Iranian General Sulemain and others reported killed in Baghdad airstrike

[starlord]

so apparently iran-linked militias have announced that they see US forces in bahrain as a "legitimate target" in response to the killing of the iranian general.

they seem undeterred.

“It behooves us to respond with determination to this crime and to lead the response to the tyrants,” according to the institute’s translation of the statement. “We view all [U.S.] interests, and [the American] presence in Bahrain, as legitimate targets for us, and we will play a role and take a position in avenging the precious blood of the righteous martyrs.”
Iran provides al-Ashtar with training, funding and weapons, enabling the group’s terrorist attacks, Nathan Sales, a U.S. State Department official, said in 2018.
The group has claimed responsibility for roughly 20 bombings against security personnel since 2013, according to the Congressional Research Service.
If Iran’s militant loyalists in Bahrain pivot from overthrowing the island’s rulers to join other Iranian proxies in reprisals against America for Soleimani’s death, U.S. forces and families in Bahrain present an easy target, according to Rebecca Wasser, a senior policy analyst with the RAND Corporation who focuses on U.S. defense and foreign policy in the Middle East.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-...imani-slaying/

[Shadowferal]

Timing is interesting. Iranian attack scrambles House war powers vote

The real prospect of rapidly intensifying conflict with Iran complicates the Democrats’ plan to repudiate President Donald Trump for a deadly drone attack on Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani last week without notifying Congress. House Democrats say they are likely to pause, if not abandon, their plans for a war powers resolution.

[Rhlor]

Depends on who orders the assassination. A lone gunman killing a top political leader isn't.

in the first world war it was the secret service of serbia, who later tried to give a coup d'etat if I remember correctly. In the end the allies condemned and killed those damn!

[Xeones]

Only 8 days into new decade, and you Americans started another war???

WHAT THE ACTUAL CLUSTER FUCK!!!!!

You're giving too much credit. It's the 7th not the 8th.

[Adam Jensen]

Does US already have total air supremacy? Aren't those rather easy to shoot down....

At 50,000 feet, with chaff and other defensive abilities? Not really.

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Only 8 days into new decade, and Donald Trump started another war???

WHAT THE ACTUAL CLUSTER FUCK!!!!!

Fixed that for you. Most of us didn't want this bullshit.

[Kallisto]

News of a Ukrainian passenger plane also crashing in Iran. Not known if connected to the conflict.

[Breccia]

so apparently iran-linked militias have announced that they see US forces in bahrain as a "legitimate target" in response to the killing of the iranian general.

I don't see any legitimate reason to say "No, you can't do that".

Related: did Iran just fucking shoot down a passenger plane? For that matter, did we?

[Thekri]

At 50,000 feet, with chaff and other defensive abilities? Not really.

Over Iran? Yeah, pretty easy to shoot down. 50,000 feet and using chaff might have worked well in 1955, but it is 2019, people made better missiles since then. Iran slapped a Global Hawk, and hacked and brought down and RQ-170. A B-52 is definitely a sitting duck in Iranian airspace.

But they aren't going to be flying B-52s over Iran, they don't have to. The B-52s went up tonight, probably with no bombload, because having them in the air is a lot safer then having them on the ground, at least while they stay over Saudi Airspace. If they actually do strike Iran, it will be with standoff weapons. Basically firing Air Dropped Cruise missiles from above the Indian Ocean.

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Related: did Iran just fucking shoot down a passenger plane? For that matter, did we?

Tehran is a very long way away from the conflict zone, far outside the range of anti-aircraft missiles from the US. The Aircraft crashed on takeoff, so it was very low. It is possible that some Iranian anti-aircraft crew (Who was having a VERY stressful night) mistook it for an incoming American strike and shot it down. Or it could be a very unfortunate coincidence.

[Hif]

Genuinely curious has there been any other recent incidents with ISIS running around with Russian mobile rocker launchers? (from all accounts they did find the truck that launched the attacks)

Sorry for the late reply but I was travelling for work. So ISIL runs around with Russian, US and any other type of weaponary it can. The US armed the Iraqi army and the Iraqi army abandoned most of its positions against ISIL in the first few years so they have all sorts of weapons.

[Breccia]

The supreme leader tweeted the flag of Iran.

This is in direct response to:

All is well!

No, not that one.

So far, so good!

No, not that one either.

This is attempted deterrence. It doesn’t always work, but Iran —against the backdrop of prior restraint followed by decisive reaction— knows that this red line won’t be erased, and that is essential to the possibility that realDonaldTrump warning will be heeded. Bravo POTUS.

No, that's a retweet. And not that one either.



I'm not linking that fucking tweet. Jan 2, 6:32 is the timestamp. And yes, you know when and why it was done.

Congratulations to Individual-Fatass-One. You just started a war via tweet.

[Hif]

Kata'ib Hezbollah, the militia that killed an Americana and then attacked the embassy to set this whole ordeal in motion was literally led by a naturalized Iranian citizen and member of Quds Force (who was also killed in the strike that took out Soleimani)...

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis

He was born in Iraq, but defected to Iran in the 80s during the Iraq-Iran War... He then joined Quds force and was with them ever since... He came back to Iraq in 2003, but after a few years when the US caught wind of who he was and who he was affiliated with, he fled back to Iran and remained there until the US pullout in 2011... Then came back and started running Kata'ib Hezbollah, which is both funded and trained by Quds Force... The guy full on took his orders from Soleimani directly.

Born in Iraq means he is Iraqi.

