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.

.

 

[PS1gamenwatch]

Also did people forget this:

 

[Marissa Moira]

CNN left out the part where The British asked us to intervene and help prop up The Shah because the eurofags couldn't figure out how to make goatfuckers empire a country good. This is what started the whole mess.

 

[1Tonka_Truck]

It makes me think the whole thing was pure MI or DIA work rather than involving the FBI or CIA. I don't trust anything those two agencies do anymore. A successful, non-collateral casualty hit? Pfft, that wasn't the CIA I guaran-goddamn-tee.

Three words. Intelligence Support Activity. I've heard Obama was doing a passing Reagan impersonation (weird, right?) when it came to the Activity. Bureaucratic bullshit and unrealistic expectations all the way down. Bill Buckley was mentioned earlier. The Activity had an asset in the building where Buckley was being held months before he died. Oliver North is a faggot and probably personally issued the order to stand down because Buckley would be recovered through diplomatic means. Also know as the Iran-Contra scandal.

To be fair, A Boeing going down on its own is the most likely explaination, even if you have footage of a rocket hitting the aircraft.
Boeings are designed by clowns, subervised by monkeys and nobody working for Boeing would fly with one.

A german sucking french aerospace dick. Will wonders never cease?

 

[SmileyTimeDayCare]

View attachment 1094731

CNN, we do have operative memories. We know that the hostilities between Iran and the USA didn't start a week ago. Iran kind of has this long, sordid history with us and it's pretty obvious that more than a handful of Iranians and especially their government harbour a tiny bit of hostility towards this country.

You especially can't do that when you take everything that Trump says 100% literally with no wiggle room whatsoever, but then say that when an openly-hostile country chants "Death to America" it's "Just a 'thing' or some trope." This might actually be the most double-think I've ever seen coming out of CNN. It's astounding how far they'll go to try and defend this fucking regime at the expense of their own (?) country.

These are the same people who pretend The Crusades were just some unprovoked action by some greedy rulers in Europe.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

Also know as the Iran-Contra scandal.

Wasn't much of a scandal when it happened. It was a toxic issue for Reagan's opposition which is why they abandoned it. Nobody remembers that now though.

We can only hope the same won't be said of Trumps "scandals".

 

[HOMO FOR LIFE]

CNN left out the part where The British asked us to intervene and help prop up The Shah because the eurofags couldn't figure out how to make goatfuckers empire a country good. This is what started the whole mess.

Like Vietnam. Like Jews in Israel. Should have given them some land in fucking south america or even maybe portion of Sweden and Finland. BUT NOOO.

If anything Europe is fucking america.

Fuck you Europe.

 

[Marissa Moira]

Like Vietnam. Like Jews in Israel. Should have given them some land in fucking south america or even maybe portion of Sweden and Finland. BUT NOOO.

If anything Europe is fucking america.

Fuck you Europe.

There's only one option left.

We must make Europe become America.

 

[The Great Chandler]

Also did people forget this:

ISLAMOPHOBIA! WESTERN PROOAGANDA! PINKWASHING! IRAN IS A PERFECT COUNTRY FOR WOMEN!

 

[Revo]

It's still stupid that Trump didn't receive a Nobel for peace prize, unlike Obama, because he managed to make a peace between USA and North Korea and now he is making Iran a laughing stock in front of their allies and enemies.

 

[Florence]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51077897

Well, my friend’s father just got arrested. Looks like the UK’s getting drawn into this whether we like it or not.

 

[Coleslaw]

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

We beat Rhodesia. You guys did shit and were getting your shit wrecked by them even near the end.

 

[Sped Xing]

"Iran can continue its March toward pariah status"

When did Iran stop being a pariah?

 

[Dracula's Spirit Animal]

One thing that gets me thinking is how Iran will decide to explain the shooting of the plane. No option makes them look good to the various worldwide intelligence services, but some may allow them to carry a narrative that nobody bothers to dispute publicly to allow them to save face.

1. They can try to spin it as a super aggressive and advanced automated system which had some minor tweak needed. Not particularly convincing that it would be super advanced and make such a simple error, and no intelligence service would believe it, but they might not call them on that. It looks like an outright lie, but the public in the west might let it pass. A bit of a risk, though, since they face a lot of hostile ocuntries in the world who might just call them on their shit.

2. They can blame it on the US. That is retarded to everyone except journalists, and makes them look weak, powerless, and feckless.

3. They can blame it on some low level schmuck. Might work outside the country, but internally the hesitancy and demoralization that would cause in their military ranks would be crippling if that schmuck faced any repercussions. And they would HAVE to face some serious repercussions... life in jail or death... to assuage the international community and the populace. That option would likely sound like complete bullshit to the populace as well, who would feel further hostility to the regime since they would believe it was actually....

4. Some higher up military commander ordered it. The Iranians can't really do that without executing the named official or they'd risk public outrage, further hostility to the regime internally, and escalating rioting. And if that higher up wasn't punished, I'm sure they'd be finding any way they could to defect to the west to shield themselves from the inevitable eventual reprisal once things calm down. If they did execute the officer, the demoralization and hesitancy to act that would introduce into the military would cripple them. It would also create a further adversarial relation between the regime/IRGC and the military, and risk a junta.

