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.

.

 

[Sissy Galvez]

It’s not like we haven’t sent messages to Iran before, we completely destroyed their nuclear enrichment program by hacking their shit. This was just more brazen and well deserved.

You are morally and mentally bankrupt if say attacking our embassy or citizens on foreign soil isn’t an act of war. It is a major act of war.

 

[Sped Xing]

Who else here is old enough to remember people on forums saying Saddam would obliterate the US and UK invasion?

Real nigga hours

 

[Neil]

....well, that’s a take.
View attachment 1080808

Rose McGowan really needs to have her fingers melded together so she can't spew out dumb shit like this without inflicting upon herself the same mental and physical suffering that other people get when reading her tweets.

 

[metroid_fetish]

Is this who faked 9/11?

 

[zap2theextreme]

Sure, bud. It's also the reality of the situation.

You might want to brush up on the concept of realpolitik and how it applies to this situation.

So, America can commit whatever atrocities and crimes as it likes because... it's a stronger nation? Yeah no shit, but the problem isn't can it, but should it.

Well that's just the oppressed Iraqis venting their pent-up frustration at their imperial-corporate-exceptionalist American overlords.

See, now he's getting it!

 

[Sanshain]

The funny thing is, I'm normally very much on the side of non-intervention. I dislike the idea of drone weapons, and I really dislike the idea that somebody in another country can just enter a command and walk away with no direct culpability for any actions that take place thereafter.

But in this case, I see absolutely nothing wrong with the US response to all this. They could have killed dozens of civilians in random retaliatory actions that would do nothing except inflame the situation further. Instead, they executed a precision attack on a very high-ranking member of the enemy force, who has been a plague to the progressive elements of his own country in the past. Not a single non-radical individual can claim this wasn't a good thing, or that he wasn't entirely guilty of numerous, monstrous crimes against humanity. Good riddance, hope there's more in the future.

 

[Unog]

So, America can commit whatever atrocities and crimes as it likes because... it's a stronger nation? Yeah no shit, but the problem isn't can it, but should it.

There's a few ugly truths in this world and one of them is that might actually does make right.

People used to understand this.

 

[zap2theextreme]

There's a few ugly truths in this world and one of them is that might actually does make right.

People used to understand this.

Oh? but has it been made right? Is the middle-east in any better condition than when America entered? Is terrorism defeated? Is there democracy? Is America any safer? How much more might can we expect? Another 20 years?

 

[Unog]

Oh? but has it been made right? Is the middle-east in any better condition than when America entered? Is terrorism defeated? Is there democracy? Is America any safer? How much more might can we expect? Another 20 years?

Your crying would have a lot more effect if it weren't over something that hasn't happened yet and likely won't.

The way Trump went about this was infinitely better than some retarded troop roll-out and nation-building exercise. Don't mistake me being frank with approval of the endless bullshit in the middle east, because it isn't. This however wasn't at all anything close to the hysterical shit you're blubbering about.

Basically, call me when people are being deployed en masse.

 

[Sanshain]

So, America can commit whatever atrocities and crimes as it likes because... it's a stronger nation? Yeah no shit, but the problem isn't can it, but should it.

That's a terrible argument, because you're treating countries like they're more than an arbitrary designation for the purposes of record-keeping. Individuals commit crimes, not countries. If an individual in a democratic system has the power to commit atrocities and makes use of that power, then they should be brought to justice as an individual. If need be, then the democratic process itself should be re-evaluated to ensure an obviously unsuitable candidate isn't nominated to the same position again (I'm talking the legal side of things here, not 'abolish electrial colege b/cuse it got drumpf in!!!!!' rhetoric) and the people should be allowed to choose a new leader.

