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.

.

 

[MrJokerRager]

No.

"Y'all". You left out "Oomph", "Yikes", and "Sweetie".

Please friend, calm down, there is no need to be angry, learn to laugh and relax. Perhaps you'd like to get a carbonated beverage?

View attachment 1086444

Its a shame that the sugar lobby cucked the beverage industry to the point that Mexico makes actual sugar Coca Cola soda that tastes way better than that soulless fructose syrup shit. From cocaine to real sugar to fructose corn syrup. George Carlin was spot on with the whole Cocaine to Rogaine joke.

 

[The Great Chandler]

Its a shame that the sugar lobby cucked the beverage industry to the point that Mexico makes actual sugar Coca Cola soda that tastes way better than that soulless fructose syrup shit. From cocaine to real sugar to fructose corn syrup. George Carlin was spot on with the whole Cocaine to Rogaine joke.

On the bright side, you can find the Mexican Cola at any Hispanic store, even on places like Dollar General.

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

No.

"Y'all". You left out "Oomph", "Yikes", and "Sweetie".

Please friend, calm down, there is no need to be angry, learn to laugh and relax. Perhaps you'd like to get a carbonated beverage?

View attachment 1086444

Uh, sir, that's supposed to be a Pepsi, you just turned a protest into a riot.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Hell, I remember the hijacking fears were so strong in the 80's, it even filtered into games like Police Quest 2.

I mean 9/11 ramped that fear up again but also shut it down because nobody is ever letting hijackers into the cockpit ever again whatever the cost.

Spoiler

PL: Memories of my childhood include an endless succession of commercial airliners jets sitting on a succession of shimmering foreign tarmacs before getting stormed or blown to pieces; multiple commerical arliners being bombed or shot out of the sky by everyone from Canada-based Sikh militants to Arab terrorists to he US Navy to the Soviet Union (RIP Korean Airlines Flight 007), the PLO, Abu Nidal and the IRA blowing people and shit skywards, the screeching maddog Iranian mess that was Khomeni's funeral (youtube that shit, it's amazing), as well as all the hostage crises and kidnappings, the Tiannamen Square massacre, Chernobyl disaster, space shuttle Challenger going bang, the Killing Fields, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union happening live on air, the fear of nuclear annhilation going from 100 - 0 overnight, and my teacher bringing in the telly on a trolly so she (and we) could watch the SAS iconically storm the Iranian Embassy in London.

Honestly, it often seems quiet by comparison these days and the fear of actual air travel is mostly endless delays, and having the wrong amount of liquids in your carryon and getting yelled at by security. That nasty incident in Ukraine and suicidal German/Malay pilots notwithstaanding of course.

 

[pwnest injun]

so really, what was the deal with this

HK did elaborate a bit.

 

[Iwasamwillbe]

So would anyone take a crack at this James Allsup video?

James Allsup

America's Big Gay Zionist Iran War

www.bitchute.com

Normally, I find James Allsup to be a valuable source of news, but this is just naked cringe. It's pure sperging about "muh Jews" and "muh neoconservatives" and "regime change REEEEEE" and seething about how the "orange Zionist in office" is certainly going to make US troops go and collect Persian foreskins in Iran for Israel, combined with total disingenuity (for example, James Allsup never once touches upon the fact that the Qassem Soleimani "assassination" was in retaliation for an attack on a US embassy), and "muh Iran fought ISIS" and "Qassem and Iran dindu nuffin wrong" propagandizing. It's like I'm experiencing the same already-debunked talking points of zap2theextreme and MrTickles, but in video form.

Keep in mind, James is a regular on therightstuff.biz, where the latest "Fash The Nation" podcast is now claiming to provide "a discussion on the U.S.' quickly fading international influence and some easy solutions to not be a universally hated bloviating world bully".

"Pls stop bullying Iran UwU"

Literally what the fuck is this gay shit?

