[Breaking News] US base in Iraq struck by Iranian and Iraqi militia missiles.

[PACOX]

They've been reporting Iraqi casualties. They definitely landed.

Reports are that it was a precision strike. They aimed to close but not where the American soldiers. I haven't seen much confirmation of that though but it would mirror what the US did in Syria and they do have the capability of launching precision strikes like that.

[starlord]

That doesn’t mean it hit the Base, though.

where are you getting your info?

[Shadowferal]

[StillMcfuu]

In Finnish news they said that CNN sources/whatever informed that Iran has warned US that if it retaliates at all, Iran will attack UAE and Israel.

AND attack continental US (somehow).

If this is true, I can imagine the collective eye roll of world leaders at such an ultimatum.

I don't think that's true though, such a mandate would put the entire middle east against Iran, the only friends they had were Iraq and they just bombed them supposedly.

[Shadowferal]

DAMMIT

[Monster Hunter]

It was discuses in the other thread that was the 2nd time Sulemain came in trumps crosshairs, but if this was any truth in this it was all put in play by Iran and trump played along just went a bit father then they thought he would. (guessing they didn't take his ego into account).

He went further than any sane actor in the great game should go. The primary goal of the game is ensuring safe supply of resources whilst limiting supply to the opposing team (Russia, China) that's the real point of it all.

This throws the whole thing in jeperdy over nothing of real stratigic value compared to the real players. Boris jhonson had the most succicent reaction when he heard and explained "oh fuck!" because trump has easentialy undermined all of the nato nations interests including the U.S.A's in the region in one move, in the great game no one cares about the lives of a few soldiers, this is a thing that's been going on for generations, over 150 years, its a geo political game that transcends presidential terms and the cost of mucking it up massively out ways almost anything.

- - - Updated - - -

If this is true, I can imagine the collective eye roll of world leaders at such an ultimatum.

I don't think that's true though, such a mandate would put the entire middle east against Iran, the only friends they had were Iraq and they just bombed them supposedly.

Iran is allied to Russia and through them to China.

It's smaller allies are
Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq.

[Dadwen]

He went further than any sane actor in the great game should go. The primary goal of the game is ensuring safe supply of resources whilst limiting supply to the opposing team (Russia, China) that's the real point of it all.

This throws the whole thing in jeperdy over nothing of real stratigic value compared to the real players. Boris jhonson had the most succicent reaction when he heard and explained "oh fuck!" because trump has easentialy undermined all of the nato nations interests including the U.S.A's in the region in one move, in the great game no one cares about the lives of a few soldiers, this is a thing that's been going on for generations, over 150 years, its a geo political game that transcends presidential terms and the cost of mucking it up massively out ways almost anything.

oddly enough him being kinda scary and unpredictably itself can be a deterrence (dangerous one but still one), but just my personally opinion it looks bad to let others free rein even by proxy kill citizens and attack our embassy, and showing no response just encourage more and bigger attacks over time. This works less against smaller terrorist groups with less to lose but Iran has a bit more on the line and despite looks not quiet as insane.

[Dacien]

...I don't think he wrote that. Oh, it was clearly somebody attempting to type somewhat like him in some way/shape/form - but it's too well punctuated. too organized. To coherent, nothing egocentrically personal...

That wasn't him making that twit.

I mean it has it's characteristicly simple one-liners ("All is well!", "So far, so good"), but it is very punctuated. Could be he just recognizes the seriousness of the moment and wants to put the extra attention to the tweet that it deserves.

jkjk

[Flower Milk]

Whetever the Trump administration says, this is the real reason we're going to war with Iran:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/10/busin...ntl/index.html

Sun November 10, 2019

A vast oil field containing an estimated 53 billion barrels of crude oil has been discovered in Iran, President Hassan Rouhani announced Sunday, a find that could boost the country's battered economy amid stringent US sanctions.
The oil field in southwest Iran stretches over an area of 2,400 sq km (about 1,491 square miles) in the Khuzestan province and is around 80 meters (262 feet) deep, according to the Iranian leader.
It would be the country's second largest oil field, behind one in Ahvaz containing an estimated 65 billion barrels.
"We have discovered a new big oil field with 53 billion barrels of reserves," Rouhani said in a speech Sunday in the city of Yazd, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

