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.

.

 

[Spooky Bones]

No, the really strange part is that Qasem Soleimani died years ago. I don't for a second believe that he was killed in these airstrikes; I believe that this is Iran trying to come out and "admit" to his death in a way that would allow them to escalate in response.

I have to do a lot of digging right now, though. I never expected that they'd openly admit to the fact that he was dead.

Fascinating. So was it this al-Muhandas character who died in the strike and Soleimani is being tacked onto it for political reasons?

 

[Jump]

30 year old has 10 year old son. Dad fights in desert storm. Son grows up and has a son. He fights in Iraq. Now its the grandsons turn to do the right thing and die in a desert shithole country.

That family could try just not joining the military. Dying for Israel has been a choice since they ended the Vietnam war.

 

[Spooky Bones]

That family could try just not joining the military. Dying for Israel has been a choice since they ended the Vietnam war.

My kid is already contemplating joining up. I don't know that I could rightfully discourage him.

 

[MrJokerRager]

Tucker is covering this now. I think that Iranian kiwi about to get pissed off.

Trump orders attack that kills Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, other military officials in Baghdad, Pentagon says

President Trump ordered a game-changing U.S. military attack that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, among other military officials at Baghdad International Airport early Friday, the Pentagon confirmed.

www.foxnews.com

Baghdad rocket attack kills Iranian military leaders including Gen. Q…

archived 3 Jan 2020 02:33:55 UTC

archive.li

 

[Spawn]

Well hell, my fear is Iran has tons of ballistic missiles. Alot of which are under the control of the irgc. Those guys could launch a ballistic missile strike and wipe the embassy off the map along with the rest of our bases. Ditto for israel. They could lob short range missiles and rockets over the purple line of the Golan into israel. If we go to war kiss the Saudi oil infrastructure goodbye. If that happens the global economy shits itself and well... Ww1 started for less shit then this. Let's see what it takes for ww3

 

[Superman93]

No, the really strange part is that Qasem Soleimani died years ago. I don't for a second believe that he was killed in these airstrikes; I believe that this is Iran trying to come out and "admit" to his death in a way that would allow them to escalate in response.

I have to do a lot of digging right now, though. I never expected that they'd openly admit to the fact that he was dead.

How would lying about his death benefit Iran? Especially now since the US took responsibility for it. Wouldn't it be best to keep lying and call the US incompetent?

 

[RodgerDodger]

Uh, what? You realize that the US only did that a couple times and the USSR did it EVERYWHERE, right? That the US funding of the muj in Afghanistan was just playing the USSR's game against them.

From the KKE in Greece to Shining Path in Peru to UNITA in Angola to Sukarno's Indonesia to Sandinistas in Nicaragua to Pol Pot's Cambodia to the "Emergency" in Malaya to Nasser's Egypt to the DERG in Ethiopia to EVERY BAATHIST REGIME IN THE MIDDLE EAST and pretty much every conflict of the Cold War involving communist rebels (which was a metric shitload) the USSR funded and backed them. The few times the US played dirty when the USSR stepped on it's dick is a drop in a fucking ocean of AKMs and RPG-7s.

Currently, if you haven't been paying attention, the Iranians are seeding Shia proxy militia/rebel groups all around the middle east. Mostly Hezbollah franchises. They are leveraging their religion (rather than political ideology) in the same way the Ruskies did to incide division to weaken their neighbors. It's only fair that the US plays that shit right back at them. And if the US doesn't the Saudi's will and we really don't want them in control of that.

Let's be honest with ourselves. Through the 60's and 70's and until th eend of the Cold War Proxy War was the name of the game, and all the major players were doing it. Everybody was backing some violent shitstirrers someplace. The Soviets were probably more widespread with it. But they were also mostly better able to control those they backed. The US backed groups tended to just get handed a bunch of arms and money, and the US had no feedback loop of a boot on their necks to prevent unwanted consequences.

I hope the US self destructs with an all out attack on Iran. It would utterly cripple the US economy and further deteriorate relations abroad while at the same time leading to even more domestic political polarization. It is evident Trump is the only person in the US government trying to avoid war with Iran, he's been keeping the walls locked from the likes of Bolton. But I don't think he can hold out anymore. Ironically the US president is all that stands between disaster and peace for America and the middle east for once. The swamp monsters want to start another Iraq but this times it would be Iraq x10 with costs x10 and regional collateral x10 with profit x10 for the Jewish lobby. I'm thankful they might finally get their way. It would lead to even faster relative decline for US influence abroad and open even more avenues for the likes of Russia and China to step in and take over. Trump is being a clever girl with his empty threats but girls can't hold swamp monsters back for long.

also, lol

Why would the US opt for an "All Out Attack on Iran". The US can very easily cripple Iran with a series of limited strikes. Ones that would have limited direct impact on the Iranian citizenry, nor cause them to fall in behind and support the Mullah's. Between decapitation attacks against those taking Iran's hard earned treasury and siphoning it off to terrorist death merchants throughout the middle east, to one or more crippling strikes on Iran's Oil export infrastructure. Which is incredibly fragile and centralized to a few vulnerable points. Then there is always the old Reagan standby of "sink the Iranian Navy" what there is of it. show of hands, who thinks any small Iranian boats will be quietly tolerated within sighting distance of any US vessel at the moment?

I guess this didn't go quite as Iran had hoped.
https://apnews.com/5597ff0f046a67805cc233d5933a53ed

That one rather boggles the mind. I mean what exactly did they think was going to happen? "Let's fly the leader of the Iranian Quds Force openly into Bagdad to meet with the Guy leading the embassy siege!" Khamenei will be living in a deep underground bunker for the forseeable future. The American's not so much.