Seriously, the killing of Qassem Soleimani is outing all of the Iranian assets. Otherwise, when did this bullshit pro-Iran anti-Americanist rhetoric become popular even among the so-called "Dissident Right"?

 

[Feline Supremacist]

A friend of mine linked me a good documentary on the Iraq war, I was too young to really remember it at the time but it is horrifying to hear how certain everyone was about the Weapons of Mass destruction knowing the reality of the situation that it was a giant lie; It leaves an even greater taste of ash in my mouth to realize the people cheering in the later part of the documentary are probably Shi'ites that could soon be leading an insurgency against the US; However, the absolute worst part of all was hearing the Soldiers think they would get home soon.

Not everyone was on board the WMD train, just the MSM/DC. Iraq had already been subjected to years of sanctions and a no-fly zone but more importantly Saddam didn't behave as if he actually had viable WMDs. Prior to March 2003 the Iraqis were begging anyone who'd listen to please come in and inspect for WMDs.

After its creation when the Ottoman Empire collapsed the British found Iraq to be ungovernable; majority Shia, minority Sunni and Kurd. There's a reason Saddam is still admired in the Arab world and it was his ability to rule the mess the British made when drawing up the country of Iraq, regardless of his brutality. Arabs admire and value the person(s) who can control a country so that a civil bureaucracy and business can function. America should keep that in mind (but it won't).

 

[pwnest injun]

People keep acting like this is Iraq, when it's way more Libya.

We aren't tooling up for nationbuilding here, just pointing all the guns at their infrastructure and leadership.


edit: I mean, it's not like Libya was good, but it was a nation-destroying war that pretty much no one even knew happened outside the Bengazi Bengazi business.

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

Normally, I find James Allsup to be a valuable source of news, but this is just naked cringe. It's pure sperging about "muh Jews" and "muh neoconservatives" and seething about how the "orange Zionist in office" is certainly going to make US troops go and collected Persian foreskins in Iran for Israel, combined with total disingenuity (for example, James Allsup never once touches upon the fact that the Qassem Soleimani "assassination" was in retaliation for an attack on a US embassy), and "muh Iran fought ISIS" and "Qassem and Iran dindu nuffin wrong" propagandizing. It's like I'm experiencing the same already-debunked talking points of zap2theextreme and MrTickles, but in video form.

It's getting to the point where Alt-Righters are almost explicitly supporting Islam for the simple fact they happen to be enemies of Jewish people, and attacking anyone who might be aligned against them is an open declaration of championing Israel regardless of context or motive. They probably think the Buddhist on Muslim genocide in Myanmar is in service to Israel.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

and "muh Iran fought ISIS"

This argument is either pure disengenuousnes or reveals a total and lethal lack of knowledge about Muslim sectarianism and relationships in the M.E.

Of couse fucking Iran was anti-ISIS and fought them, mainly via Hezbollah.

Not only were ISIS pretty much anti-everyone but themselves and committed to overthrow of even Wahabi Sunni states, ISIS are the kind of Sunni extremists who are what in Islam is known as takfiris. They believe they have the right to declare another Muslim takfir i.e. apostate- and the penalty for apostasy is death. Shia by definition are takfir, apostates as far as extremists such as ISIS are concerned. Others such as Christians may be permitted to live as Children of the Book and pay the punitive tax - jizya - for survival in the Islamic State, but Shias were for the mass grave.

To act as if the Iranian regime fought ISIS simply out of the goodness of their own little hearts and not for their own strategic advantage/survival as well as to back up their only real Shia ally in the M.E - Syria - is insane or just an attempt to emotionally manipulate people who kow shit-all about the Middle East. Lots of people fought ISIS because they fucking well had to. It doesn't make them your BFFs for life. Enemies who are enemies of your enemy can be temporarily friends or rather, allies, but once the fight is over, it's back to daggers drawn and business as usual. See WW2 and Uncle Joe Stalin as an example.

 

[Ivan Shatov]

Seriously, how does this impact Trump's chances of being re-elected?