What people like you don't understand is that there is no good alternative here. The more you centralize power in order to limit the ability of individuals to commit atrocities, the more you're relying on the few remaining people with power to act in good faith. You can have a 'good' dictator, but that doesn't make dictatorship a good system. Democracy has its flaws, but it does serve to provide even the lowliest members of society a way to control the actions of the strongest members of society. If that system isn't working for you... then it's your fault, basically. You didn't argue well enough, or take advantage of the resources provided for you effectively enough to sway the majority opinion.

 

[zap2theextreme]

Your crying would have a lot more effect if it weren't over something that hasn't happened yet and likely won't.

The way Trump went about this was infinitely better than some exceptional troop roll-out and nation-building exercise. Don't mistake me being frank with approval of the endless bullshit in the middle east, because it isn't. This however wasn't at all anything close to the hysterical shit you're blubbering about.

Basically, call me when people are being deployed en masse.

What exactly am I blubbering about? The fact that the endless quagmire of war we've gotten ourselves into is bad, which you seemingly agree with? Are you referring to the fact that I call these wars imperialism? Because what else do you call these American intrusions into Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now attempts at Iran?

 

[Piga Dgrifm]

So how are my fellow burgers planning on getting out of a potential draft?

Bone Spurs.

 

[Iwasamwillbe]

See, now he's getting it!

Oh so you just possess massive dual ethics concerning Americans and Middle Easterners.

"When Iraqi militias storm and attack an American embassy, that's just the oppressed Iraqis venting their pent-up frustration at their imperial-corporate-exceptionalist American overlords."

"When America retaliates and kills the ringleader of the attack, that's an act of war done purely to spread American imperial-corporate-exceptionalism in the Middle East."

Fucking bullshit spin-doctoring.

Oh? but has it been made right? Is the middle-east in any better condition than when America entered? Is terrorism defeated? Is there democracy? Is America any safer? How much more might can we expect? Another 20 years?

What exactly am I blubbering about? The fact that the endless quagmire of war we've gotten ourselves into is bad, which you seemingly agree with? Are you referring to the fact that I call these wars imperialism? Because what else do you call these American intrusions into Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now attempts at Iran?

You're acting like the Iraq War is being renewed when all the US did is a fucking drone strike.

 

[zap2theextreme]

You don't need to renew a war that never ended, friend.

Bone Spurs.

I got the gout

Oh so you just possess massive dual ethics concerning Americans and Middle Easterners.

I don't have dual ethics. Your error is examining this incident in a vacuum and ignoring the preceding 20 years of constant war and conflict between the American military and the Iraqi people. War and conflict is actually putting it politely. Honestly, America has probably committed a war crime a week since they stepped boots into Iraq.

 

[Unog]

What exactly am I blubbering about? The fact that the endless quagmire of war we've gotten ourselves into is bad, which you seemingly agree with?

You're blubbering about a whole lot of shit that hasn't happened yet, and no, I don't agree with the endless wars. I've been making the point this entire time that your ridiculous, naive notion of how the world works (in regards to this topic) is incorrect.

You're pulling a weird sort of motte-and-bailey here, where on the one hand you want to argue that there's some sort of injustice going on, that america brought it on itself and the poor iranians wouldn't be doing this if we weren't such mean boogerheads to them in the 90's or some such horseshit.

When I made statements regarding that, asserting that the world doesn't really work like that, you switch over to trying to make me appear like my callous dismissal of that concept is somehow endorsement of the retarded shit the likes of Bush and Obama have done over the past two decades. Which it isn't. I've merely been stating that yes, I don't give a shit and neither should anyone else about "imperialism" or "injustices" or whatever else you keep going on about, because that's how the world works. If you fuck with the biggest guy in the gym, and he beats your ass, that's a you problem. If the guy in the gym beats your ass, and you come back at him days later and he beats your ass again, tough shit buddy. In such a situation I'd normally tell the little guy to call the cops but -whoops- turns out the big guy in the gym is the fucking chief of police, and his brother is the DA. Tough shit.