 

[Athena Wild]

Hypothetically, if WWIII starts, who is even going to side with Iran?

 

[roxitp0w3rwuzdabest420]

How would lying about his death benefit Iran? Especially now since the US took responsibility for it. Wouldn't it be best to keep lying and call the US incompetent?

The dude was a live a couple of hours ago. They didn't lie fucking conspritards gotta make shit up to feel special. We killed him, if we didn't we wouldn't have done a troop surge. also 82nd airbornes is heading there right now.

 

[Spooky Bones]

Tucker is covering this now. I think that Iranian kiwi about to get pissed off.

Trump orders attack that kills Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, other military officials in Baghdad, Pentagon says

President Trump ordered a game-changing U.S. military attack that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, among other military officials at Baghdad International Airport early Friday, the Pentagon confirmed.

www.foxnews.com

Baghdad rocket attack kills Iranian military leaders including Gen. Q…

archived 3 Jan 2020 02:33:55 UTC

archive.li

Very much worth a watch.

 

[RA-5C Vigilante]

HOLY FUCK

I didn't expect the fucking Qods Force CO to get whacked.

When I was the service, studying Iran was something we had to do, and hearing that Soleimani got killed changes the game. This guy is like the creme de la creme of the IRGC. Now the big thing to wonder is what the normal Iranian Army, the Artesh, are gonna do, because the Revolutionary Guard are going to be screaming for blood. This guy just got turned into a martyr. I fucking hope to Christ we didn't do this shit.

Im throwing the US, the Saudis, and Israel as the most likely suspects. My wild card that is rogue Artesh officers.

Edit: Getting reports US strike was what happened. Buckle up buckaroos!

 

[Draza]

No, the really strange part is that Qasem Soleimani died years ago. I don't for a second believe that he was killed in these airstrikes; I believe that this is Iran trying to come out and "admit" to his death in a way that would allow them to escalate in response.

I have to do a lot of digging right now, though. I never expected that they'd openly admit to the fact that he was dead.

Qasem Soleimani has been a front-line general/leader that has always operated in the open leading his troops and militias in Syria and Iraq for years. Hence why you'll hear rumors of his death in the battlefields up until now.

 

[Botchy Galoop]

Trump turned back a retaliatory strike at the last possible minute when Iran shot our drone down earlier this year. I saw his reasoning: it was a piece of equipment and not worth a use of force response.

Trump is definitely not pro-war, but I'm feeling like the Iranians fucked up on this one. I suspect F-35s are going to be dropping cool shit soon. He's given the Iranians a long rope and they're hanging themselves with it.

Your crystal ball seems to be in good working order.

 

[roxitp0w3rwuzdabest420]

Hypothetically, if WWIII starts, who is even going to side with Iran?

russia. Half this shit in the middle east is deep state worrying about ussr rising again. The other half is israel and suadis wanting to be the dominate powers in the region and Iran is the their major competition.

 

[Marissa Moira]

I've given trump for shit for being all talk and no action but holy fucking shit he wasn't kidding this time

That 40 billion to Israel was to give mossad their own ninja missiles.

Except these shoot little throwing stars of David.

 

[Superman93]

Hypothetically, if WWIII starts, who is even going to side with Iran?

Russia , Maybe China? Low chance because they are massive trade partners with us, North Korea and smaller irrelevant eastern European States

 

[MrJokerRager]

Hypothetically, if WWIII starts, who is even going to side with Iran?

Russia, China, Syria, Cuba, India, Venezuela, North Korea and some would even say Pakistan but I doubt they will intervene if they want the Saudi Money.

 

[It's HK-47]

Fascinating. So was it this al-Muhandas character who died in the strike and Soleimani is being tacked onto it for political reasons?

This is going to take some rummaging around, but in the meantime I'll put it like this: Iran themselves lept out in front of this in a time when they desperately need an excuse to whip themselves into a frenzy, and the only proof they've put forwards is a ring on a hand that could belong to absolutely anybody. It's not like Aqeeq rings are that uncommon anyways; they're an incredibly popular ring in the Islamic religion.

I'm not in the least bit worried about any sort of war kicking off in response to this, I just find it incredibly interesting that they're actually coming out now and admitted that he was dead, it's just not how I expected them to do it. And no, I'm not talking about "rumours" of his death, I mean that he absolutely died awhile ago, but the Iranians just pretended that it never happened.

 

[Spooky Bones]

russia. Half this shit in the middle east is deep state worrying about ussr rising again. The other half is israel and suadis wanting to be the dominate powers in the region and Iran is the their major competition.

We've been already killing Russians in Syria with regularity. I don't see Russia going to war with the potential of some low key arms sales.

Military-technological cooperation between Russia and Israel has unambiguously been one of the most idiosyncratic dynamics in the Middle East since the last two decades. For all its success, this development remains a matter of constant debate to Israel’s security strategy, as Russia is equally a major supplier of military arms to Iran. This article aims to demonstrate the foundational role of the commercial sustainability rationale in legitimizing the cooperative architecture put in place by the defence industries of the two countries. It uncovers the historical background that led to the close Russian-Israeli network back in the 1990s and engages with the paradoxes posed by Russia’s simultaneous involvement with Israel and Iran. The study concludes that no major consequences are to be expected in the foreseeable future.

https://www.cairn.info/revue-confluences-mediterranee-2018-1-page-97.htm#

 

[ConfederateIrishman]

Russia , Maybe China? Low chance because they are massive trade partners with us, North Korea and smaller irrelevant eastern European States

There is probably more options than simply directly opposing or helping them. For example, if this turns into another Afghanistan (or god forbid worse), then it might become very attractive to ensure the US bleeds there for a long time.