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.
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After having a little more time to spend on sat imagery of the area.... that entire mountain area abutting Parand to the north is riddled with Iranian live-fire ranges of all types, munitions bunkers, along with old and/or airbrushed ADA sites & related infrastructure.

And the actual area where the missiles struck is less than 12 miles from that large Iranian radar facility & probably a divisional HQ. After looking closer at those, it's easy to distinguish SAM launch revetments from all the normal desert clutter as well.

The Great Chandler said:
There are people who claim that her smiling and giggling is a sign of PTSD and that depressed people do it all the time.
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It's a sign of brain damage, not PTSD.
 
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Vitruvius said:
I think it's impossible to overstate just how badly the Iranian government has fucked their own position in the span of 48 hours. These medieval style strongman based governance systems have almost 0 flexibility regarding any kind of top level leadership. It's almost certain that most of the alliances Iran had formented with these various terror groups were based entirely on the personal relationships their leadership had with this Soleimani guy. It's also easily assumed that this general used the usual middle eastern strategy of making sure that nobody directly underneath him was anything approaching competent to secure his necessity to the Mullahs.

So to recap in the last 48 hours Iran has:
-Lost the lynchpin of their entire proxy war strategy
-Signaled to their allies their own weakness with a pathetic counter strike that killed no one of importance
-Tore apart the only leverage they had with Europe, the Nuclear deal
-Either accidentally or intentionally shot down a civilian jetliner that had a bunch of neutral foreign nationals aboard and completely obliterated any international sympathy they might have otherwise gained from the targeted killing of their general

They are so fucked that it almost isn't funny anymore. Almost.
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The Trump curse is fucking bonkers, yo.
 
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AOC, as usual, being a whiny little bitch who can't stand the truth.



AOC accuses House Republican of racism after he calls out 'squad of Ayatollah sympathizers'

Sam Dorman

1 hr ago

Iranian general lays out aim to expel U.S. from Mideast

Under Pressure, Pelosi Again Declines to Send Articles to Senate

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., suggested Thursday that a Republican colleague was racist for apparently calling her "squad" of progressive freshmen "Ayatollah sympathizers."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with reporters at the Capitol on December 18, 2019.
© SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with reporters at the Capitol on December 18, 2019.

The exchange began after Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., accused Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., of lying when she claimed that a classified briefing on Iran failed to show President Trump had any evidence of an imminent threat when he killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

"I was in the same briefing as you, @RepJayapal, and this is absolutely false. You and your squad of Ayatollah sympathizers are spreading propaganda that divides our nation and strengthens our enemies," Rutherford tweeted.
It's unclear who exactly he was referring to but Ocasio-Cortez and others are frequently referred to as "the squad." His comments came as Republicans accused Democrats of defending Iran in the wake of Soleimani's death.

ILHAN OMAR, TED CRUZ CLASH AS SENATOR CLAIMS DEMS 'OUTRAGED' OVER IRANIAN TERRORIST'S DEATH

Ocasio-Cortez responded on Twitter, claiming statements like that exposed Republicans as racist.
"I find it highly amusing that my coworkers angrily yell stuff like this and then clutch their pearls and cry when they are called out for their racism," she said.

AOC SLAMS DEM CENTRISTS AS 'TEA PARTY OF THE LEFT,' SUGGESTS BIDEN SHOULDN'T BE IN SAME PARTY

Jayapal also accused Rutherford of racism. "This is ONE of the MANY reasons we need more strong women of color in Congress. We don’t let racist tropes get in the way of speaking truth!" she tweeted.
Rutherford did not immediately respond on Twitter.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., another "Squad" member, similarly suggested Republican Jim Banks, R-Ind., was racist when he mocked her for saying she had post-traumatic stress disorder amid tumult in the Middle East.

"This is a disgrace and offensive to our nation’s veterans who really do have PTSD after putting their life on the line to keep America safe," Banks, a military veteran, tweeted. Omar responded by retweeting a post from Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who knocked Banks for allegedly not criticizing white members who complained about PTSD from domestic violence.

"On the house floor we have heard our white female colleagues talk about their PTSD from domestic violence. It’s odd that you never called them out," he said.

Omar also responded on Wednesday, telling Banks that she survived war as a child. "It's shameful that you as a member of Congress would erase the PTSD of survivors," she tweeted.
 
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JosephStalin said:
AOC, as usual, being a whiny little bitch who can't stand the truth.



AOC accuses House Republican of racism after he calls out 'squad of Ayatollah sympathizers'

Sam Dorman

1 hr ago

Iranian general lays out aim to expel U.S. from Mideast

Under Pressure, Pelosi Again Declines to Send Articles to Senate
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., suggested Thursday that a Republican colleague was racist for apparently calling her "squad" of progressive freshmen "Ayatollah sympathizers."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with reporters at the Capitol on December 18, 2019.
© SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez talks with reporters at the Capitol on December 18, 2019.

The exchange began after Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., accused Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., of lying when she claimed that a classified briefing on Iran failed to show President Trump had any evidence of an imminent threat when he killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

"I was in the same briefing as you, @RepJayapal, and this is absolutely false. You and your squad of Ayatollah sympathizers are spreading propaganda that divides our nation and strengthens our enemies," Rutherford tweeted.
It's unclear who exactly he was referring to but Ocasio-Cortez and others are frequently referred to as "the squad." His comments came as Republicans accused Democrats of defending Iran in the wake of Soleimani's death.

