anyways the double agent Iraqi was eliminated too. He was advising their natural enemies.

 Can't see why Iraqis are upset... the Iraqis and Iraninnies hate each others' guts. Iraqis were better of without him

11 hours ago, Kelsall said:

Looks like the training he received at the NY Military Academy has really taken hold.

You can't be serious!

1 hour ago, tifino said:

Can't see why Iraqis are upset... the Iraqis and Iraninnies hate each others' guts.

It's a Catholics/Protestants thing - most Iranians and many Iraqis are Shi'ites, the Iraqi elite, especially under Saddam are Sunnis

2 hours ago, tifino said:

anyways the double agent Iraqi was eliminated too. He was advising their natural enemies.

 Can't see why Iraqis are upset... the Iraqis and Iraninnies hate each others' guts. Iraqis were better of without him

To clarify: Sunni iraqis do not accept Iranian colonial actions, whereas the Shiite population does.

 

17 hours ago, baboon said:

Remind us why there are two Koreas in the first place...?

Russia declared war on Japan as the USA defeated Japan. Korea had been occupied by the Japanese and the Russians swarmed in seeking to take control. The USA stopped the annexation of Korea by Russia. Had it not been for the action of the USA, much of Korea would now be enslaved.

 

17 hours ago, candide said:

Since the war against ISIS/ISIL started until the time the US declared an economic war against Iran, how many Americans have been killed by Iran or the militias they control?

Ever hear of Hizbollah? Hamas? All are backed and supported by Iran. They are defacto armed militias of the Iran state. Iran through its proxies  wages war and disrupts the Arab world. It threatens to  fire missiles in Europe and at the USA. it   holds western nationals hostage. It supports the Taliban. 

 

Did you notice the reactions if the Iranian population  outside the country? In Toronto they took to the streets celebrating. In the UK, they expressed relief and gratitude. However, in the Hamas controlled Gaza they protested . LOL. The Palestinians always pick the losing side, always line up with the murderers, just as they supported the Taliban, and the Iraq invasion of Kuwait, and the Muslim brotherhood repression in Egypt. Sunni Arabs hate them as much as they despise Iranians, so this is going to be interesting.

 

My prediction is that the Iranians were not expecting the US to pull a Putin response and to slice off an Iranian finger. They will behave for a bit longer now. That's how you deal with them. 

15 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

In other words...posturing.

LOL.

That is what Trump does the best.

17 hours ago, JHolmesJr said:

and you, CNN, MSNBC and all the others out to paint trump in the worst possible light do?

LOL...keep walking.

This was a brilliant move by Trump...long overdue....one of the few guys who knows how to wield power...unlike

obama. Great message to rocket man as well.

 

Of course Iran will retaliate...thats all they've been doing for decades...but now they'll be doing it

minus one important element. And if they go crazy, the next drone may take out a mullah or two.

We know. Every problem is a nail and you have the biggest hammer. 

15 hours ago, Kelsall said:

 

Not at war at all.  Commander-in-chief Trump:  "We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war."

if only it were that simple…  and right after, leave the mess: " their region, their problem".. 

3 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

It's a Catholics/Protestants thing - most Iranians and many Iraqis are Shi'ites, the Iraqi elite, especially under Saddam are Sunnis

I would put that roughly 90% of Iranians, and a sizeable majority of Iraqis are Shia. The current government of Iraq has a Shia majority I believe, although under Saddam it was Sunni, and the Baath party secret police kept control. Many Sunnis in Iraq (The origin of ISIS)  are sick of the Iranian Shia, but now virtually all Iraqis hate the US. They invaded their country, and caused the deaths of many 100s of 1000s of people, possibly over a million. Every Iraqi knows that they are only there for the oil, and the US troops are concentrated around the oil installations. Right now no one, apart from the clinically insane, would sign up for that job, and certainly not the USs biggest draft dodging coward, captain bone spurs.

 

The Theocracy of Iran are deeply unpleasant it is true. Also any country that has as a priority stopping women from watching live football matches is clearly nuts. Apparently the Ayatollah believes that the sight of mens knees makes women sexually excited - I can't say that showing mine has ever had this effect, other TV posters may be having a greater success.  

 

However let us be clear, there is a world of difference between Shia and Sunni. The Shia dropped suicide tactics back around 2000. Virtually every suicide killing has been Sunni since then, and the vast majority of terrorism is Sunni. That's the West's wonderful friends the Sunni, like our dear Saudi head choppers with all that lovely oil. Al Qaeda, ISIS, Al Nusrah, Turkey, even Hamas is Sunni. Saddam was our client and one of Rumsfelt's  best friends until he threatened to price his oil in Euros not Dollars. 

On 1/4/2020 at 12:56 PM, Kelsall said:

Did you read the article? 

 

"We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war."

 

And you know this because you can see the future? Or because Trump said so in his statement. Unfortunately, there are more than 15,000 (and counting) documented reasons to distrust whatever comes out of the great maw of Trump, so actually thinking for oneself is probably the best strategy here.

5 hours ago, gaikhao said:

Iran through its proxies  wages war and disrupts the Arab world. It threatens to  fire missiles in Europe and at the USA. it   holds western nationals hostage. It supports the Taliban. 

Well, Iran has been against the Talibans most of the time, although they have been recently suspected of playing double game. The threat to fire missile was quite rhetoric. Iran is far from perfect, but on the good side it has been very useful in fighting against Sunni terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida and ISIL which have effectively killed American or European people. They are still useful in fighting the extension of Salafism, by which most terrorists have been brainwashed.

 

In order to establish its influence in the ME, Iran takes advantage of the presence of several problems but it usually did not create them. It did not create the Palestinian or Lebanese problem, it did not create the Sunni terrorist problem, it did not create the domination of a Shia majority by a Sunni minority in Bahrain, it did not create the support from S.A. to the diffusion of Salafism in Yemen, etc...

A post all in caps has been removed