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.

.

 

[ditto]

Somewhere in the multiverse President Clinton is dispatching Ambassador Epstein to give this guy some "favors" for helping defeat the Russians in the Syrian theater. Along with another pallet of money, probably.

 

[Atomic Wangler]

Iran's list of shithole-tier allies grows...
View attachment 1092762

I wouldn't joke about such matters. I hear their plan is to bury all US forces under a tidal wave of valueless Zimba-bucks.

 

[Thornforg]

Iran's list of shithole-tier allies grows...
View attachment 1092762

The idea of a starving Zimbabwe militia throwing shit-grenades at US embassies and bases is a more terrifying thought than Iran trying to send more missiles.

 

[Jarolleon]

Iran's list of shithole-tier allies grows...
View attachment 1092762

That goofy picture really sells it! Did the Zimbos put it up themselves?

 

[Prompt Critical]

Because the Middle Eastern militaries are like Middle Eastern governments, they've got one cunt that holds all the power. You kill that fucker nobody knows what to do.

If you want to take a slightly deeper dive on the subject, "Why Arabs Lose Wars" was written in 1999 but it's just as applicable today (and yes the issues described apply to Iran even if they're ethno-culturally Persian).

 

[Mikoyan]

If you want to take a slightly deeper dive on the subject, "Why Arabs Lose Wars" was written in 1999 but it's just as applicable today (and yes the issues described apply to Iran even if they're ethno-culturally Persian).

Seconded. I remember reading that when it came out and again a year or two ago, always stuck with me.

 

[Billy_Sama]

Secret Asshole made a very good point - Their image as a regional superpower has basically been demolished. And the best part is they can't do anything about it.

Makes you wonder what will happen to Iran from being regional power and sponsor to various factions to being a weak and incompetent sick man of the Middle East. I wonder what factions and powers will try to jump on Iran knowing they don't have power to retaliate as they claim.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

I wouldn't joke about such matters. I hear their plan is to bury all US forces under a tidal wave of valueless Zimba-bucks.View attachment 1092821

Add that to the metric fuckton of counterfeit Iraqi dinar that they'll try pumping out.

Again.

Which will totally backfire; mostly because the all the dumb soldiers & Marines already got burned by the dinar/petrobuck bug back in '04 (and holy shit there were a lot of them).

Makes you wonder what will happen to Iran from being regional power and sponsor to various factions to being a weak and incompetent sick man of the Middle East. I wonder what factions and powers will try to jump on Iran knowing they don't have power to retaliate as they claim.

Just one left.

Saudi Arabia.

Along with the Jordanians brokering shit, as always. They've essentially filled the gap that Lebanon left, what with Syria and Iran constantly fucking with Israel from Lebanese soil.

I'm pretty hopeful for them, in that Iran's self-cuckery results in them being left alone for a while.

Beruit was a pretty rocking place, back in the day; it's entirely possible that could happen again.

 

[AnitaSarsleezian]

I wouldn't joke about such matters. I hear their plan is to bury all US forces under a tidal wave of valueless Zimba-bucks.View attachment 1092821

Why stop at a billion when you can keep adding zeros to the print press.

The idea of a starving Zimbabwe militia throwing shit-grenades at US embassies and bases is a more terrifying thought than Iran trying to send more missiles.

To have shit for shit grenades, you have to have food.

 

[La Luz Extinguido]

Why stop at a billion when you can keep adding zeros to the print press.

View attachment 1092910

To have shit for shit grenades, you have to have food.

Why does the 1 trillion dollars bill has a dignified artwork of a giant piece of shit?

 

[AnitaSarsleezian]

Why does the 1 trillion dollars bill has a dignified artwork of a giant piece of shit?

It's an artistic interpretation of the Zimbabwean economy.

 

[Ghostse]

This is why dictatorships don't work; you rely on one dude to make things work, and then fall apart when he inevitably loses his touch or dies. Made all the worst because this is protocol to avoid being replaced, so you can't even fix it that quickly when, not if, it happens.

Because how dare you have competent subordinates who'd be able to not rat out that all of those militias are state assets.

To minimize the tl;dr the reason why you want regular power exchanges isn't even to limit the power of bad leaders, its to reduce your dependence on good leaders. If you look back at history, once a dynasty enters decline its irreversible, and the biggest set backs come if there is a leader who gets the throne who isn't a piece of shit and rules well and justly for 80 years - there's about a 50% chance his son doesn't shit the bed, but after that its usually a long slope to the bottom for the dynasty if not the nation.
the reason for this is because the running of the country becomes dependent on having a good leader at the top who can compel people to execute good decisions. Once government has adapted to "extraordinary leader", even if someone who's above average comes along, things will fall apart.
It also encourages long term, even handed thinking, since you might not always be the ones at the top. (I said "encourages" not "guarantees")

I could sperg on about this and sustainability of systems, but it wouldn't be relevant here so I'll end there and hopefully made sense.

