“What If Iran Retaliates?”

[Bouncer]

They already were. Did we somehow forget the funding of Hezbollah, launching an attack on Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure, killing American civilians and attacking a US embassy? But now all future attacks are Trump’s fault?... Biased perspectives are always interesting to me.

[Mr I]

Trump speculates the lives of our sons and daughters with a Twitter war lol

[Mr I]

One thing I would say is that the rate CNN and other media outlets are shitting down the throat of trump only serves to undermine the west’s moral standing more.

they should show some solidarity given that this guy was the mastermind behind many deaths

[Bouncer]

Six B-52 Bombers Ordered To Indian Ocean Base To Be "Available" Against Iran

As more than 3,000 US troops are readying to deploy to the Middle East this week following the killing of the IRGC's Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani, the Pentagon will additionally send major military hardware in the form of an additional B-52 strike force.

CNN's Barbara Starr reported late in the day Monday that a US defense official has confirmed the Pentagon will being sending six B-52 bombers to the major US military base at Deigo Garcia.

Starr reports the B-52s will be "available for operations against Iran if ordered".

[Bouncer]

Iran's New Top Military Commander Vows To "Remove America From The Region" As Vengeance For Soleimani



Overnight we reported that the power vacuum at the top of Iran's elite Quds Force, the military organization responsible for Tehran’s numerous proxies across the Mideast as well as Iran's overall military strategy, was filled quickly in the aftermath of Qassem Soleimani's killing, with the Jan 3 appointment of Esmail Ghaani, who none other than Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said was "one of the most prominent commanders" in service to Iran, and that the Quds force “will be unchanged from the time of his predecessor."

Predictably, Ghaani wasted no time to make it clear that continuity would be preserved, saying that Tehran will avenge the assassination of Soleimani by driving the US out of the region, shortly after another Revolutionary Guard commander warned that dozens of American targets are “within our reach.”

"We promise to continue martyr Soleimani’s path with the same force... and the only compensation for us would be to remove America from the region," Esmail Qaani said on Monday in an interview to local media ahead of the general’s funeral in Tehran.

Ghaani's comments come just days after General Gholamali Abuhamzeh, who heads the IRGC in Iran’s southern Kerman province, said 35 US targets in the region as well as Tel Aviv were identified “long ago” and are “within our reach.”

Washington responded with a similarly-worded message, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatening “lawful strikes” targeting “actual decision makers” if any American asset is in danger.

Echoing Ghaani's warning, this morning Al Jazeera reported that an Iranian IRGC Air Force Commander said President Trump "must prepare coffins for his soldiers before" he makes threats to Iran, warning that the real revenge for Soleimani's assassination is the removal of U.S. forces from the Middle East. It wasn't clear just how Iran hopes to achieve that goal .

As the war of words has escalated, the Pentagon ordered 3,500 more troops from Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne Division to deploy to the Middle East. Meanwhile, as we reported overnight, Iraq’s parliament passed a resolution calling for the removal of foreign troops from the country.

[Bouncer]

Amphibious Assault Ship Bataan With 2,000 Marines On Board Is Headed Toward Iraq



The Iraqi parliament voted on Sunday to expel US troops out of the country but so far, it appears that nobody in the US got the memo. In fact quite the contrary.

According to the US Naval Institute, amid rising tensions with Iran, the US Navy is scrapping an exercise with Morocco as it redirects the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD-5) and embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit with roughly 2,000 marines on board to the Middle East, a defense official confirmed to USNI News.

The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit—a force of more than 2,000 Marines, including infantryman, artillery and aircraft—is expected to pass through the Suez Canal within days, U.S. officials said. On board the USS Bataan, an amphibious assault ship, the force could be put ashore for combat operations and also specializes in protecting and evacuating embassies.

“USS Bataan and embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are underway conducting routine operations, demonstrating the inherent flexibility of our naval forces,” Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Comer, a U.S. 6th Fleet spokesman told USNI News. “For operational security reasons, we do not discuss future operations. ARGMEUs operate continuously across the globe to provide commanders with a forward-deployed, flexible and responsive sea-based Marine Air-Ground Task Force.”

[AvidFisherman]

The big question I have is, if we end up going to war with Iran, will Russia remain neutral?

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

[Bouncer]

'We're going to war, bro': Fort Bragg's 82nd Airborne deploys to the Middle East



FORT BRAGG, N.C. (Reuters) - For many of the soldiers, it would be their first mission. They packed up ammunition and rifles, placed last-minute calls to loved ones, then turned in their cell phones. Some gave blood.

The 600 mostly young soldiers at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, were headed for the Middle East, part of a group of some 3,500 U.S. paratroopers ordered to the region. Kuwait is the first stop for many. Their final destinations are classified.