"This is a small gift by the government to the people of Iran," he added, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Iran, which is a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), currently has estimated proven crude oil reserves of 155.6 billion barrels, according to energy giant BP. The new discoveries would add about 34% to its total reserves.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) ranks Iran as the world's fourth-largest holder of oil reserves and the second-largest holder of gas reserves.
If the size of the new oil reserves is proven to be accurate, it would lift the country to third place, just below its regional foe Saudi Arabia.

[StillMcfuu]

He went further than any sane actor in the great game should go. The primary goal of the game is ensuring safe supply of resources whilst limiting supply to the opposing team (Russia, China) that's the real point of it all.

This throws the whole thing in jeperdy over nothing of real stratigic value compared to the real players. Boris jhonson had the most succicent reaction when he heard and explained "oh fuck!" because trump has easentialy undermined all of the nato nations interests including the U.S.A's in the region in one move, in the great game no one cares about the lives of a few soldiers, this is a thing that's been going on for generations, over 150 years, its a geo political game that transcends presidential terms and the cost of mucking it up massively out ways almost anything.

- - - Updated - - -



Iran is allied to Russia and through them to China.

It's smaller allies are
Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq.

Russia isn't going to do anything that will make the world look at them, being involved in the losing side with Iran means Russia starts to lose things.
China isn't going to endanger their ability to turn a buck.
Syria is barely a country.

Lebanon, Kuwait, and Iraq are all allys of the US.

[Ihavewaffles]

Russia isn't going to do anything that will make the world look at them, being involved in the losing side with Iran means Russia starts to lose things.
China isn't going to endanger their ability to turn a buck.
Syria is barely a country.

Lebanon, Kuwait, and Iraq are all allys of the US.

Iraq said the US forces have to leave the country.

[Gaaz]

For some reason I doubt that Iran actually hit something with their strike. At least when it comes to targets they intended to hit. If they did not get any US personnel, it would be seen as a failure. I do not know exactly how Iranian military operates and performs when it comes to high tech weaponry. But I do know how Middle East countries operate in general (me and members of my family were on and off ME assignments for the last half century). They tend to grasp the big picture, but fail at all the little details when it comes to complex tech. And when firing ballistic or cruise missiles, it is those little things that determine if you miss your target by a few hundred meters and your attack basically becomes a dud.
I am just wondering, if they missed (and chances are that they did), will they press on and launch another volley? Because that will definitely force US into armed response, thus starting what is likely going to be the bloodiest conflict in the Middle East yet.

[Shadowferal]

Iran already stopped. They accomplished what they wanted.

[Thekri]

Iran is allied to Russia and through them to China.

It's smaller allies are
Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq.

Not sure what you are going on about, but literally none of your "Great game" talk has any connection to reality. That "Careful strategy over the last few decades" thing you mentioned the first time is weird, because literally nothing in that strategy has been good at anything except generating bigger defense contracts. It isn't doing a great job of stabilizing resources, because it generates wild swings in Oil prices at least once a decade.

Oh, and in what planet is Kuwait an Ally of Iran? Because it sure as hell isn't ours. We are talking about the same Kuwait with three massive US bases, right? Not sure why you think Russia and China are a cute married couple either, they have very different agendas in the middle east. China and Iran don't really get along because China and Pakistan are friends, and that causes a lot of tension with everyone that hates Pakistan. Which is honestly most countries.

[StillMcfuu]

Iraq said the US forces have to leave the country.

Iraq has not asked us to leave, yet. It's a possibility it may occur, but that vote was largely symbolic and not even attended by all members of the Iraqi parliament. Much like everything that occurs in Iraq, what has transpired there falls along Shiite and Sunni/Kurd lines.

Soleimani and the majority of Iran are Shia.
Iraq isn't as clear, 60/40 Shia vs Sunni/Kurd.

