War Iran-United States Military Crisis of 2020 - US Baghdad embassy under siege, rocket fire in US Baghdad green zone, Ukrainian Airlines flight 752 crash, and more!

January 10th:
Exclusive: Informants in Iraq, Syria helped U.S. kill Iran's Soleimani - sources (archive)(post)
Iraqi Shia cleric whose militia killed American troops says crisis is over following Iran strike and Trump speech (archive)(post)
Iraqi PM tells US to decide mechanism for troop withdrawal (archive)(post)
Mike Pence says Congress might 'compromise sources and methods' if fully briefed on the Soleimani strike (archive)(post)
Unidentified planes hit Iraqi militiamen in Syria, killing 8 (archive)(post)
Iraq: The Master Of Mayhem Meets A Missile (archive)(post)
Eliminating Qasem Soleimani was Donald Trump’s Middle East farewell letter (archive)(post)
Iran uses BULLDOZERS to clear debris from plane crash site while accusing US of ‘big lie’ that they shot it down (archive)(post)
Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran Crisis (post)

January 11th:
UKRAINIAN AIRCRAFT WAS BROUGHT DOWN IN IRAN DUE TO 'HUMAN ERROR' (archive)(post)
Iran minister says 'human error' caused by 'US adventurism' led to deadly crash of Ukrainian jetliner (archive)(post)
Ukrainian aircraft was brought down in Iran due to 'human error' (archive)(post)
Trump, at Ohio rally, says Democrats would have leaked Soleimani attack plans (archive)(post)
The Atlantic's David Frum blames Trump for downing of plane in Iran, deaths of 176 (archive)(post)
Associated Press changes ‘shockingly bad’ headline about Soleimani, Ukrainian plane crash after backlash (archive)(post)
GOP Rep. Doug Collins apologizes for saying Democrats are 'in love with terrorists' (archive)(post)
Iran demands West 'show findings' as new video reveals aircraft was struck before fiery crash (archive)(post)
Warren town hall interrupted by angry protester accusing her of ‘siding with terrorists’ (archive)(post)
Trump administration announces new sanctions on Iran (archive)(post)
Prepare For the Worst From Iran Cyber Attacks, As DHS Issues Warning: Experts (archive)(post)
Trump tells Fox News' Laura Ingraham 'four embassies' were targeted in imminent threat from Iran (archive)(post)
Trump tweets support for Iranian protesters as they demand Khamenei quit (archive)(post)
Trump warns Iran against ‘another massacre’ as protests flare over downed jet (archive)(post)

January 12th:
Trump tweet in Farsi 'the most liked Persian tweet' in history of Twitter (archive)(post)
Iraq warned to keep US troops or risk financial blow-WSJ (archive)(post)
Iran arrests UK ambassador in what Britain calls ‘flagrant violation of international law’ (archive)(post)

January 13th:
Trump authorized Soleimani's killing 7 months ago, with conditions (archive)(post)

edit: This is a WIP. All links are posted in the order they appear in the thread, not in chronological order of their publication.


---Original OP before the merge---
Iraqi supporters of Iran-backed militia attack US Embassy
https://apnews.com/75228a8a607a44863b57021ac33264dc (http://archive.vn/ljm9Y)

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA12 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters broke into the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three U.S. soldiers on the roof of the main building inside embassy. It was not clear what caused the fire at the reception area near the parking lot of the compound. A man on a loudspeaker urged the mob not to enter the compound, saying: “The message was delivered.”

The embassy attack followed deadly U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said it was in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that it had blamed on the militia.

Dozens of protesters marched inside the compound after smashing the gate used by cars to enter the embassy. The protesters, many in militia uniform, stopped in a corridor after about 5 meters (16 feet), and were only about 200 meters away from the main building. Half a dozen U.S. soldiers were seen on the roof of the main building, their guns were pointed at the protesters.

Smoke from the tear gas rose in the area, and at least three of the protesters appeared to have difficulties breathing. It wasn’t immediately known whether the embassy staff had remained inside the main building.

The protesters hanged a poster on the wall: “America is an aggressor.”

Shouting “Down, Down USA,” the crowd tried to push inside the embassy grounds, hurling water and stones over its walls. They raised yellow militia flags and taunted the embassy’s security staff who remained behind the glass windows in the gates’ reception area. They sprayed graffiti on the wall and windows in red in support of the Kataeb Hezbollah militia: “Closed in the name of the resistance.”