[october breeze]

You're giving too much credit. It's the 7th not the 8th.

Here in Australia, it is already tomorrow!

[Skroe]

Over Iran? Yeah, pretty easy to shoot down. 50,000 feet and using chaff might have worked well in 1955, but it is 2019, people made better missiles since then. Iran slapped a Global Hawk, and hacked and brought down and RQ-170. A B-52 is definitely a sitting duck in Iranian airspace.

But they aren't going to be flying B-52s over Iran, they don't have to. The B-52s went up tonight, probably with no bombload, because having them in the air is a lot safer then having them on the ground, at least while they stay over Saudi Airspace. If they actually do strike Iran, it will be with standoff weapons. Basically firing Air Dropped Cruise missiles from above the Indian Ocean.

@Adam Jensen
To add some more info to what Thekri said, this is the B-52's primary armament (as of last month)

AGM-158 JASSM-ER

(3d model)


on a B-52



B-52 with another type of air launched cruise showing it carrying 12 externally (6 on each pylon, for and aft)


JASSM-ER has a decent sized warhead (1000lbs /450kg), is stealthy and has a range of at least 925 kilometers (575 miles). It is subsonic. It's the most advanced type of US cruise missile in service due to these, and also its sensor/computer systems on board. A variant of the JASSM was modified with a different sensor system to become the US's new anti-ship missiles. It is a project that began the 1990s and has evolved to fill a crucial niche of an advanced, conventional and stealthy cruise missile. The US has/had several other Air Launched Cruise missiles. The most advanced of its time, the nuclear AGM-129 ACM was retired a decade ago due to its expensive cost grounds and reliability problems. It was replaced with its predecessor, the mid 1970s-era AGM-86 ALCM. The AGM-86 operated in nuclear and non-nuclear roles as the exclusive stand-off weapon of the B-52. But it's gotten old and its parts are getting difficult to maintain. All the air launched cruise missiles launched in the wars since 1991 by the B-52 were the AGM-86. The conventional version was retired in December (with parts used to maintain the nuclear variant for another decade). The conventional role was taken up by the JASSM-ER, which is now the only conventional air launched cruise in the US arsenal.

The US has another major program going on at the moment - the $20 billion Long Range Stand-Off Weapon to build a successor to the AGM-86 in the nuclear role (and it will actually be more advanced than the AGM-129 that was retired a decade ago). The LRSO is a controversial program though for a lot of reasons. Aspects of it may have a lot of duplication with the the JASSM-ER (a stealthy air launched cruise missile with great range) that is a complete for a total of $5 billion. There is a big question about what the $20 billion is buying, especially since it will use the same nuclear warhead as the AGM-86 when it is in a nuclear role. A conventional LRSO (without a nuclear warhead) could be a competitor to the JASSM-ER that doesn't bring any greater capability. Lastly there is a question of utility - old school Air launched cruise missiles used nuclear warheads to make up for their inaccuracy, whereas modern ones are highly accurate and could perform the same role - destroying enemy air defenses and letting nuclear bombers go in - in a nuclear war, without a nuclear warhead. The US also has an independent hypersonic air launched cruise missile program that will serve a different purpose.

The B-52 would strike Iran's air defenses from extreme range though, allowing aircraft to get in closer after those defenses have been sufficiently degraded. A key reason is economics: Air Launched cruise missiles cost $1.1-$2.5 million each for a warhead that tops out at about 1000lbs, while the most expensive bomb in the arsenal is in the realm of $300,000, and most are a good deal cheaper than that, and you can drop more varied types of ordinance from an aircraft.

The more you know...

[ati87]

That fact that they may not have a contingency is worrying. Trump really did go into this without a plan things it would be one and done.

You may think so but Trump isn't that much smarter then the average person who thought that Iran would not have the balls to strike back.
At least the semi intelligent people understood that Trump placed Iran in a situation that they had to respond. You have idiots telling people that Iran wouldn't dare to strike back and that they just needed to learn their place.

[Puupi]

You may think so but Trump isn't that much smarter then the average person who thought that Iran would not have the balls to strike back.
At least the semi intelligent people understood that Trump placed Iran in a situation that they had to respond. You have idiots telling people that Iran wouldn't dare to strike back and that they just needed to learn their place.

There's no way Trump is above average person in intelligence.

[ati87]

There's no way Trump is above average person in intelligence.

Wich is why I wrote he isn't smarter.
Trump thought that he could just do that kill without an response from Iran. There was no plan further after that.

[Reyuna]

Bye bye Iran, and not a second too soon either.

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So many left-wing, Iranian, Jihad sympothizers here.. then again this is the backwards mmo forums which feels like it came right out of about 2004.
[Infraction]

[Crispin]

Bye bye Iran, and not a second too soon either.

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So many left-wing, Iranian, Jihad sympothizers here.. then again this is the backwards mmo forums which feels like it came right out of about 2004.

It's possible to be moderate and not approve of the US acting like a terrorist state. Shocking I know.

[Puupi]

It's quite amazing that during the night also a Ukrainian plane fell down and there was an earthquake right next to a nuclear power plant. Both happened in Iran.

What are the odds. o_O

[Orbitus]

Bye bye Iran, and not a second too soon either.

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So many left-wing, Iranian, Jihad sympothizers here.. then again this is the backwards mmo forums which feels like it came right out of about 2004.

What the hell are you talking about? No one is sympathizing with Iran or jihadists. We just don't want anymore fucking wars, especially ones started by Trump because he assassinated a guy that might or might not be planning attacks.