Just now, Dumbastheycome said:

Exactly. Every team  has it's reserves. So not only still  game on but  one side  with  more  vengeance. Some dirtier play to  come.

 

Well the starter being gone always hurts a team. That is the end of my football analogies for today.

10 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

It is somewhat troubling that I can not muster any empathy for the dispatched leader of Iranian bomb makers...

Don't worry there will be a lot of liberals on here who will.

Just now, chokrai said:

Don't worry there will be a lot of liberals on here who will.

 

They are drafting the articles of impeachment as we speak somewhere in a dark basement.

On reflection it's a brilliant but dangerous move from the Donald. A lot of mullahs will be sleeping uneasily in Iran tonight pondering what to do and what the personal consequences might be. DT and family need have no such concerns. Though quite a few americans in the wrong place at the wrong time are going to feel the heat. 

Edited January 3, 20206 yr by URMySunshine

7 hours ago, simon43 said:

I wonder if he was killed by the new US 'ninja' missile - which minimises collateral damage by drilling through the car roof and slicing up the occupants with several razor sharp, rotating sword blades...

 

Sweet.

7 hours ago, Acharn said:

This case was particularly stupid because Suleimani was an idol in Iran, greatly loved and admired by the people.

I'm not sure that's strictly true. Feared, yes. Loved and admired - maybe by those on his side. I'm hearing lots of the exiled Iranians celebrating his death. 

15 minutes ago, URMySunshine said:

On reflection it's a brilliant but dangerous move from the Donald. A lot of mullahs will be sleeping uneasily in Iran tonight pondering what to do and what the personal consequences might be. DT and family need have no such concerns. Though quite a few americans in the wrong place at the wrong time are going to feel the heat. 

Yes.Brilliant. I'm sure Isis agrees with that.

U.S. Killing of Iranian Military Leader Threatens Its Ties With Key Ally Iraq

"Relations between Iraq and the U.S. appeared to be unraveling on Friday, as Iraqi leaders denounced the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s military expansion in the Middle East, and pressure mounted for the expulsion of U.S. troops from the country.

On Friday, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi condemned the overnight strike, which was ordered by President Trump, calling it a flagrant breach of the terms underwriting the presence of U.S. forces in the country.

Mr. Abdul-Mahdi, who called for measures “to protect Iraq’s dignity and sovereignty,” said he had submitted a formal request for parliament to convene in a session—possibly as soon as Saturday—that could vote on whether to expel U.S. forces from the country."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-strike-in-iraq-threatens-ties-with-vital-middle-east-ally-11578058413

 

6 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

They were on our side fighting ISIL until your hero came and mess this up. 

I don't think they were fighting ISIL 'on our side'. I believe they were supporting Assad. ISIL were simply a common enemy. 

 

Still, if you try to work out who supported who and who opposes who in the ME over the past 30 years it just makes your head spin. 

6 minutes ago, CG1 Blue said:

I'm not sure that's strictly true. Feared, yes. Loved and admired - maybe by those on his side. I'm hearing lots of the exiled Iranians celebrating his death. 

His wife and kids loved and admired him ???? 

Love & Peace ????️

1 minute ago, CG1 Blue said:

I don't think they were fighting ISIL 'on our side'. I believe they were supporting Assad. ISIL were simply a common enemy. 

 

Still, if you try to work out who supported who and who opposes who in the ME over the past 30 years it just makes your head spin. 

How unfamiliar are you with basic geography? Guess with what nation Iraq shares its longest border? A border that's 1458 kilometers. Guess what branch of Islam Isis particularly hates?  Guess in what nation the caliphate had most of its territory at its peak? No, not Syria.  And you think Iran's biggest concern about Isis has to do with Syria?

33 minutes ago, CG1 Blue said:

8 hours ago, Acharn said:

This case was particularly stupid because Suleimani was an idol in Iran, greatly loved and admired by the people.

I'm not sure that's strictly true. Feared, yes. Loved and admired - maybe by those on his side. I'm hearing lots of the exiled Iranians celebrating his death. 

There's quite a bit support for killing Soleimani on twitter #Iranians (as well as reports from Afghanistan and Iraq).  One poster pointed out Khamenei has just finished killing 1500 Iran protesters and is now off to kill Americans in Iraq. There are those in Iran and the ME that loath Soleimani for his 'work'.

 

Irani often talk about which officials carry razors and which don't since beards are symbolic regime support. They say when the regime falls many will step in the men's room and shave. Maybe that day is neigh.

