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.

.

 

[Huitzilopochtli]

I will say that he did not say he would hit "cultural target," He said he would hit targets important to the Iranian culture. Is the Iranian capital building important to Iranian culture? I would say so.

The Ayatollah is a cultural target.

Nigger, are you fucking serious right now? Him tweeting that is going to land him in court? How delusional do you have to be to believe that?

LOL, what is congress going to do? Impeach him again?

 

[pipcome]

I came here to address this. You basically just said it in your first paragraph. Disagree with the rest. Even the nazis and america during ww2's fire-bombing of japan avoided cultural sites.

Cmon dude be serious thats not true at all lol

 

[Sanshain]

I hope you get the help and treatment you so desperately and obviously need.

He's busy cowering in a Chinese internet cafe in some nameless third-tier city being sucked off by a teenage prostitute who thinks the pity-money he makes guarding an Australian mall for six months of a year makes him the white god that'll spirit her away from a life of picking peanuts in a semi-radioactive swamp. I don't think any intervention short of a bullet to the head will solve his issues.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

This shit has been coming since the 1970's. Let's be honest. Sooner or later they'd be standing behind Russia throwing shit at people, and Russia was going to step out of the way leaving them standing in front of the angry gorilla.

It's funny that Iran getting BTFO is a winning play for Russia. No matter HOW this comes out, it's a winning move for Russia if the US just ignores all of it except to increase sanctions. With Iran fucking around with the Strait and last year hitting oil tankers, most of the rest of the major players win no matter what happens.

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but Iran chose their timing incredibly poorly in regards to Russia; didn't they just finish up a massive pipeline to China, along with discovering huge new fields in Siberia?

Something tells me it won't be long before Iran hits N. Korea levels of starvation, and I highly doubt they're as good at fighting on empty stomachs......

 

[BONE_Buddy]

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but Iran chose their timing incredibly poorly in regards to Russia; didn't they just finish up a massive pipeline to China, along with discovering huge new fields in Siberia?

Something tells me it won't be long before Iran hits N. Korea levels of starvation, and I highly doubt they're as good at fighting on empty stomachs......

Iran has enough farmland to support itself, and it does not have quite the same "juche" philosophy, so they are willing to import food.

But the timing as far as Russia is concerned is bad for reasons you describe.

 

[Shield Breaker]

Nigger, are you fucking serious right now? Him tweeting that is going to land him in court? How delusional do you have to be to believe that?

I wonder if he is paid by the number of interactions?

 

[GnomeofDoc]

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but Iran chose their timing incredibly poorly in regards to Russia; didn't they just finish up a massive pipeline to China, along with discovering huge new fields in Siberia?

Something tells me it won't be long before Iran hits N. Korea levels of starvation, and I highly doubt they're as good at fighting on empty stomachs......

Could have been a power move to show Russia they are still cool and deserve to be in the cool kids club with them and China.

 

[BONE_Buddy]

I wonder if he is paid by the number of interactions?

It is common knowledge/humor that Chinese trolls get 50 cents per post.

 

[Feline Supremacist]

The interesting thing about him mentioning cultural sites is that it's technically a war crime.

I came here to address this. You basically just said it in your first paragraph. Disagree with the rest. Even the nazis and america during ww2's fire-bombing of japan avoided cultural sites.

Hey, you know what else is a war crime? Declaring you'll take no prisoners.

 

[JacksonHeights]

honestly tho, americans should just stay out of international affairs till we can improve ourselves. parts of this country are literal third world tiers yet we have the gall to send missile strikes and airborne troops across the world, the fucking irony is real

 

[kcbbq]

Cmon dude be serious thats not true at all lol

Yeah, drawing a line around Kyoto because the US wanted to preserve something if they could is hardly protecting anything. If it came down to it Kyoto would have burned in the same way Tokyo did. There's literally no trace of Edo left.

They held back on bombing Nagasaki, too. How'd that turn out?

 

[ConfederateIrishman]

honestly tho, americans should just stay out of international affairs till we can improve ourselves. parts of this country are literal third world tiers yet we have the gall to send missile strikes and airborne troops across the world, the fucking irony is real

Not going to happen at this point; We will keep swinging our dick around internationally, as our politics flip back and forth every 4 years, while we continue to ignore our domestic issues until we run right into the ground.

 

[Martys_not_smarty]

On that topic of WWII and Iran you think we'd be seeing the same things happening today if the Soviets doubled down in propping up the tribes in north Persia and not BTFO when the British rolled out the centurions in 46 to remind them the war was over?

 

[Spooky Bones]

Trump warns U.S. has ‘targeted 52 Iranian sites’ in case of strike by Iran

President Donald Trump said Saturday evening the United States has "targeted 52 Iranian sites" for attack should the country strike "any Americans, or American assets."