I'll reiterate my point that I made earlier that a targeted missile strike on a key military officer isn't equivalent to the kind of stupid shit that Bush and Obama got up to (remember that wedding? Yeah, bad look oof yikes), it's a simple retaliatory measure meant to be taken as a very direct warning to the ayatollahs that it might just be them next if they don't get their shit together and fall in line.

There's no troop deployments being drawn up. Nobody's mobilizing any forces. The ayatollahs - I would think - got the message loud and clear. Until there's some sort of hint that this will turn into a larger conflict, all you and everyone else who's autistically shrieking about this are doing are making massive asses of yourselves.

Are you referring to the fact that I call these wars imperialism? Because what else do you call these American intrusions into Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now attempts at Iran?

I don't call them imperialism because I don't like the smell of my own farts. I'm also not enough of a dipshit to call them "intrusions". Like I said earlier, look up realpolitik and what it's about, then do everyone a favor and understand that there's more at play here than mere "bad guy v good guy" shit like the media always wants to act like it is.

 

[Freddy Freaker]

What exactly am I blubbering about? The fact that the endless quagmire of war we've gotten ourselves into is bad, which you seemingly agree with? Are you referring to the fact that I call these wars imperialism? Because what else do you call these American intrusions into Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now attempts at Iran?

Oh hey, been a while since I've seen a /pol/tard larp that we're in the alternate timeline where US troops are in Syria harvesting foreskins for our Greatest Ally! If you haven't been paying attention, Trumpenstein has just about totally drawn us down to the point that victory looks to be in Assad's grasp. Did the US kick off the Arab Spring? Does a CIA nigger glow in the dark? But that was down to black jesus and queen Hillary. And yet I see people moan about Drumpft starting a conflict in Syria.

And again, call me when we actually start Operation Persian Freedom. Until then, we'll just keep calling you retarded.

 

[Кот Бегемот]

That's a terrible argument, because you're treating countries like they're more than an arbitrary designation for the purposes of record-keeping. Individuals commit crimes, not countries. If an individual in a democratic system has the power to commit atrocities and makes use of that power, then they should be brought to justice as an individual. If need be, then the democratic process itself should be re-evaluated to ensure an obviously unsuitable candidate isn't nominated to the same position again (I'm talking the legal side of things here, not 'abolish electrial colege b/cuse it got drumpf in!!!!!' rhetoric) and the people should be allowed to choose a new leader.

There is a saying "people have the government that they deserve" It speaks to the fact that country is usually correctly represented by an average voter who is either too dumb to vote those leaders in or does nothing to fix the situation, and countries are like the tanker ships, a lot of effort will result in some change of direction some time much later. There are vocal minorities that are out layers, but on average citizenry is pretty homogeneous in their apathy and fear of change.

Here in the States we got a unique situation where got a whole lot of polar opposite views, but generally, that's not the case in my experience.

 

[BrunoMattei]

This thread turned into gay.

 

[Spooky Bones]

The New Yorker is running again a 2013 profile they did of Suleimani entitled The Shadow Commander. Gives you a better idea of who the man was and what he might have been trying to get up to in Iraq. Seems he liked to run his operations from in-country (maybe this is a cultural thing?) and was very savvy and charismatic.

Also, Pelosi et al. bitching that Trump didn't run this by them are utterly exceptional. As I mentioned before, Trump had the Quds Force designated as terrorist. That means he doesn't need authorization, under the post-9/11 Authorization for Use of Military Force. Granted, I have my reservations about an actual country's military being designated as terrorists, but Trump's actions were legal.

 

[It's HK-47]

The funniest part of this whole ordeal for me is that I absolutely fucking refuse to believe that even a tenth of these people had any goddamned idea who Qasem Soleimani was before last night. In the span of minutes every single monkey with a cell phone and an opinion is suddenly a certifiable expert on the Middle East and still somehow can't fathom why anyone would want Soleimani dead.

The only people in the world who didn't want Qasem Soleimani's head on a pike were terrorists and people who had no idea who he even was.