 

[Iwasamwillbe]

Seriously, how does this impact Trump's chances of being re-elected?

If Trump plays his cards right, his chances will soar from around 90% to nearly 100%.

If he doesn't, his chances could drop to around 70%.

 

[pipcome]

y'all would have been cheering on the Iraq invasion in 2003. lol. history repeats itself

Kavanaugh, europe ww3, china ww3, north korea ww3, russia collusion conspiracy, ukraine conspiracy, iran ww3... i mean for a sane person its more or less
"fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me"... but for leftists like you its... "i will see only the worst possibility if it involves trump and i will swallow every lie possible as long as its anti trump and even if trump does the right thing.. its still trump doing it so its wrong." Get a clue dude

 

[Ghostse]

They argued the shotgun was in violation of The Hague Convention for "Causing unnecessary suffering", yet the Hague Convention says nothing of spread shot (even Flechette shells are legal).

To be fair, the Allies used gas first, but instead of bitching, the Central Powers adapted it. The ONLY reason they bitched is because of how goddamn effective the trench guns were and General Pershing called them out on their bullshit with the werferflammen and serrated bayonets.

Germany kicked and screamed throughout the war, and I don't blame them. I'd be mad too if I got buttfucked by the French for the 3rd time.

Shotguns were argued immoral because it was a close-in direct weapon which might maim instead of kill.
Artillery, being its not line-of-sight, is usually given a bit more latitude in war ethics, in so much as "well, if your bunkers weren't shit it wouldn't be a problem now would it, fag?". If you can use a trench gun, you could using a vareity of other non-scatter guns.

Use your critical reading skills, He did not say he was targeting cultural sites.

He said, that some sites or people who are important to Iranian culture, like the capital building or the theocratic leadership, would be hit.

So, to put as strong a point as I can on it: UNESCO world heritage sites will not be hit. single purpose religious sites will not be hit.

Scuttlebutt I've heard the "cultural and historical significanc" is a thinly veiled threats against Iran's F-14s.

 

[AGreatDipAtAFairPrice]

There were articles saying the generals presented President Trump with "three options" and he chose the "most extreme one" and they're all "flabbergasted."
See, this racket is called Option C. The "real leaders" give the figurehead dummy, also known as the president, always an assortment of options. There's the unacceptably candyass ones, then there are the ones that are said to be "extreme" and always denounced, and then there's Option C. And oh, wouldn't you know it, Option C is what the generals and politicians want and its way better than do-nothing A and Extreme B. The goal is to always make what you don't want sound "extreme" to get them to go for wimpy stuff and what you want.

President Trump has been Option C'd to death on military policy. Every President since the Vietnam war has been getting Option C'd to death.

The strikes on the military leaders was him sending a message to the U.S. generals and politicians that he was sick of them playing games with him, too.

What was going to be the better thing to do? A "proportionate" strike on an abandoned site? Drone missiles at a wedding? Fuck that. They've been doing that for a decade and playing pattycake with these people. All those shotcallers were running around with their peckers in their hands with all the confidence in the world because they knew that actually killing leadership would be "unacceptably extreme" so President Dumbdick, whoever he or she may be, would "never" do it. Bad analysis! Sad!

 

[MarvinTheParanoidAndroid]

There were articles saying the generals presented President Trump with "three options" and he chose the "most extreme one" and they're all "flabbergasted."
See, this racket is called Option C. The "real leaders" give the figurehead dummy, also known as the president, always an assortment of options. There's the unacceptably candyass ones, then there are the ones that are said to be "extreme" and always denounced, and then there's Option C. And oh, wouldn't you know it, Option C is what the generals and politicians want and its way better than do-nothing A and Extreme B. The goal is to always make what you don't want sound "extreme" to get them to go for wimpy stuff and what you want.

President Trump has been Option C'd to death on military policy. Every President since the Vietnam war has been getting Option C'd to death.