If you want to take a slightly deeper dive on the subject, "Why Arabs Lose Wars" was written in 1999 but it's just as applicable today (and yes the issues described apply to Iran even if they're ethno-culturally Persian).

This is a great and relevant book. It applies to Turks as well. Really any nation/peoples who would fall under the aegis of "sand nigger".

 

[RA-5C Vigilante]

Hot take: In the long run the world would've been better off not getting rid of Saddam

 

[MrHoneyBadger]

Iran's list of shithole-tier allies grows...
View attachment 1092762

Them go mad lads. Do thay have any weapon, tho?

Iran uses BULLDOZERS to clear jet crash site and slams 'big lie' they shot it down

IRAN has used bulldozers to clear debris from the plane crash site while slamming the “big lie” that they shot it down. The Ukrainian passenger jet came down hours after Tehran launched a barrage o…

www.thesun.co.uk

(sorry for not uploading it, lazy af)
I wonder did anyone from outside - Ukrainians, for example - had a chance to see the crash place.

 

[murdered meat bag]

Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran Crisis

Hours after a U.S. strike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Trump administration sent an urgent back channel message to Tehran: Don’t escalate.

www.wsj.com

Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran Crisis
The U.S. sent an encrypted fax via the Swiss Embassy in Tehran urging Iran not to escalate, followed by a flurry of back and forth messages

BERN, Switzerland—Hours after a U.S. strike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Trump administration sent an urgent back channel message to Tehran: Don’t escalate.


The encrypted fax was sent via the Swiss Embassy in Iran, one of the few means of direct, confidential communication between the two sides, U.S. officials said.


In the days that followed, the White House and Iranian leaders exchanged further messages, which officials in both countries described as far more measured than the fiery rhetoric traded publicly by politicians.

A week later, and after a retaliatory Iranian missile attack on two military bases hosting American troops that inflicted no casualties, Washington and Tehran seemed to be stepping back from the brink of open hostilities—for now.

“We don’t communicate with the Iranians that much, but when we do the Swiss have played a critical role to convey messages and avoid miscalculation,” a senior U.S. official said.

A spokesman at Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the exchanges but said “we appreciate [the Swiss] for any efforts they make to provide an efficient channel to exchange letters when and if necessary.”

One Iranian official said the back channel provided a welcome bridge, when all others had been burned: “In the desert, even a drop of water matters.”

From the Swiss Embassy, a Shah-era mansion overlooking Tehran, the country’s role as a diplomatic intermediary has stretched through four turbulent decades and seven presidencies, from the hostage crisis under Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama’s nuclear deal. It has seldom been tested like this.

The Americans’ first note was sent immediately after Washington confirmed the death of Gen. Soleimani, the most important figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the U.S. officials said.

It arrived on a special encrypted fax machine in a sealed room of the Swiss mission—the most enduring method since the 1979 Islamic Revolution—for the White House to exchange messages with Iran’s top leadership.

The equipment operates on a secure Swiss government network linking its Tehran embassy to the Foreign Ministry in Bern and its embassy in Washington, say Swiss diplomats. Only the most senior officials have the key cards needed to use the equipment.

Swiss Ambassador Markus Leitner, a 53-year-old career diplomat, delivered the American message by hand to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif early on Friday morning, according to U.S. and Swiss officials.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Photo: evgenia novozhenina/Reuters

Mr. Leitner, reached by email, declined to comment. The Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed there had been an exchange of messages, but declined to comment further.

Mr. Zarif responded to the U.S. missive with anger, according to an official familiar with the exchange. “[U.S. Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo is a bully,” he said, according to one U.S. official briefed on Mr. Zarif’s response. “The U.S. is the cause of all the problems.”

The Swiss ambassador regularly visits Washington for closed-door sessions with Pentagon, State Department and intelligence officials eager to tap his knowledge about Iran’s opaque and fluid politics.

Mr. Leitner spent the days after Gen. Soleimani’s killing shuttling back and forth in a low-key but high-wire diplomatic mission designed to let each side speak candidly. It was a contrast to the jabs of President Trump and Mr. Zarif on Twitter.

