Our big, fun Iraq discussion thread

[GardoneVT]

Here's the reality: go ahead and smack the living shit out of Iranian leadership. Their ability to retaliate in any meaningful way is tiny. I don't intend any disrespect by this but without looking up the numbers, I would guess US casualties in the entire GWOT are comparable to a rough month in either World War. America is perfectly capable of preserving the global order and this targeted strike won't jeopardize anything.

Iran is not Iraq. The Iranian military is commanded by competent officers and leadership, with enough quality equipment to pose a tactical problem if used well. The intel and C&C advantages we enjoyed in Desert Storm don’t apply here, which means an Iran war will not be a pushover conflict. We’d win, but at a painful cost.

[Joe in PNG]

The whole "Iranian Sovereignty" thing ends at the Iraq border, unless the guy was in Iraq with a diplomatic passport.

Blowing Him Up Real Good in Iraq is no where near a violation of Iranian Sovereignty.

It's not like he was there to play Santa or visit his Auntie or collect for the Red Crescent. He was there for the purpose of killing people- ours and those of a current ally. He damn well earned that kaboom.

[TGS]

If that happened in this instance, I'll be mildly astonished. My suspicion is that Trump saw some guy on Fox News talking about Soleimani, asked if we can kill this guy, was answered in the affirmative, and gave the order.

Understandable to some degree, but keep in mind there's literally a CENTCOM war planner in this thread telling you that your "take" is incorrect.

[TGS]

Iran is not Iraq. The Iranian military is commanded by competent officers and leadership, with enough quality equipment to pose a tactical problem if used well. The intel and C&C advantages we enjoyed in Desert Storm don’t apply here, which means an Iran war will not be a pushover conflict. We’d win, but at a painful cost.

Bullshit.

Hardcore bullshit.

[0ddl0t]

Unless you are willing to cripple our economy, our culture, and capitulate to the whims of groups as diverse as North Korea to Boko Haram, these fights will eventually come to us because we are the enemy simply by being an example of a free, and freely educated, people who tolerate dissent and diversity of opinion.

Barring serious attacks on our homeland, this strikes me as the international version of precrime.

I’m legitimately curious what world you live in to say those countries are not a threat to the US.

Not an existential threat. They could wipe out NY, SF, LA, etc and the US will still go on. But when we erode our freedoms & protections like with the Patriot Act and spend ourselves into insolvency playing world police we truly threaten to lose what it is to be American.

[RJ]

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...out-the-region

Idle speculation, but what if Soleimani was planning to take over the US Embassy like in ‘79? Can you imagine the propaganda impact of Americans being tried and executed by some Iraqi puppet tribunal?

[blues]

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/n...out-the-region

Idle speculation, but what if Soleimani was planning to take over the US Embassy like in ‘79? Can you imagine the propaganda impact of Americans being tried and executed by some Iraqi puppet tribunal?

Don't get me started. It was bad enough when those douche nozzles captured our sailors in 2016 and published video. Fuck 'em.

[TGS]

Idle speculation, but what if Soleimani was planning to take over the US Embassy like in ‘79? Can you imagine the propaganda impact of Americans being tried and executed by some Iraqi puppet tribunal?

Highly unlikely.

As referred to earlier in the thread by @ranger, US EMB Baghdad is a fortress. It's a gigantic compound, with multiple layers of security and fighting positions. It, as well as other diplomatic annexes in Iraq have suffered complex coordinated attacks multiple times and repelled them successfully.

When we get the resources and do it right, we do it right. Events like Benghazi are an anomaly, and most of the time the average American has never even heard of the various complex attacks on CG Peshawar, CG Herat, EMB Baghdad, EMB Kabul, Camp Sullivan (diplomatic annex in Kabul) where we successfully defended with astounding superiority.

When we build out new compounds (like we built Baghdad), they're built right, and something like Tehran '79 would be incredibly unlikely due to the physical security measures alone, not to mention the several thousand security contractors guarding the facilities. I'd use the words "virtually impossible", but I know that kind of certainty freaks people out.

[RJ]

Highly unlikely.

As referred to earlier in the thread by @ranger, US EMB Baghdad is a fortress. It's a gigantic compound, ...

Thanks. I had no idea so I looked it up. It does appear to be fairly good sized; 104 acres is not a small complex:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embass...tes%2C_Baghdad

Just thinking out loud as to what this asshole could have been planning that made us pull the trigger like that.

[TGS]

Thanks. I had no idea so I looked it up. It does appear to be fairly good sized; 104 acres is not a small complex:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embass...tes%2C_Baghdad

Just thinking out loud as to what this asshole could have been planning that made us pull the trigger like that.

I'm sure an actual complex attack using IDF was in the works, but the easier target are movements. I don't think he was dumb, I'm sure he knew the futility of a direct assault on EMB Baghdad short of having a battalion reinforced by recoilless rifles and armor.