The strikes on the military leaders was him sending a message to the U.S. generals and politicians that he was sick of them playing games with him, too.

What was going to be the better thing to do? A "proportionate" strike on an abandoned site? Drone missiles at a wedding? Fuck that. They've been doing that for a decade and playing pattycake with these people. All those shotcallers were running around with their peckers in their hands with all the confidence in the world because they knew that actually killing leadership would be "unacceptably extreme" so President Dumbdick, whoever he or she may be, would "never" do it. Bad analysis! Sad!

I think I first heard about this Option C shit from House of Cards or Designated Survivor, but I thought it was a retarded fuck-off transparent sales pitch that nobody would fall for and that it was just some made up idea for the show. Hearing that it actually works ever at all is astonishing to me.

 

[Ponderous Pillock]

Trump offing a mudslime sand terrorist, who was responsible for killing thousands of Americans and attempting to destroy our embassy while threatening the lives of everybody inside, is equivalent to Putin killing off his political enemies. So sayeth the communist jew;

Michael Ahrens on Twitter

“You can't make it up. Bernie just compared @realDonaldTrump taking out a terrorist responsible for killing hundreds of thousands (including hundreds of Americans) to Putin assassinating his political dissidents. https://t.co/F7awEJrwZm”

twitter.com

See, Trump doesn't need to assassinate his political rivals in the way Putin does.

Putin had/has competent political opponents that require it.

What's Trump got against him as front runners? A former VP who creepily sniffs children, a fake native american, and a man just 5 years older than him with the mental faculties of someone 20 years older.

A friend of mine linked me a good documentary on the Iraq war, I was too young to really remember it at the time but it is horrifying to hear how certain everyone was about the Weapons of Mass destruction knowing the reality of the situation that it was a giant lie; It leaves an even greater taste of ash in my mouth to realize the people cheering in the later part of the documentary are probably Shi'ites that could soon be leading an insurgency against the US; However, the absolute worst part of all was hearing the Soldiers think they would get home soon.

The biggest problems of the Iraq occupation were rather ironic ones.

The first was the over the top de-ba'athisation policy of the American leaders of the occupation. Had a membership card in the party? Sorry friend, but that means your job checking stamps are applied correctly? Yeah, pack your desk and fuck off. We didn't even do that in Nazi Germany because, just like Nazi Germany the Ba'ath party membership was a requirement for a shitload of jobs.

You could've realistically kept anyone on the books under the rank of Captain in the Iraqi military and everyone in the civil service and other essential public services, but some dickhead chose that anyone with a party membership had to go. Which meant pretty much the entire military, the whole of the civil service and a ton of other essential jobs run by the state like electricity, water and the telecom systems.

The end result is poor bastards who don't know what the fuck they're doing half the time, and the other half is usually being screamed at by US soldiers asking why you're trying to fix a telephone exchange box.

Second was not behaving like an actual occupying force and taking proper charge of the apparatus of state. Various tribal elders approached the British forces in Basra, wanting to know when the UK government was going to send over civil servants and others to train locals and take charge of operations there in order for the state to function again. Cue reports of a British Captain absolutely squirming at the thought of running an occupation properly.

Basically, whoever ran the Iraq occupation was one of the poorest students of history... in history and should probably be shot as we're still dealing with the problems 17 years later of dismantling an effective state apparatus and forgetting to properly replace it.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Basically, whoever ran the Iraq occupation was one of the poorest students of history... in history and should probably be shot as we're still dealing with the problems 17 years later of dismantling an effective state apparatus and forgetting to properly replace it.

Paul Bremer, Yaley and MBA, Head of the Coalition Provisional Authority and Interim President of Iraq.

He was responsible for the de-Baathification policy and break-up of the Iraqi armed forces, as well as the notorious shipping into the country of billions in shrink-wrapped dollars, which promptly disappeared with no accounting or even a vestige of oversight.

