US Strike Kills Top Iranian Terror Mastermind Qassem Soleimani

[Whisper]

Many -- probably almost all --  of our nation's foreign policy problems would be fixed if we stuck to the maxim of "No better friend, no worse enemy."  Unfortunately, many of our friends aren't sure they can depend on us to do what we say, and many of our enemies don't believe our threats and warnings, and for the same reason -- we don't always follow through.  Trump does seem to have tried to address this in some ways, but he's limited by the fact that he's such a narcissistic, petulant blowhard.  At least he's better than his 2016 alternative.

Edited January 7, 2020 by Whisper

[FUJIMO]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-base-iraq-comes-under-attack-missiles-iran-claims-n1112171

Looks like they want to play 

[Fourtyfive]

May we clear the map....

[Garufa]

What are you talking about?

[DaveTN]

22 minutes ago, Garufa said:

What are you talking about?

I assume he's talking about the missile attacks on bases in Iraq by Iran. Plenty of speculation on how Trump will get us out of this without sending troops to war.

Hours after the attacks they are saying they don’t know if there are injuries. That’s ridiculous. Of course they know if there are injuries; this is 2020.

 

[GlockSpock]

Looks like someone had the unfortunate coincidence of a plane crashing. Bets?

[mikegideon]

13 hours ago, FUJIMO said:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/u-s-base-iraq-comes-under-attack-missiles-iran-claims-n1112171

Looks like they want to play 

Somebody is playing with somebody. Zero casualties. Were they trying to miss? Did they have advanced warning and an evacuation? I don't think Iran is stupid enough to go toe to toe with us. We licked Iraq's ass in a couple of weeks with very few casualties. All the casualties came from the nation building BS, which Trump says he isn't gonna do.

[Erik88]

32 minutes ago, GlockSpock said:

Looks like someone had the unfortunate coincidence of a plane crashing. Bets?

That particular Boeing is one of the safest models in the world. Someone uploaded a video to Twitter and the plane was engulfed in flames on the way to the ground. I would not be surprised if it was shot down. 

[GlockSpock]

17 minutes ago, mikegideon said:

Somebody is playing with somebody. Zero casualties. Were they trying to miss? Did they have advanced warning and an evacuation? I don't think Iran is stupid enough to go toe to toe with us. We licked Iraq's ass in a couple of weeks with very few casualties. All the casualties came from the nation building BS, which Trump says he isn't gonna do.

I did read that Iran tipped off Iraq regarding the missiles, and Iraq also tipped us off regarding them.

Seems nearly a play out of a Clinton playbook.

[GlockSpock]

@Fourtyfive

I merged your topic with the original. Didn't think we needed two threads going.

[Johnny Rotten]

11 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

That particular Boeing is one of the safest models in the world. Someone uploaded a video to Twitter and the plane was engulfed in flames on the way to the ground. I would not be surprised if it was shot down. 

itchy trigger fingers in Iran

[GlockSpock]

2 minutes ago, GlockSpock said:

I did read that Iran tipped off Iraq regarding the missiles, and Iraq also tipped us off regarding them.

Seems nearly a play out of a Clinton playbook.

Is it a question of if, or which one?

[GlockSpock]

Anyone want to create a Meme stating that the flight's nickname was the Lucy?

[GlockSpock]

Huh...according to a report I'm reading...

35.7% of the passengers were...Canadian.

[btq96r]

Given the targets they chose, the amped up rhetoric for domestic consumption...I think the Iranians are trying to save some pride for the moment while avoiding direct confrontation.  Overt acts with conventional military resources aren't their strong suit, so my bet is they'll regroup and go back to the more familiar "terrorist" style efforts for any further retailitory moves that could also just be an extension of efforts already underway.
 

So, for everyone hoping to see B-2 and cruise missle footage...sorry.  I guess consult a doctor if your war boner doesn't go away after four hours.

 

[Johnny Rotten]

yeah mechanical issue

23136626-7863359-image-a-1_1578464858065_jpg-1225838 by Johnny Rotten, on Flickr

 

[E4 No More]

Seems like the hand-wringers and Trump haters on this forum can relax for now. Doesn't look like we're going to war as they feared.