The string of tweets come after the White House formally notified Congress on Saturday of the US operation that killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani on Thursday.

"We have ... targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran" and "if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets... Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD," Trump wrote in a series of tweets.

Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
....hundreds of Iranian protesters. He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years. Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
....targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2020
Trump's comments come following the administration warning members of Congress that Iran is expected to retaliate against the US "within weeks" for the strike, even as they failed to convince some that the operation was merited due to an imminent threat against American lives.

There are intense discussions taking place inside US military and intelligence agencies to assess whether Iran might be preparing some type of retaliatory strikes in the next few days or wait for some time, a US official with direct knowledge of the situation told CNN.

The Department of Homeland Security also issued a warning on Saturday of the potential for Iranian attacks, including possible cyber threats.

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf issued a new National Terrorism Advisory System bulletin in the wake of the drone strike that details the attack and potential Iranian threat, including previous plots against US infrastructure and cyber targets.

"Iran maintains a robust cyber program and can execute cyber attacks against the United States," reads the bulletin, which expires January 18.

Trump also threatened Iran on Tuesday, when protestors attacked the US embassy in Baghdad.

"Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities," Trump tweeted from Florida. "They will pay a very BIG PRICE! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat."

And later Tuesday, while speaking with reporters as he entered a New Year's Eve gala at Mar-a-Lago, the President said he doesn't want war but that if it comes to conflict, Iran wouldn't last long.

"I don't think that would be a good idea for Iran," Trump said, adding later that a potential conflict "would go very quickly."

CNN's Zachary Cohen, Vicky Ward, Pamela Brown, Geneva Sands, Arwa Damon, Jeremy Diamond and Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

Trump warns Iran if it hits any Americans or American assets 'we have targeted 52 Iranian sites"

Donald Trump on Saturday drew what may come to be seen as the most significant red line of his presidency in a three-part tweet, vowing specific military action against Iran if it "strikes any Americans, or American assets."

www.cnn.com

They could make a deck of cards or something!

 

[JacksonHeights]

Not going to happen at this point; We will keep swinging our dick around internationally, as our politics flip back and forth every 4 years, while we continue to ignore our domestic issues until we run right into the ground.

every state and federal law made from the past 70 years is because of lobbyists. America is not a country ran by people, but a country ran by corporations who then put up a shadow government to give people the illusion of democracy. No matter if a republican or democrat wins, its the same soup just a different bowl

 

[Iwasamwillbe]

Could be good or bad, too early to tell.

The US economy is booming right now.

I think we can tell.

Could be good or bad, too early to tell. And at the cost of global influence. Relations between america and Europe have sunk to record lows.

And you base that on what, exactly? The hooting of Macron and Merkel?

Never happened. North korea's nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile programs (directed at US) continue to grow. North Korea's existential threat towards the Us continues to grow.

Yes, the great existential threat of Norks who piss their pants over aerial exercises.

Never happened. Thousands of US troops and contractors still in Syria.

There was a giant media circus over us "abandoning the Kurds" because of Trump pulling troops out of Syria. Don't give me that shit.

Ah yes, energy...And now Iran is restarting its nuclear program.

See @Forever Sunrise's post; they never stopped. Pulling out of the deal, however, gives the US the freedom to punish Iran even further for it.

It also further soured relations between Us and countries such as Germany.

How?

Nord stream from Russia to Germany pipeline is nearing completion, Us has been doing everything short of bombing it to stop it, including sanctioning German companies. Success how? Us has upped production and consumption of oil at home.

What does any of that have to do with US-Iran relations? I honestly see nothing here other than standard geopolitics.

How is this going to help it catch up with China's already superior renewable technology sector?

A renewable energy sector so "superior" that China is still having massive pollution problems that they are trying to solve right now. And again, what does any of that have to do with US-Iran relations?

Even the nazis and america during ww2's fire-bombing of japan avoided cultural sites.

What is "Nazi plunder"?

 

[Huitzilopochtli]

Not going to happen at this point; We will keep swinging our dick around internationally, as our politics flip back and forth every 4 years, while we continue to ignore our domestic issues until we run right into the ground.

Not to mention that failure to do so will likely end in yearly Benghazi's punctuated with the occasional 9/11.

 

[Iwasamwillbe]

He's busy cowering in a Chinese internet cafe in some nameless third-tier city being sucked off by a teenage prostitute who thinks the pity-money he makes guarding an Australian mall for six months of a year makes him the white god that'll spirit her away from a life of picking peanuts in a semi-radioactive swamp. I don't think any intervention short of a bullet to the head will solve his issues.

Don't forget helping to make the Game Kiddy 350H.

 

[murdered meat bag]

war crimes?

Who's going to try us? The UN?

 

[Jump]

This isn't the UK. Shit talking on Twitter is not (yet) illegal.