“We’re going to war, bro,” one cheered, holding two thumbs up and sporting a grin under close-shorn red hair. He stood among dozens of soldiers loading trucks outside a cinder block building housing several auditoriums with long benches and tables.

Days after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the drone killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, raising fears of fresh conflict in the Middle East, the men and women of the U.S. Army’s storied 82nd Airborne Division are moving out in the largest “fast deployment” since the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

U.S. Army Major General James Mingus waded through the sea of camouflage-uniformed men and women as they prepared to leave the base near Fayetteville on Sunday. He shook hands with the troops, wishing them luck.

One soldier from Ashboro, Virginia, said he wasn’t surprised when the order came.

“I was just watching the news, seeing how things were going over there,” said the 27-year-old, one of several soldiers Reuters was allowed to interview on condition they not be named. “Then I got a text message from my sergeant saying ‘don’t go anywhere.’ And that was it.”

Risks seemed to be pushed to the back of the minds of the younger soldiers, though many packed the base chapel after a breakfast of eggs, waffles, oatmeal, sausages and 1,000 doughnuts.

One private took a strap tethered to a transport truck and tried to hitch it to the belt of an unwitting friend, a last prank before shipping out.

‘THIS IS THE MISSION’


The older soldiers, in their 30s and 40s, were visibly more somber, having the experience of seeing comrades come home from past deployments learning to walk on one leg or in flag-draped coffins.

“This is the mission, man,” said Brian Knight, retired Army veteran who has been on five combat deployments to the Middle East. He is the current director of a chapter of the United Service Organizations military support charity.

“They’re answering America’s 911 call,” Knight said. “They’re stoked to go. The president called for the 82nd.”

There was lots of wrestling holds as the troops tossed their 75-pound (34 kg) backpacks onto transport trucks. The packs hold everything from armor-plated vests, extra socks and underwear, to 210 rounds of ammunition for their M-4 carbine rifles.

A sergeant pushed through the crowd shouting for anyone with type-O blood, which can be transfused into any patient.

“The medics need you now. Move,” he said, before a handful of troops walked off to give a little less than a pint each.

UNCERTAINTY PREVAILS


While members of the unit - considered the most mobile in the U.S. Army - are used to quick deployments, this was different, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Burns, an Army spokesman.


“The guys are excited to go but none of us know how long they’ll be gone,” Burns said. “That’s the toughest part.”

Soldiers were ordered not to bring cell phones, portable video games or any other devices that could be used to communicate with friends and family back home, out of concern that details of their movements could leak out.

“We’re an infantry brigade,” Burns said. “Our primary mission is ground fighting. This is as real as it gets.”

A sergeant started rattling off last names, checking them off from a list after “heres” and “yups” and “yos.”

For every fighter, there were seven support crew members shipping out - cooks, aviators, mechanics, medics, chaplains, and transportation and supply managers. All but the chaplains would carry guns to fight.

A senior master sergeant, 34, said: “The Army is an all-volunteer force. We want to do this. You pay your taxes and we get to do this.”

The reality of the deployment wouldn’t sink in until the troops “walk out that door,” he said, pointing to the exit to the tarmac where C-4 and C-7 transport planes and two contract commercial jets waited.

His call came when he was on leave in his hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida, taking his two young daughters to visit relatives and maybe go to Walt Disney World.

“We just got there and I got the call to turn right around and head back to base,” he said. “My wife knows the drill. I had to go. We drove right back.”

On a single order, hundreds of soldiers jumped to their feet. They lined up single file and marched out carrying their guns and kits and helmets, past a volunteer honor guard holding aloft flags that flapped east in the January wind.

[Bouncer]

Iran Evaluating 13 Retaliation Scenarios To Inflict "Historic Nightmare" On US

Breaking a 5-day silence over its response for the US killing of General Qassem Soleimani, on Tuesday Iran said it was assessing 13 scenarios to inflict a "historic nightmare" on the US. "Even if the weakest of these scenarios gain a consensus, its implementation can be a historic nightmare for the Americans," Ali Shamkhani, the head of Iran's national security council, was cited by Fars news agency, adding that, "For now, for intelligence reasons, we cannot provide more information to the media."

Iranian officials previously said that U.S. forces in the region will be targets, and overnight the Iranian parliament on Tuesday designated the Pentagon and affiliated companies as terrorists. In response, the U.S. issued a warning to shipping in the Middle East over the possibility of Iranian action against U.S. maritime interests, the Associated Press reported, citing a statement.