[Quavodus]

5 minutes ago, E4 No More said:

Seems like the hand-wringers and Trump haters on this forum can relax for now. Doesn't look like we're going to war as they feared.

No, I don't think there is much to worry about concerning a war. If Iran does something stupid, (and they may) the military will retaliate with swift force I'm sure. But, I don't see us doing anything before them.

[Erich]

There is a distinct odor of fish in the air.

They tell us they are shooting at us, we dont know causualties at the early report versus saying we had folks holed up in bunkers. And our awesome sauce anti missile batteries, knowing birds were inbound and from where they were coming only managed to get 2 of 12 or so functiona birds (some didnt make the flight).

I think the play of shooting down an airliner as a distraction is the biggest travesty in it.

I want to see the White house call logs please.

 

[deerslayer]

Now Iran doesn’t want to give up the black box for the Ukrainian plane that went down right after takeoff from Tehran, allegedly in flames.  If the plane’s initially reported mechanical failure was SAM-related, I can’t blame them.  

[AuEagle]

http://knuckledraggin.com/2020/01/why-dont-i-doubt-this/

[DaveTN]

In 1988 we shot down an Iranian Airbus A380 killing all 290 people onboard. The USS Vincennes identified it as an attacking F-14 Tomcat, that we sold them. So, it its surely possible that the Iranians shot down a passenger jet in the middle of a missile attack.

It took off hours after the attack, but I guess with everyone on high alert and their fingers on the triggers; it could happen. Things like that happen when you play war for real.

I also don’t buy into the “They just wanted to look good for their people, and now they will stop, because they know what we will do.” They don’t fear us and they don’t care what their people think. They will launch another attack; either there or here.

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by DaveTN

[E4 No More]

15 minutes ago, DaveTN said:

In 1988 we shot down an Iranian Airbus A380 killing all 290 people onboard. The USS Vincennes identified it as an attacking F-14 Tomcat, that we sold them. So, it its surely possible that the Iranians shot down a passenger jet in the middle of a missile attack.

It took off hours after the attack, but I guess with everyone on high alert and their fingers on the triggers; it could happen. Things like that happen when you play war for real.

I also don’t buy into the “They just wanted to look good for their people, and now they will stop, because they know what we will do.” They don’t fear us and they don’t care what their people think. They will launch another attack; either there or here.

 

I disagree. They have gone for decades killing our people and our pansy presidents do nothing about it. Now they expected the same with Trump but he disappointed them with a high-value strike. That caught them off guard. I think Trump has drawn a line at taking American lives - even if they are contractors - and the Iranians now know that he means it. Sure, they'll continue to shoot down drones and such, but I think they'll be cautious of taking any more American lives.

[Omega]

7 minutes ago, E4 No More said:

I disagree. They have gone for decades killing our people and our pansy presidents do nothing about it. Now they expected the same with Trump but he disappointed them with a high-value strike. That caught them off guard. I think Trump has drawn a line at taking American lives - even if they are contractors - and the Iranians now know that he means it. Sure, they'll continue to shoot down drones and such, but I think they'll be cautious of taking any more American lives.

The rockets probably didn't have any warheads in them, they just did not cause enough damage to of had any significant amount of payload.  They also did not hit anything of tactical value, and they warned enough people to make sure we got the word before the strike; so this was a feint the whole way.

[DaveTN]

10 minutes ago, E4 No More said:

I disagree. They have gone for decades killing our people and our pansy presidents do nothing about it. Now they expected the same with Trump but he disappointed them with a high-value strike. That caught them off guard. I think Trump has drawn a line at taking American lives - even if they are contractors - and the Iranians now know that he means it. Sure, they'll continue to shoot down drones and such, but I think they'll be cautious of taking any more American lives.

And I double down on my disagreement of your disagreement.  As a nation, they might be a little careful what they do….maybe….kinda, nah disregard that; they don’t care even a little bit.

Terrorists and mass shooters fear nothing. They don’t fear Trump, they know they are going to die. It’s just a matter of where and when. They will continue to try to kill us; they will try to make it appear the Country of Iran is not behind the attacks, as to confuse our targets.

If its true that Trump made the comment, he will take them out of the oil business; they might be a little concerned about that. They do need that money. Especially since they don’t have any democrats shipping them airplanes full of cash.