One might say he was employed beyond his competency level. He's even on record saying he realises he may have fucked up at every level possible. I'm sure he didn't make those decisions without a lot of helping hands though. The whole occupation was a fuck-up on barely imaginable levels and entirely what left Iraq suspectible to ISIS occupation post-2011. In fact some of IS in Iraq were those sacked ex-Saddam regime Baathists.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

See, Trump doesn't need to assassinate his political rivals in the way Putin does.

Putin had/has competent political opponents that require it.

What's Trump got against him as front runners? A former VP who creepily sniffs children, a fake native american, and a man just 5 years older than him with the mental faculties of someone 20 years older.



The biggest problems of the Iraq occupation were rather ironic ones.

The first was the over the top de-ba'athisation policy of the American leaders of the occupation. Had a membership card in the party? Sorry friend, but that means your job checking stamps are applied correctly? Yeah, pack your desk and fuck off. We didn't even do that in Nazi Germany because, just like Nazi Germany the Ba'ath party membership was a requirement for a shitload of jobs.

You could've realistically kept anyone on the books under the rank of Captain in the Iraqi military and everyone in the civil service and other essential public services, but some dickhead chose that anyone with a party membership had to go. Which meant pretty much the entire military, the whole of the civil service and a ton of other essential jobs run by the state like electricity, water and the telecom systems.

The end result is poor bastards who don't know what the fuck they're doing half the time, and the other half is usually being screamed at by US soldiers asking why you're trying to fix a telephone exchange box.

Second was not behaving like an actual occupying force and taking proper charge of the apparatus of state. Various tribal elders approached the British forces in Basra, wanting to know when the UK government was going to send over civil servants and others to train locals and take charge of operations there in order for the state to function again. Cue reports of a British Captain absolutely squirming at the thought of running an occupation properly.

Basically, whoever ran the Iraq occupation was one of the poorest students of history... in history and should probably be shot as we're still dealing with the problems 17 years later of dismantling an effective state apparatus and forgetting to properly replace it.

Good ol' Ashcroft and Cheney and Rumsfeld, who had no idea how to run anything that wasn't a fucking train on some dumb bitch from the secretary pool.

That whole goddamn thing was a fucking cluster fuck that anyone with the SLIGHTEST bit of fucking knowledge looked at and screamed "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" the entire time you watched it on TV.

The whole Iraq War and the later Afghanistan years were nothing more than a "How to NOT invade and occupy a country, by MegaHitlerBush and BrownJesus."

 

[who dare wins?]

I mean 9/11 ramped that fear up again but also shut it down because nobody is ever letting hijackers into the cockpit ever again whatever the cost.

Spoiler

PL: Memories of my childhood include an endless succession of commercial airliners jets sitting on a succession of shimmering foreign tarmacs before getting stormed or blown to pieces; multiple commerical arliners being bombed or shot out of the sky by everyone from Canada-based Sikh militants to Arab terrorists to he US Navy to the Soviet Union (RIP Korean Airlines Flight 007), the PLO, Abu Nidal and the IRA blowing people and shit skywards, the screeching maddog Iranian mess that was Khomeni's funeral (youtube that shit, it's amazing), as well as all the hostage crises and kidnappings, the Tiannamen Square massacre, Chernobyl disaster, space shuttle Challenger going bang, the Killing Fields, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union happening live on air, the fear of nuclear annhilation going from 100 - 0 overnight, and my teacher bringing in the telly on a trolly so she (and we) could watch the SAS iconically storm the Iranian Embassy in London.

Honestly, it often seems quiet by comparison these days and the fear of actual air travel is mostly endless delays, and having the wrong amount of liquids in your carryon and getting yelled at by security. That nasty incident in Ukraine and suicidal German/Malay pilots notwithstaanding of course.

Honestly seems like a hell of a childhood. Now Iran just E thots and reddit idiots. Also during the 60s an 70s mostly people hijacked planes for money or to go to Cuba, not to kill people. Even monthly python joked about it. Everyone expected to get go fucking bombed on a plane back then.