 

It's hard to know which way the wind will blow but it's going to blow hard.

The U.S. assassination of Qud Force commander Soleimari is a serious and irrepairable escalation of military conflict by the U.S. in the region not just because Soleimari was an Iranian general but because the U.S. also assassinated Abu Mahdial-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces who was with Soleimari during the attack on Iraqi sovereign soil.

PMF is an Iraq state-sponsored umbrella organization established in 2014 by former Iraqi PM al-Maliki to assist in the defense of Iraq, ie., against ISIS.

In May 2019 a bill supported by Shiite cleric al-Sadr was introduced into the Iraqi Parliament calling for full U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq after several instances of alleged violations of Iraqi sovereignty by POTUS Trump's U.S. troop deployments to and within Iraq.

On July 1, 2019 the Iraqi PM who legally commands the PMF issued a decree that made PMF "an indivisible" part of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

In effect Trump's authorized attack against Soleimari was also an attack against Iraq's sovereignty!

Not only will Parliament be motivated to pass the U.S. armed forces ejection bill, Trump places the U.S. in confrontation with yet another ally in the region that likely will further diminish U.S. political influence to further protect U.S. security worldwide.

 

47 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

How unfamiliar are you with basic geography? Guess with what nation Iraq shares its longest border? A border that's 1458 kilometers. Guess what branch of Islam Isis particularly hates?  Guess in what nation the caliphate had most of its territory at its peak? No, not Syria.  And you think Iran's biggest concern about Isis has to do with Syria?

I said Iran were supporting Assad's government.  They were and have been for some time, and for multiple reasons. 

And there's no need to rant like an angry geography teacher ????

Wow, just wow. Totally unexpected and I doubt Iranians could even imagine something like that.

 

they were beating chest for months how tough they were and were ready, I guess not so ready after all.

 

will be interesting to see how this develops but I have a feeling this may escalate if not directly then via proxies 

19 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

The U.S. assassination of Qud Force commander Soleimari is a serious and irrepairable escalation of military conflict by the U.S. in the region not just because Soleimari was an Iranian general but because the U.S. also assassinated Abu Mahdial-Muhandis, deputy head of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces who was with Soleimari during the attack on Iraqi sovereign soil.

PMF is an Iraq state-sponsored umbrella organization established in 2014 by former Iraqi PM al-Maliki to assist in the defense of Iraq, ie., against ISIS.

In May 2019 a bill supported by Shiite cleric al-Sadr was introduced into the Iraqi Parliament calling for full U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq after several instances of alleged violations of Iraqi sovereignty by POTUS Trump's U.S. troop deployments to and within Iraq.

On July 1, 2019 the Iraqi PM who legally commands the PMF issued a decree that made PMF "an indivisible" part of the Iraqi Armed Forces.

In effect Trump's authorized attack against Soleimari was also an attack against Iraq's sovereignty!

Not only will Parliament be motivated to pass the U.S. armed forces ejection bill, Trump places the U.S. in confrontation with yet another ally in the region that likely will further diminish U.S. political influence to further protect U.S. security worldwide.

 

Iraq was being slowly taken over by Iran . Iraq never was an ally and even less so in recent times .

 

Not saying it was the right thing to do but it was a major hit. This was like a stab in the heart . But US did sit idly for long time taking hits from Iran. Something was bound to happen. 
 

is it going to turn into a large scale conflict ? I doubt it , but conflict by proxies most likely . 
 

I also have a feeling Iran will now be more careful 

2 hours ago, jany123 said:

Do you think Iran, with its oil reserves under sanction, can effect the price of oil?

No, but they have the capability of decimating Saudi's industry which would raise the price higher than its have ever been in a relatively small time period. They, of course, would also be decimated by the USA but stranger things have happened in history...

23 minutes ago, BestB said:

Iraq was being slowly taken over by Iran . Iraq never was an ally and even less so in recent times .

 

Not saying it was the right thing to do but it was a major hit. This was like a stab in the heart . But US did sit idly for long time taking hits from Iran. Something was bound to happen. 
 

is it going to turn into a large scale conflict ? I doubt it , but conflict by proxies most likely . 
 

I also have a feeling Iran will now be more careful 

The majority of the people in Iraq and Iran is Shia, so I believe after US made Iraq a "democracy" country, it is a natural partner and neighbour to cooperate with. 

 

 

This would be worrying if it had been ordered by a responsible President after extensive discussions with his military advisors and the State Department.  However we don't have such a President, which makes this terrifying.