ILHAN OMAR, TED CRUZ CLASH AS SENATOR CLAIMS DEMS 'OUTRAGED' OVER IRANIAN TERRORIST'S DEATH

Ocasio-Cortez responded on Twitter, claiming statements like that exposed Republicans as racist.
"I find it highly amusing that my coworkers angrily yell stuff like this and then clutch their pearls and cry when they are called out for their racism," she said.

AOC SLAMS DEM CENTRISTS AS 'TEA PARTY OF THE LEFT,' SUGGESTS BIDEN SHOULDN'T BE IN SAME PARTY

Jayapal also accused Rutherford of racism. "This is ONE of the MANY reasons we need more strong women of color in Congress. We don’t let racist tropes get in the way of speaking truth!" she tweeted.
Rutherford did not immediately respond on Twitter.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., another "Squad" member, similarly suggested Republican Jim Banks, R-Ind., was racist when he mocked her for saying she had post-traumatic stress disorder amid tumult in the Middle East.

"This is a disgrace and offensive to our nation’s veterans who really do have PTSD after putting their life on the line to keep America safe," Banks, a military veteran, tweeted. Omar responded by retweeting a post from Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who knocked Banks for allegedly not criticizing white members who complained about PTSD from domestic violence.

"On the house floor we have heard our white female colleagues talk about their PTSD from domestic violence. It’s odd that you never called them out," he said.

Omar also responded on Wednesday, telling Banks that she survived war as a child. "It's shameful that you as a member of Congress would erase the PTSD of survivors," she tweeted.
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I think this would have gone over a little better if he just said they were agents of a foreign power.

The squad's anti-American rhetoric really makes me sick.
 
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Ped Xing said:
Odds that glow-in-the-darks made this airliner thing happen?
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Marissa Moira said:
Zero because it actually succeeded in making iran look bad and not america.

The government can't pay for working incompetence like that.
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My very first thought when I heard of the drone strike on Suleimani, is that Trump was informed by whichever staff-officer that a strike had been made, but hadn't disclosed who the actual target was. As Suleimani was travelling with a bunch of other high-value militiamen & Iranian assets, his death was more like an intentional oops, with an eye towards setting Trump up for failure.

The deep state doesn't just exist in DC and the CIA/FBI. The upper echelons of our military are riddled with very political generals, on both sides of the spectrum. It sucks, but it sort of comes with the job description at O-6 and above, due to the piss-poor nature of congressional endorsements for entry into war colleges.

And I know there are plenty of Marines who are extremely dick-hurt that their brofu romance between Mattis and Trump didn't work out. And honestly, if Mattis had been in the loop with any say-so, Iran would already be a thrice-smelted wasteland of shattered glass (because why shouldn't we bomb the fuck out of it, if only for the prismatic effect).

Add in the fact that an erroneous "draft" memo was leaked from the office of the OIC in Iraq (a Marine general) to the Iraqi parliament about a withdrawal, preempting Trump, and well.....

Anyways, I don't figure those same generals expected that Trump would have taken Mad Dog's gospel to heart and instead sat calmly eating ice cream, before responding in a way they should've totally seen coming. I guess his books aren't on the suggested reading list at Annapolis or West Point.
And the Gospels of Mattis have fallen on deaf ears, apparently.

Sad.
 
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Pocket Dragoon said:
My very first thought when I heard of the drone strike on Suleimani, is that Trump was informed by whichever staff-officer that a strike had been made, but hadn't disclosed who the actual target was. As Suleimani was travelling with a bunch of other high-value militiamen & Iranian assets, his death was more like an intentional oops, with an eye towards setting Trump up for failure.
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So they planned to sabotage Trump by...handing him a cheap and decisive victory?
 
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Vitruvius said:
I think it's impossible to overstate just how badly the Iranian government has fucked their own position in the span of 48 hours. These medieval style strongman based governance systems have almost 0 flexibility regarding any kind of top level leadership. It's almost certain that most of the alliances Iran had formented with these various terror groups were based entirely on the personal relationships their leadership had with this Soleimani guy. It's also easily assumed that this general used the usual middle eastern strategy of making sure that nobody directly underneath him was anything approaching competent to secure his necessity to the Mullahs.

So to recap in the last 48 hours Iran has:
-Lost the lynchpin of their entire proxy war strategy
-Signaled to their allies their own weakness with a pathetic counter strike that killed no one of importance
-Tore apart the only leverage they had with Europe, the Nuclear deal
-Either accidentally or intentionally shot down a civilian jetliner that had a bunch of neutral foreign nationals aboard and completely obliterated any international sympathy they might have otherwise gained from the targeted killing of their general

They are so fucked that it almost isn't funny anymore. Almost.
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So, in other words-Iran is chimping out over the loss of their chief terrorist to the point they are losing any high ground they may have had.

I think it is becoming extremely clear that the Suleimani was their general for a reason, and that is the fact he is the only one among those idiots that had any sense of military and political strategy. Obviously the Iranian leaders have some kind of false sense of superiority because of Suleimani's work and previous administrations bending the knee, and now that both are no longer happening, they have no clue what to do
 
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