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.

.

 

[MrHoneyBadger]

Who knew official military forces operating in their own country can reach such peak hights of competence and efficiency as bunch of mercenaries performing shitshow in some who-knoes-where hellhole?
I know it's kinda not a good idea to speak of it like we already know the reason of crash but the thougt is kinda amusing. Knowing the plane and the airline I have my doubts about this being a technical issue.

Again, it's a real pity that civilians died and I hope whoever is at fault here will be punished.

 

[Mikoyan]

I'm seeing a lot of the reports saying this was technical issues. Boeing has been having a lot of trouble with their planes, but Bloomberg is reporting that this is not the same model that's been plagued with technical problems



Images of the crash site from MSN :

View attachment 1088097
View attachment 1088095
​

International rules allow for the manufacturer to participate in the investigation. Regardless of what caused the crash, this could not have happened at a more awkward time.

Was a 737-800, which is a 'NG', not a 'Max'. Those don't have real problems, especially not at 3.5 years old, and neither has a 'catch fire and/or explode in midair' problem.

 

[MrJokerRager]

You start the night with a news reel showing missiles being launched in unison against the great satan.

And end the night with no dead infidels and a passenger plane crash steals all the news attention.

I believe the leaders of Iran have sniffed their farts too much about allah being on their side and the 12th imam would disturb his rest to deal with your cluster fuck. This is proof that rule of guardianship or velayat e faqi is a fucking fancy way of saying rule by caliphate cause this is a discount cheap version of the grand ottoman caliphate.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Was a 737-800, which is a 'NG', not a 'Max'. Those don't have real problems, especially not at 3.5 years old, and neither has a 'catch fire and/or explode in midair' problem.

Is there a current in-service aircraft model that has a catch fire/explode in midair problem at all?

 

[OnMoTi]

Moore and McGowan better hope we never cross paths.

 

[MrJokerRager]

Moore and McGowan better hope we never cross paths.

Why not, they crossbreed and produce the ultimate hippy anti gun fat liberal attention whore eating bug burgers.

 

[GnomeofDoc]

Is there a current in-service aircraft model that has a catch fire/explode in midair problem at all?

It’s a REALLLLLY well hidden problem.

 

[mr.moon1488]

I'm genuinely apprehensive about this situation. Shit hit the fan pretty quickly. If Iran took down that Ukrainian jet, what consequences could that have?

They'd be sucking more countries into war with them than just the US.

President Trump, please don't send American boys to die for Israel.

I'd be surprised if he actually sent any ground troops, though I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't launch a naval strike, and destroy all their ships since that would kill two birds with one stone.

 

[Nobunaga]

He's doing his absolute best to start one. He threatened, on Twitter, to bomb culturally important sites in Iran. He prohibited Iran's top diplomat from entering the US. He is absolutely not interested in deescalation.

Don't be disingenuous.

Between you, mr tienanmen and ashley i dont know who has the worst political hot takes, so stick with the animal news that no one really truly gives a shit about ok?

Shooting rockets that hit absolutely nothing, two earthquakes, and shooting off your own plane that nobody survivved from. Did we somehow hopped into another unviverse with Iran being a exceptional laughing stock? What the fuck is happening? I am amused but also confused by the sheer coincidence of the events so far.

We are aproaching levels of minotaur vs hoyboy when it comes to pure stupidity from Iran, and seeing as how everyone is telling iran to go fuck themselves or washing their hands clean i wonder who will they try desperatly get help from, fucking africa?

 

[Disrespected Pronouns]

Is there a current in-service aircraft model that has a catch fire/explode in midair problem at all?

Perhaps the airframe was just stressed? You know, very likely this was just an isolated incident of workplace violence .

 

[millais]

At least with the MH-17 shoot down, it was already in flight at high altitude when the Russians launched the SAM. Iranians air defense must be really trigger happy if they shot down the airliner on takeoff from their capital's airport.

 

[who dare wins?]

Stole this from a pilots website, they have some interesting commentary.

View attachment 1088106

View attachment 1088111

It defijetly had either US spies or important people from Europe or Saudi Arabia or even Israel on board. Definely

 

[Jaimas]

It's like Iran saw New Zealand trying to be the first country to get a Lolcow thread and said: "Hold my Persian chai."

 

[LetThemEatCake]

Most surprising Ian Israel and saudis working together lol. I don't see that happening

Oh, the Sauds have been quietly making kind of nice with Israel for a while now because of Iran. Iran supplies the Houthi insurgents in northern Yemen who are constantly attacking KSA with missiles etc. Enemies of enemies making temporary friends etc because Iran constantly threatens both Israel and KSA.

Basically everyone fucking hates the Iranian Regime apart from Assad, Hezbollah in Lebanon which was always a Iranian Regime puppet org (the founder of Hezbollah - Imad Mughniyed - used to report directly to Soleimani in Iran for orders until the US/Israel finally took him out) and the Houthi wankstains. They're a threat to the stability of many other countries who aren't even US friendly.

Looks like there were mainly Iranian nationals on the flight so Iran's own bodycount goes up even more. Allah's sending them a signal to back the fuck down, I feel.

 

[theshep]

More footage of the crash. (I can't seem to download it).

 

[Sissy Galvez]

At least with the MH-17 shoot down, it was already in flight at high altitude when the Russians launched the SAM. Iranians air defense must be really trigger happy if they shot down the airliner on takeoff from their capital's airport.

They’re incredibly incompetent and fucking stupid for allowing flights to take off while their inbred, towelhead cousins were flying jets and launching missiles.

 

[JektheDumbass]

Are Iranians literally retarded? I get it, they're pissed. It's not worth getting killed over.

I am glad that Trump isn't targeting cultural centers. Believe it or not, at one time Iran actually had a culture. They just prefer to act like desert savages now.

 

[ditto]

There was a British guy who ran off to join ISIS who spent a long time raging extensively about Middle Easterners' total lack of manners or ability to understand queueing. This guy was ethnically Middle Eastern (or maybe Pakistani, not sure) but clearly way more culturally British on the inside than he ever realised until he ended up living among Arabs in Syria. He also complained that they didn't think it rude to stare, were prone to rages, wouldn't clean the kitchen sinks and were thieving little shits.

If this was TV Tropes I'd call this trope "Every Religion Has a Golden Rule" - the tendency to ascribe only the bad to a specific thing but assume that the good is universal (when it is anything but)

The Mullah’s are far far too important to become Martyrs. That’s for the flyover people out there in rural regions.

If the Shah was not overthrown we'd have a thread on MullahBob and his hot takes from his leaky Tehran basement.

it sounds like you're saying "we could have won Vietnam, we just didn't feel like it"

The USA could never have won Vietnam on Walter Cronkite's terms, but the USA could have won World War III given total war and unconditional surrender. It would not have been worth it.

Shit, the deep state has finally given Trump the keys to the weather machine.

 

[mr.moon1488]

I'm seeing a lot of the reports saying this was technical issues. Boeing has been having a lot of trouble with their planes, but Bloomberg is reporting that this is not the same model that's been plagued with technical problems



Images of the crash site from MSN :

View attachment 1088097
View attachment 1088095
​

International rules allow for the manufacturer to participate in the investigation. Regardless of what caused the crash, this could not have happened at a more awkward time.

Even if it was the same model plane, the issue they had wouldn't have caused this. The faulty system was a stall prevention system which was cutting on during landings causing the plane to nose down, and crash.

 

[YooA]

Even if it was the same model plane, the issue they had wouldn't have caused this. The faulty system was a stall prevention system which was cutting on during landings causing the plane to nose down, and crash.

I believe this plane ran into a missile