On Jan. 4, the day after the killing, Mr. Trump tweeted that he had picked out 52 targets, including Iranian heritage sites for potential retaliation if America suffered losses. “Those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD,” the tweet said.

Mr. Zarif replied the next day: “A reminder to those hallucinating about emulating ISIS war crimes by targeting our cultural heritage,” he wrote. “Through MILLENNIA of history, barbarians have come and ravaged our cities, razed our monuments and burnt our libraries. Where are they now? We’re still here, & standing tall.”


That same day, Mr. Zarif called the Swiss ambassador to take a message to the U.S. It was more restrained, according to the U.S. officials. Statements from both sides helped prevent miscalculations, the officials said.

“When tensions with Iran were high, the Swiss played a useful and reliable role that both sides appreciated,” said a senior Trump administration official. “Their system is like a light that never turns off.”

The Swiss have served as messengers between Washington and Tehran since 1980, in the wake of the seizure of the American Embassy—and 52 hostages —in Tehran by Iranian revolutionaries. Swiss diplomats call the role the “brieftrager” or “the postman.”

In the years after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Swiss shepherded messages to help avoid direct clashes. When President Obama assumed office, Switzerland hosted the talks that led to a nuclear deal. When Washington lifted sanctions, Swiss businesses had an early jump on rivals.

When Mr. Trump reimposed sanctions, he gave the Swiss a phone number to pass the Iranians, saying: “I’d like to see them call me.”


So far, Tehran has continued to speak through the Swiss.

Former Swiss ambassadors say the diplomatic channel is effective because the U.S. and Iran can trust a message will remain confidential, be delivered quickly, and will reach only its intended recipients. Statements passed on the back channel are always precisely phrased, diplomatic, and free of emotion, they said.

Landlocked Switzerland, a country of nine million with no standing army, parlays its role as “postman” to lever access to the great powers.

Currently, Swiss diplomats are working to get Washington’s green light for Swiss banks to finance exports to Iran that aren’t subject to sanctions—like food and medicine.

“We do things for the world community, and it’s good,” said a former ambassador. “But it is also good for our interests.”

Iran isn’t the only geopolitical hot spot where the Swiss Embassy represents U.S. or other countries’ interests after the breakdown of diplomatic relations.

The Swiss now holds six mandates including representing Iran in Saudi Arabia, Georgia in Russia and Turkey in Libya and the U.S. in Cuba. In April 2019, the Trump administration asked Bern to represent it in Venezuela but President Nicolás Maduro’s government has yet to approve.

As tensions between Washington and Tehran have escalated, the channel has remained active. In December the two countries released prisoners at the same time at a special hangar in the Zurich airport.

U.S. special envoy on Iran Brian Hook and Iran’s Mr. Zarif sat in separate rooms as the Swiss directed the carefully choreographed exchange.

“The Swiss channel has become enormously important because of what they can do in the short term to lessen tensions,” said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who worked with the Swiss on the prisoner exchange. “It’s the only viable channel right now.”

—Dion Nissenbaum contributed to this article.

Looks like this was all a shoot. Kind of sad the MSM revealed the kayfabe.

 

[Ghostse]

Hot take: In the long run the world would've been better off not getting rid of Saddam

but only on the technicality that Saddam was a dictator high on his own supply and increasingly paranoid, but his sons were sadistic richboy fucksteaks and removing them from power was the greatest good for the Iraqi people.
Now if you could murder them and leave Saddam in power, yes.

 

[Shield Breaker]

Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran Crisis

Hours after a U.S. strike killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Trump administration sent an urgent back channel message to Tehran: Don’t escalate.

www.wsj.com

Swiss Back Channel Helped Defuse U.S.-Iran Crisis
The U.S. sent an encrypted fax via the Swiss Embassy in Tehran urging Iran not to escalate, followed by a flurry of back and forth messages




Looks like this was all a shoot. Kind of sad the MSM revealed the kayfabe.

We used to have secret messages with Russia during the cold war. It's nothing new.

 

[breadandcircuses]

Looks like this was all a shoot. Kind of sad the MSM revealed the kayfabe.

Work. You mean work! Shoot is when wrestling turns real!

 

[Keystone]

View attachment 1092659

They've probably destroyed the black box by now. If they haven't then it's guaranteed to be in some dusty locked basement in Tehran indefinitely.

 

[Spicey McHaggis]

Hot take: In the long run the world would've been better off not getting rid of Saddam

He probably would have died from natural causes regardless by now, and the whole house of cards he built would have collapsed without him. One way or another we were gonna end up in that part of the world.