 

Trump has already weakened our influence in the Middle East at the same time as he has increased troop levels and made it clear to allies that he will abandon them whenever the whim takes him.  Now he may well have started a war in the region (or ramped up an existing low-intensity war), and we all know he has no realistic end game for the mess that will follow.  We also know that no members of the Trump family will place themselves in harm's way; this is the kind of family that lets others do its fighting.

Edited January 3, 20206 yr by heybruce

34 minutes ago, BestB said:

Iraq was being slowly taken over by Iran . Iraq never was an ally and even less so in recent times .

 

Not saying it was the right thing to do but it was a major hit. This was like a stab in the heart . But US did sit idly for long time taking hits from Iran. Something was bound to happen. 
 

is it going to turn into a large scale conflict ? I doubt it , but conflict by proxies most likely . 
 

I also have a feeling Iran will now be more careful 

Really? Because that's worked elsewhere in the Mideast? It's funny. I notice how a lot of Trump supporters decry the Bush war in Iraq (though it's pretty close to a sure bet that these Fox viewers were gung ho when the Iraq War began) but reveal exactly the same kind of thinking.

 

As for Iraq being taken over by Iran...you think that the Iraqi government are in any position now to defend US troops there? 

 

As for the US taking hits from Iran... of course it is. It declared economic war on the Iranians. Iran was provoked. 

More details photos etc

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7847795/How-airstrike-Iranian-general-unfolded-Baghdad.html

I think this article's title succinctly captures the cluelessness of Trump:

The Suleimani assassination goes against Trump’s policy – but not his character

Although the US president says he wants to avoid military entanglements, he can’t resist the macho appeal of action

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/03/suleimani-assassination-trump-macho-appeal

1 hour ago, heybruce said:

This would be worrying if it had been ordered by a responsible President after extensive discussions with his military advisors and the State Department.  However we don't have such a President, which makes this terrifying.

 

Trump has already weakened our influence in the Middle East at the same time as he has increased troop levels and made it clear to allies that he will abandon them whenever the whim takes him.  Now he may well have started a war in the region (or ramped up an existing low-intensity war), and we all know he has no realistic end game for the mess that will follow.  We also know that no members of the Trump family will place themselves in harm's way; this is the kind of family that lets others do its fighting.

 

Wy are you terrified? You are safe in Thailand. You aren't going over there to fight either. As far as the armed forces go the overwhelming majority of them are patriots that love Trump.

As a US citizen, bring our troops home and let the rest of the world play with itself.  All the empire building has done nothing but make us broke

1 minute ago, yourauntbob said:

As a US citizen, bring our troops home and let the rest of the world play with itself.  All the empire building has done nothing but make us broke

Look at Italy And UK today, not much left of the Empire is it? 

 

History shows every Empire reaches their top

12 hours ago, allencraig said:

They do if there's an Arab person in it. As they've been brainwashed to hate us, most trump supporters have been brainwashed to hate them. 

The body bags shipped to the US contain US military personnel.

 

 

36 minutes ago, bendejo said:

The body bags shipped to the US contain US military personnel.

 

 

 

For our Iranian terrorist there is no body to bag.

Off topic trolling posts, off topic deflection posts and the replies have been removed. 

6 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Wy are you terrified? You are safe in Thailand. You aren't going over there to fight either. As far as the armed forces go the overwhelming majority of them are patriots that love Trump.

Putting aside that supporting Trump and being a patriot are not mutually inclusive, I’m not sure where you get the idea that the ‘overwhelming majority of [armed forces] love Trump’.

6 hours ago, Cryingdick said:

 

Wy are you terrified? You are safe in Thailand. You aren't going over there to fight either. As far as the armed forces go the overwhelming majority of them are patriots that love Trump.

I have always said that these roads especially if on a motorbike are the most dangerous in the world and that risk dwarfs everything else be it southern Thailand terror attack or some vague notion that the Iranians will hit us now in some way. I'd watch my back though if I was an American in Dubai now though. 

Good deflection form the ongoing Impeachment hearings. Yet if you look at the iranians and their militias, they assumed they could do these things and then US would respond in careful gradual steps of escalation. Not with this POTUS. After the tit for tat, with airfield rocketing, militia camp bombings, then  the embassy flash mob triggered something in Donny.

 

Unfortunately it's a whole new world. If a bunch of refineries get smoked, if oil production worldwide goes down, the US is not going to be bothered by that like it would have in the past.  Now that is something disturbing to think about. heh