[Thekri]

For some reason I doubt that Iran actually hit something with their strike. At least when it comes to targets they intended to hit. If they did not get any US personnel, it would be seen as a failure. I do not know exactly how Iranian military operates and performs when it comes to high tech weaponry. But I do know how Middle East countries operate in general (me and members of my family were on and off ME assignments for the last half century). They tend to grasp the big picture, but fail at all the little details when it comes to complex tech. And when firing ballistic or cruise missiles, it is those little things that determine if you miss your target by a few hundred meters and your attack basically becomes a dud.
I am just wondering, if they missed (and chances are that they did), will they press on and launch another volley? Because that will definitely force US into armed response, thus starting what is likely going to be the bloodiest conflict in the Middle East yet.

Well they already announced they didn't kill any Americans. We don't know if they hit American bases or not, if you look back toward the beginning of the thread you will see why I pointed out that even landing missiles on military bases isn't particularly likely to cause casualties, we have bunkers and lots of defense mechanisms. So maybe they missed, or maybe they hit and blew up random equipment (My Second Deployment rockets blew up our laundry room, which was extremely annoying).

As for why they didn't cause casualties, well that is speculation. Maybe the Iranian military isn't nearly as good as it claims. Kind of like the Iraqi military, which we know was good enough to fight Iran to standstill, but crumbled instantly to Western militaries. Maybe governments that build missiles primarily to parade them through the streets don't care as much what goes inside those missiles.

Or maybe they are as good as they say, and they missed on purpose. Because they had to do something, so they don't look weak, but they also didn't want to cause major casualties which would guarantee a war. They didn't shoot at the major US bases in Kuwait or the UAE. They didn't shoot at US Warships in the Persian Gulf. They didn't really shoot at anything that is actually a threat to them, they shot at the bases that launched the attack that killed Sulemanei. They wanted to send a message, and now that message has been sent.

Either of those could be true. Hell, both of those could be true. We really don't know.

[Gaaz]

Russia isn't going to do anything that will make the world look at them, being involved in the losing side with Iran means Russia starts to lose things.
China isn't going to endanger their ability to turn a buck.
Syria is barely a country.

Lebanon, Kuwait, and Iraq are all allys of the US.

Russia is not going to be involved directly, true. Because their actual open military involvement would be cataclysmic to all sides involved. We are talking about nuclear superpowers after all. But that does not mean they will turn down this opportunity to sell lots and lots of weapons at a bargain price and bloody US's nose indirectly.
China will wait, as usual, that is likely correct.
The main problem is that you can not defeat Iran without boots on the ground. I do not know how many tens or hundreds of thousands of lives an invasion and subsequent occupation of Iran would cost to the US, but my guess is that they are going to dwarf Vietnam. And no one in their right mind would be willing to pitch in, to throw their own people into that grinder. Israel simply does not have the manpower. All they can do is lend their airfields and assist with aerial strikes. The same goes for Kuwait (whose male population is like a million total, with a couple of thousand of soldiers in armed forces, the rest being contract workers and women) and SA (whose army consists of mercenaries almost exclusively). Iraq and Lebanon are in turmoil. Going to war is not an option for them, lest their countries fall apart completely.
In any case, if shit hits the fan, no participant will stay clean. And we should not forget that as a last resort, even if Iran does not have nukes, they do have free access to nuclear material. A dirt bomb can be just as scary.

[Adam Jensen]

(My Second Deployment rockets blew up our laundry room, which was extremely annoying).

Not sure how it could be. Our laundry room's machines never worked. A missile strike would have been an improvement.

[I Push Buttons]

Damn a Ukrainian 737 'crashing' outside of Tehran isn't a good look given the timing.

https://twitter.com/alihashem_tv/sta...56252749877250

Shit was full on engulfed in flames and breaking apart as it descended... That had to be quite the 'technical difficulty' Iran state media is describing it to have suffered...

[Kellhound]

Well, Raytheon stock should be going up soon. They can expect a big order for replacement TLAMs after the US responds to this....