Hundreds of angry protesters, some in militia uniforms, set up tents outside the embassy. As tempers rose, the mob set fire to three trailers used by security guards along the embassy wall.

No one was immediately reported hurt in the rampage and security staff had withdrawn to inside the embassy earlier, soon after protesters gathered outside.

The U.S. attack — the largest targeting an Iraqi state-sanctioned militia in recent years — and the subsequent calls by the militia for retaliation, represent a new escalation in the proxy war between the U.S. and Iran playing out in the Middle East.

Tuesday’s attempted embassy storming took place after mourners and supporters held funerals for the militia fighters killed in a Baghdad neighborhood, after which they marched on to the heavily fortified Green Zone and kept walking till they reached the sprawling U.S. Embassy there.

AP journalists then saw the crowd as they tried to scale the walls of the embassy, in what appeared to be an attempt to storm it, shouting “Down, down USA!” and “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday’s strikes send the message that the U.S. will not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardize American lives.

The Iranian-backed Iraqi militia had vowed Monday to retaliate for the U.S. military strikes. The attack and vows for revenge raised concerns of new attacks that could threaten American interests in the region.

The U.S. attack also outraged both the militias and the Iraqi government, which said it will reconsider its relationship with the U.S.-led coalition — the first time it has said it will do so since an agreement was struck to keep some U.S. troops in the country. It called the attack a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.

In a partly televised meeting Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi told Cabinet members that he had tried to stop the U.S. operation “but there was insistence” from American officials.

The U.S. military said “precision defensive strikes” were conducted against five sites of Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq and Syria. The group, which is a separate force from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, operates under the umbrella of the state-sanctioned militias known collectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Many of them are supported by Iran.

.

 

[???]

Iran stated that in the event of a war, they would mob the American embassy in Iraq and take as many hostages as possible. Same with the main base in Afghanistan, and the naval base in Qatar(?).

Given that we won't be able to airstrike them when they can torture our guys in response, we should probably stop screwing around with them and GTFO.

 

[⠠⠠⠅⠑⠋⠋⠁⠇⠎ ⠠⠠⠊⠎ ⠠⠠⠁ ⠠⠠⠋⠁⠛]

Fuck this shit is getting old. We have superiority and the world would be better off without their culture. Time to get back to colonizing.

The US is a failure. You aren't even the best in the world at achieving your primary mission- penile inversion.

 

[Cpl. Long Dong Silver]

I can agree with the death to Israel part. Can we meet these guys half way?

 

[Belligerent Monk]

The US is a failure. You aren't even the best in the world at achieving your primary mission- penile inversion.

We're also not as good at producing goat fuckers as y'all are so ya got me I suppose.

I fart in your general direction

 

[Savryc]

United Shabbos of America nobly taking revenge on those that dared raise a hand to their greatest allies golems.

 

[It's HK-47]

I realize that unlike you I'm not a Harvard Professor, but I would consider it unwise to send your Secretary of State to an embassy that is essentially under siege by terrorists, into a country that is so openly-hostile to the U.S. that "death to the USA!" is a routine chant that their leadership makes.

It doesn't sound like a solid plan.

 

[Кот Бегемот]

View attachment 1075747

I realize that unlike you I'm not a Harvard Professor, but I would consider it unwise to send your Secretary of State to an embassy that is essentially under siege by terrorists, into a country that is so openly-hostile to the U.S. that "death to the USA!" is a routine chant that their leadership makes.

It doesn't sound like a solid plan.

we should dress Wendy R into a goat and tie her to a rope near the embassy to graze seductively.

Some people understand logic and reason, some people only understand violence. US embassy is US soil and they need a bunch of tanks roll in to help, burning and laying waste to everything in their path. That message will sink in very quickly.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

Iran stated that in the event of a war, they would mob the American embassy in Iraq and take as many hostages as possible. Same with the main base in Afghanistan, and the naval base in Qatar(?).

Given that we won't be able to airstrike them when they can torture our guys in response, we should probably stop screwing around with them and GTFO.