Soleimani's death has rippled through the Middle East, with the U.S. and its allies on high alert for a retaliation attack by Iran.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, said Tuesday that the U.S. would suffer consequences for the killing of Soleimani "at a time and place of Iran's choosing." Zarif added the U.S. must leave the Middle East and warned that if they don't, a new multi-generational war could erupt. The leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, told tens of thousands on Tuesday for the burial of Soleimani in the city of Kerman that Iran was ready to "set ablaze those places Americans hold dear" over the killing of the former commander. Thousands chanted "revenge, revenge," as the IRGC leader declared "we will take revenge. The revenge will be vigorous and unwavering, woeful, and terminal."

"We will surely take revenge, but if America dares takes any action, we will set alight those places Americans hold dear. They know where those places are."

Earlier, President Trump outlined 52 Iranian sites that U.S. forces would attack if Iran dares to retaliate.

And while the world await for Iran to pick one or more of the 13 scenarios, on Monday the Pentagon dispatched additional forces to the Middle East, even as conflicting signs emerged about Washington’s commitment to remaining in Iraq.

The three-ship Bataan Amphibious Readiness Group was ordered to move to the Persian Gulf region from the Mediterranean, where it has been exercising, according to a U.S. official. The group, which includes about 2,200 Marines and a helicopter unit, follows the deployment of about 3,500 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne to Kuwait late last week.

[Bouncer]

Iran admitted it unintentionally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner that it mistook for a cruise missile, a dramatic reversal after days of denials that triggered international condemnation and protests in the streets of Tehran.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his British counterpart Boris Johnson called for justice for the victims, and signaled that the disaster reinforced the need for a de-escalation of hostilities in the Gulf. A senior Trump administration official, who declined to be identified, said the tragedy showed Iran’s “reckless actions have again had devastating consequences.”

“The morning was not good today but it brought the truth,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said after the Iranian announcement. He urged Iran to take action against those responsible, and pay compensation. “We hope further investigations will be done without artificial delays and obstacles,” he said.

The government’s admission that Iran’s security forces hold ultimate responsibility for the downing of the plane -- albeit at a time of conflict with their chief foe -- is a further blow for the country’s ruling clerics at a time when the economy has been devastated by U.S. sanctions.

The admission could seriously dent the sense of national unity that built after the Jan. 3 killing by the U.S. of Iran’s top general, Qassem Soleimani -- a hero to many Iranians for his work in Iraq and Syria helping to defeat Islamic State.

The three-year-old Boeing Co. 737-800 was shot down about two minutes after takeoff from Tehran on Wednesday. The tragedy occurred hours after Iran started launching rockets against Iraqi bases where U.S. forces are stationed, in retaliation for the assassination of Soleimani.

Nearly half the 176 victims were Iranians, while many of the other passengers were of Iranian ancestry and citizens of countries including Canada, Sweden and the U.K., a reflection of the ambition that pushes thousands to leave Iran each year to work and study in the West.

A large crowd of students assembled outside Amir Kabir University in downtown Tehran late Saturday for a candle-lit vigil, according to witnesses, before starting chants of “death to the dictator” and “resignation is not enough, a trial is needed!” Security forces intervened.

Others used social media to vent their anger, contrasting the plane deaths with reports that the attack on the Iraqi bases was designed not to harm Americans.

“You feared hitting Americans, but you’re hitting students and ordinary people. In front of the world you turned to mice before a nation of lions. You’re liars who lack everything,” said one Twitter user.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, offered his condolences to the victims of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, while President Hassan Rouhani said the Islamic Republic “deeply regrets the disastrous mistake” and vowed compensation for the families of victims. The country’s Revolutionary Guards mistook the plane for a cruise missile. The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps‘s aerospace force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, blamed a failure in communications for the tragedy. The operative who first mistakenly identified the plane as an incoming missile failed to get a second opinion due to a “disturbance” and had only 10 seconds to make a decision, he said. The army had previously said that “culprits” would be turned over to judicial authorities.

“When I was certain that this incident had occurred, I truly wished death upon myself, because I’d rather have died than witness such an incident,” Hajizadeh said in a briefing Saturday in Tehran.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...a?srnd=premium

[Bouncer]

Is Donald Trump just a very lucky guy?

It’s difficult to imagine he foresaw, calculated and planned this outcome. After poking the fire-hornets’ nest and picking an apparently insane fight with Iran by assassinating its military leader, everyone feared the worst in terms of a never-ending morass of instability, conflict and terror. Instead, the Iranian’s proved themselves incompetent clowns – successfully managing to miss American troops with multiple missiles, while tragically taking out an airliner instead. Revolution on the streets again. Confidence in the govt is “strained”. A revolution is being whispered. Iran looks a neutered numpty. Chalk one up for Trump.