a nasty dude, responsible for killing US and allied troops and running campaigns around the region. That said, I feel Trump was hasty in going after that guy as it would only cause escalations that can't be controlled.

And more to the point killing him does us no good. This isn't like killing some nutty charismatic cult leader like that ISIS guy or Osama bin Laden. He is just an office holder, a cog in the wheel of a state. Easily replaceable.

[mongers]

Photos have been posted of scud sized missile stages having landed in iraq, by the looks of it those are photos taken in the Iraq countryside, rather from within a US base, so might suggest these are simple inaccurate short range or IRBM strikes.

Maybe we're going to get lucky and no US personel were it? though reports have circulated that some Iraqis have been injured/

[KRonn]

Yes, the Iranian General was a nasty dude, responsible for killing US and allied troops and running campaigns around the region. That said, I feel Trump was hasty in going after that guy as it would only cause escalations that can't be controlled.

And more to the point killing him does us no good. This isn't like killing some nutty charismatic cult leader like that ISIS guy or Osama bin Laden. He is just an office holder, a cog in the wheel of a state. Easily replaceable.

He was more than that though. He controlled a lot of Iran's terrorism groups in the region and around the world. Iran has been attacking US and western targets for years and he had some input into those events. He was under sanction by the UN with further sanctions by the US.

That said, I tend to agree more so that killing him wasn't worth the escalation and where it leads to, keeping us in more of the quagmire of the Mid East. Better to do things like add more sanctions on Iran and especially these top leaders.

[KRonn]

Photos have been posted of scud sized missile stages having landed in iraq, by the looks of it those are photos taken in the Iraq countryside, rather from within a US base, so might suggest these are simple inaccurate short range or IRBM strikes.

Maybe we're going to get lucky and no US personel were it? though reports have circulated that some Iraqis have been injured/

We'll see, it's early yet to really have good info, I think. A large US base wasn't targeted, not yet anyway. These attacks may continue, which could force the US to respond. As I said, this all needs to be de-escalated IMO.

[Admiral Yi]

Photos have been posted of scud sized missile stages having landed in iraq, by the looks of it those are photos taken in the Iraq countryside, rather from within a US base, so might suggest these are simple inaccurate short range or IRBM strikes.

Maybe we're going to get lucky and no US personel were it? though reports have circulated that some Iraqis have been injured/

This should heat up Iraqi politics.  People are already on the streets protesting Iranian influence and now they're being hit by Scuds.

[Grey Fox]

This is an administration full of people hung up on 1979. I expect they will not squander this chance to enact a very cold dish of revenge.

[Razgovory]

Those are some odd choices.

I can imagine some screaming matches going on between the White House and Pentagon about bombing 52 cultural sites.

The only thing odd about it is they didn't include Riyadh.  They are framing the war.  On one side is Iran (and probably Syria and Iraq), and on the other side is the US, Israel, and the decadent Gulf states.

[Razgovory]

I don't see how war can be avoided now.

It can always be avioded. Remember Trump is a bully at heart.

My worry if it does continue, is Iran targeting Israel. Trump's administration is incompetent to restrain the israeli's.

I really think that this has to do with the election and the impeachment.  I'm not big on conspiracy theories, but Trump has stated that Obama would attack Iran and keep interest rates down to help his reelection.  Trump has been screaming about the need to keep interest rates low for years now.  It's not hard to make the jump to believing that Trump is doing the other thing that he accused Obama of doing.  That's how he believes the world works.  We will see if he's right.

[jimmy olsen]

Seems like a rather calm response for Trump (so far, we'll see how he feels in the morning).

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1214739853025394693

All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.

[KRonn]

This is an administration full of people hung up on 1979. I expect they will not squander this chance to enact a very cold dish of revenge.

Trump campaigned on and has often said he wanted to stop those old style entanglements, but he will be tough in responding which obviously can be a two edged sword as I feel we see with Iran now. He got rid of Bolton a while ago, and he was a big hawk type, wanted to be a lot more aggressive everywhere. I never really liked him in the administration. I don't think Trump is in that war hawk camp but there are many people in the DC swamp who push to continue these endless wars and occupations.

I could see the involvement against ISIS in Syria and Iraq mainly for fighting ISIS. But I'm wondering why we still need to be so heavily involved in Iraq with ISIS gone. Iran has nearly turned it into a colony or something similar, they have so much influence, so the Iraqis have to deal with that. And as Yi says, many Iraqis aren't happy about it. I guess the US still wants to have influence there but it seems a nebulous goal more and more.

[Admiral Yi]

Seems like a rather calm response for Trump (so far, we'll see how he feels in the morning).

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1214739853025394693

All is well! Missiles launched from Iran at two military bases located in Iraq. Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well equipped military anywhere in the world, by far! I will be making a statement tomorrow morning.

Esper and Pompeo screamed louder and longer than Donald.

[mongers]

Iranian foreign minister tweets:

Javad Zarif
✔
@JZarif

Iran took & concluded proportionate measures in self-defense under Article 51 of UN Charter targeting base from which cowardly armed attack against our citizens & senior officials were launched.

We do not seek escalation or war, but will defend ourselves against any aggression.

02:32* - 8 Jan 2020

*GMT

[Admiral Yi]

No tags backs!

[Grey Fox]

This is an administration full of people hung up on 1979. I expect they will not squander this chance to enact a very cold dish of revenge.

Trump campaigned on and has often said he wanted to stop those old style entanglements, but he will be tough in responding which obviously can be a two edged sword as I feel we see with Iran now. He got rid of Bolton a while ago, and he was a big hawk type, wanted to be a lot more aggressive everywhere. I never really liked him in the administration. I don't think Trump is in that war hawk camp but there are many people in the DC swamp who push to continue these endless wars and occupations.

I could see the involvement against ISIS in Syria and Iraq mainly for fighting ISIS. But I'm wondering why we still need to be so heavily involved in Iraq with ISIS gone. Iran has nearly turned it into a colony or something similar, they have so much influence, so the Iraqis have to deal with that. And as Yi says, many Iraqis aren't happy about it. I guess the US still wants to have influence there but it seems a nebulous goal more and more.

I don't think what Trump campaigned on matters when Iran is concerned.

[mongers]

No tags backs!

It's telling that the Iranians launched their missiles at around the same time as the US launched the missiles on Soleimani's car.

Also following on from Trumps simple post of the US flag after the attack, the Iranians have responded with a un-commented post of the Iranian flag.

Of course all of these attempts at a calibrated response go out of the window if Trump has a problematic season on the shitter tomorrow morning.