And the Iranian government don't give a shit to its own people. That tweet is right on target.
https://twitter.com/ablrchi/status/1212028439433293825 ( http://archive.ph/PZ8DK )

Whenever mullahs' regime is in existential crisis, it attacks embassies.

 

[MrJokerRager]

So the United States will never leave Iraq and Syria must be meddled with to protect our greatest ally Israel. If ilhan had stuck to her guns on this point regarding Israel, I would probably have some little respect for her.

This so called war will probably go on till the neocons are fully outed, or their evangelical supporters reduce in number or maybe through demographic replacement, the new Latinx and black bull overlords withdraw from there in 2069 and dissolve the military in their goal of a Supreme pozzed hippy state.

Neocons have to be the worst cancer thing that has happened to your average conservative normie or conservative leaning. Completely abandon taking care of America like the stuff going on in Virginia to please Israel at all costs and still get shit on by the Jews for everything.

Edit: fuck mobile phone autocorrect.

 

[mindlessobserver]

Time to bust out an older meme.

 

[Jewelsmakerguy]

View attachment 1075747

I realize that unlike you I'm not a Harvard Professor, but I would consider it unwise to send your Secretary of State to an embassy that is essentially under siege by terrorists, into a country that is so openly-hostile to the U.S. that "death to the USA!" is a routine chant that their leadership makes.

It doesn't sound like a solid plan.

I get the feeling her plan is for Pompeo to get held hostage or killed over there. That or she's ignorant and doesn't realize that, you know, terrorism's going on over there. Either way she's an idiot.

Still, it's shit like this that should make the world stage, not just the US, throw their hands up in the air and go "fuck it" to the Middle East as a whole.

 

[Кот Бегемот]

I get the feeling his plan is for Pompeo to get held hostage or killed over there. That or he's ignorant and doesn't realize that, you know, terrorism's going on over there. Either way he's an idiot.

Still, it's shit like this that should make the world stage, not just the US, throw their hands up in the air and go "fuck it" to the Middle East as a whole.

Wendy is female. I am used to people never actually reading the posts, but poster has the picture included ... do people now reply without even looking at the post?

 

[It's HK-47]

"Mourners" Is certainly an interesting way to describe members of Hezbollah attacking a U.S. embassy. You went way, way out of your way to avoid saying it to the point where you buried that piece of information halfway down the article, but this is a retaliatory attack from a terrorist group that's supported by the Iranian Mullahs.

These are not just random-ass civilians.

 

[Cosmos]

God, you could not pay me enough to be a staffer in an American embassy in the Middle East (especially as a woman). You’re just walking around with a target on your back.

 

[Prompt Critical]

The United States' involvement in the M.E. isn't about helping people, it's about securing a monopoly on oil trading, keeping a tight leash on the Arab nations and selling weapons.

 

[ColtWalker1847]

USAF terrorists launched an attack on an element of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a group of militias integrated into the Iraqi armed forces that bore the brunt of the fighting against the takfiri terrorists of 'ISIS'.

Iraqi national patriots are mad. Note the many flags of the PMF in the photos of the protests- the attempt to paint this as just an action by (the heroes of) Kata'ib Hezbollah is obvious and blatant, but it is not true.
View attachment 1075597

What fucking horseshit is this. It's no secret that those Shiite militias are deeply connected to Iran and march to their tune. The US specifically targeted one of them because it wasn't playing nice. It was actually mortaring a base belonging to some other ethnic group and killed a US citizen.

This is good news for iraq, the protest look nationalistic and not islamistic and the government looks strong, even if they make another deal with the US.

Uh... do you not know what a Hezbollah flag looks like? Yellow background, hand holding an AK, chickenscratch lettering. There are three of them in the picture above. This is Iran backing religious paramilitary groups and rioters to destabilize a neighboring country. Make no mistake.

 

[Super-Chevy454]

Still, it's shit like this that should make the world stage, not just the US, throw their hands up in the air and go "fuck it" to the Middle East as a whole.

World stage....I wonder if the mollahs are so desesperate to start WW3?

 

[nanny911]

World stage....I wonder if the mollahs are so desesperate to start WW3?

I think it's because they belief that if they start a big enough disaster, Muhammad will return and take over the world. Could be wrong, correct me if I am.

 

[WhoIsSutterKane]

War with Iran to start 2020...nice

 

[It's HK-47]