5. The regime can state they made the decision to shoot it, entirely in error in the heat of the moment, face the long term loss of face for that, lose tens of millions in pay outs, and possibly have the international aviation world push their shit so far in that they effectively have no sovereignty over their air space or air connected border control. Probably the most humiliating and unlikely outcome for them to pursue.

Anyhow, that seems like their options to me.

Must admit, it's been a very fun year so far, would definitely visit again!

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

They should have just spliced together some shit from the Punisher and a few Jason Bourne movies to make it look like some glow-in-dark Superman swam up to the beach, ran across the desert, killed everyone inside the launcher, and fired the missile while singing Yankee Doodle Dandy and pelvic thrusting at the camera with a picture of Ronald Reagan taped over his junk.

At least that would have funny.

 

[WutangLee]

"Iran can continue its March toward pariah status"

When did Iran stop being a pariah?

When kissing their ass during the leftist regime in Europe and North America decided that peace was more important than National Security.

 

[Ghostse]

How long until the IRGC starts unintentionally gunning down protesters?

"unintentionally"

It'll happen in Iran before Iraq. We gave the Iraqis the chance to make their own government and they made it a Shi'ite Islamic republic.

Its not a Shi'ite Islamic republic. It is a tribal Shi'ite monkey fuck pile Kleptocracy - not every tribe of Shia are benefitting, only the tribe with the most power currently. The government and official power channels are still secular (well, as secular as you're getting in dune coon territory), but the government has just simply decided to pretend the roving murder bands of clerical militia don't exist.

The only group that has benefitted from the regime change has been the kurds, since "Leave us the fuck alone" has been what they've been wanting since the Ottomans.

 

[WutangLee]

Its not a Shi'ite Islamic republic. It is a tribal Shi'ite monkey fuck pile Kleptocracy - not every tribe of Shia are benefitting, only the tribe with the most power currently. The government and official power channels are still secular (well, as secular as you're getting in dune coon territory), but the government has just simply decided to pretend the roving murder bands of clerical militia don't exist.

The only group that has benefitted from the regime change has been the kurds, since "Leave us the fuck alone" has been what they've been wanting since the Ottomans.

With ISIS having exhausted Iraq's hardline Sunni demographics, I wonder how they completely spilled their spaghetti over this. Of course the Shia would side with Iran and point their guns at the Americans, while expecting them to handle the bulk of the counter-terrorism efforts now that the shooting war is over, to the point that they had the audacity to request CT Teams and EOD teams to stay behind when kicking them out.

 

[Every Crook and Nanny]

It would be absolutely hilarious if the Democrats started hoping for Iran to actually gun down the protesters just to spite Trump like they always do.

 

[not william stenchever]

"unintentionally"

Playing the joke straight over text is pretty hit or miss apporach I guess

I wonder if the loss of Solemani as a living rolodex of terrorist groups has hampered their ability to import foreign terrorists for kinetic crowd control and they'll have to use the Revolutionary Guard instead.

 

[Ghostse]

With ISIS having exhausted Iraq's hardline Sunni demographics, I wonder how they completely spilled their spaghetti over this. Of course the Shia would side with Iran and point their guns at the Americans, while expecting them to handle the bulk of the counter-terrorism efforts now that the shooting war is over, to the point that they had the audacity to request CT Teams and EOD teams to stay behind when kicking them out.

Don't conflate leadership with the people.
tl;dr They don't like Iran, but they currently like the Sunnis to the north even less.

Iraq should have never been a country. It should have been 3. But it isn't, so:
The Sunni Minority got in charge because they were Sunni and the House of Saud is Sunni, so they had the power and connections. The Ottomans also didn't have a particular like of Shia, due to all their weird shit*.

As I posted earlier, Iraqis have a long history of being complete and utter shit, to the point where they killed the grandson of their pedo Prophet after coercing him to come up and fight. But their record of being utter shitsandwiches predates that. We're talking nearly the entirety of human history. The history of Babylon/Assyria, who were pretty much the same people, down to having the same pantheon and language, is pretty fucking amazing, with Babylon constantly rebelling, usually to the detriment of both empires.

Anyway, the Shia got shat on by the Sunnis. Before getting shat on by them, they got shat on the Sunni Ottomans**.

So as mentioned before, Arabs don't like Persians. Persians don't like Arabs.
Iraq's Shia population doesn't like the nothern Sunni or the eastern Arabs, but they are going to take arms, money, and support from Iran because it lets them fight those other, bad muslims to the north. But if Iran tried to directly exert power, and not through the corrupt politicians they have bought, there would be serious issues.

As it is coming out how far Iran had its hand up the asses of its puppets, those corrupt fuckers are feeling heat from fellow Shia who might not like the Sunnis, but like those fucking Persian dickholes even less.

In summary, support world peace, glass the middle east.


* The Ottomans inherited the dislike of Shia from (effectively) the Umayyads. Basically any non-Arab muslim ruling class dislike the Shia and their rejection of all the "non-arab" caliphs. Iran/Persia is an exception to this rule because another Arab dynasty force-fed Shia to the region to differentiate it from the Ottomans to the west and the Indian muslims to east.

** Its more accurate to say "non-Shi'ite"