Just what it says in title. We got him in I think Iraq.
Hezbollah’s Mayadeen tv channel is reporting that Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Deputy Commander of PMU (Hashd al-Shaabi) and Qasem Soleimani, the Commander of IRGC’s Qods forces have been killed in Baghdad.
Ranj Alaaldin:
Sources in Baghdad are reporting *both* Qassem Soleimani & Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis were in the convoy struck by the US tonight. There's no turning back if that's the case - the US is committing itself to a full-fledged conflict with Iran, one that won't be confined to Iraq.
Iranians are...annoyed.
From NYT Reporter:
Iranian sources in Iran are warning that killing Gen. Qasem Sulaimani spells war.
"Official reaction will begin with a strike," one says.#Iraq
Farnaz Fassihi Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) January 3, 2020
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): “Soleimani was an enemy of the United States...
The question is this... did America just assassinate, without any congressional authorization, the second most powerful person in Iran, knowingly setting off a potential massive regional war?”
@Charles_Lister
This is insane.
Reports now of US Marines “arresting” Qais al-Khazali & Hadi al-Ameri in #Baghdad.
#Trump wanted a “royal flush?” Jesus.
The Israeli ski resort in the Mt Hermon - Golan Heights, will be closed tomorrow by orders of the IDF after several higher ranking Iranian/Hezbollah officials including Qassem Soleimani were assassinated.
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
Ali Hashem علي هاشم
@alihashem_tv
Iran’s state TV now officially announces that #IRGC Quds force commander Major General Qassem #Soleimani was killed in an American attack in #Iraq
Pentagon Statement
At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more. He had orchestrated attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the last several months - including the attack on December 27th - culminating in the death and wounding of additional American and Iraqi personnel. General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week.
This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. The United States will continue to take all necessary action to protect our people and our interests wherever they are around the world.
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
Trump thinks this will discourage Iran? Bloody hell, he's a fucking idiot.
And the sad part is? This was probably to distract/derail the impeachment process. After all, it's treason to impeach a sitting president during a time of war!
I've been asked why I still follow a few of the people I know on Facebook with 'interesting political habits and view points'.
It's so when they comment on or approve of something, I know what pages to block/what not to vote for.
#BREAKING - Sr Iranian official Mohsen Rezai promising "revenge" following US drone strike that resulted in the death of IRGC Major General Qassem Soleimani. (@BNONews)
Doge Doge (@IntelDoge) January 3, 2020
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
#BREAKING - US drone strike authorized under 10 U.S. Code §?127e according to @Newsweek - this special code is "Support of special operations to combat terrorism" https://t.co/cahQymjq9M
Statement from the President on the Designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization
Issued on: April 8, 2019
Today, I am formally announcing my Administration’s plan to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Qods Force, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft. The IRGC is the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign.
This designation will be the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as a FTO. It underscores the fact that Iran’s actions are fundamentally different from those of other governments. This action will significantly expand the scope and scale of our maximum pressure on the Iranian regime. It makes crystal clear the risks of conducting business with, or providing support to, the IRGC. If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism.
This action sends a clear message to Tehran that its support for terrorism has serious consequences. We will continue to increase financial pressure and raise the costs on the Iranian regime for its support of terrorist activity until it abandons its malign and outlaw behavior.
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
I'd take a more relaxed view. When Israel accidentally assassinated Mohammad Ali Allahdadi (a general in the IRGC), Iran vowed revenge and found itself somewhat impotent. Soleimani is obviously far more important, but Irans ability to execute physical strikes outside the Middle East is not what it once was. In fact, most international terror attempts that IRGC and Hezbullah have attempted over the past decade have failed, some quite publicly.
I'd worry about a non physical retaliation against the U.S., considering some talks I had with DHS officials last summer in a conference. I'd also worry about further nuclear agreement changes that could force a sharper EU/U.S. split, or economic attacks that spiral out.
quickie edit: Sure, Iran has the capability and will say things. They are not easily attackable by the U.S. but outside the ME, their abilities are more terror, fear and digital destruction rather than missiles.
But heck, thankfully I'm now a civilian and can get the fuck out if needed.
Brotherhood of the Bear | HAB | Mess | SDnet archivist |
The amount of hand wringing over this has been...amazing to me.
In the last year Iran has shot down a US drone over international waters, struck a oil refinery in KSA, struck a US base killing a contractor, organized the storming of an embassy, etc. Not even including drive by limpet mining or continued supplying of anti-ship missiles to the Houthis.
Like, did the Iranians think the US just...wasn't gonna retaliate at some point?
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."
If this actually does lead to war, the Non-Proliferation Treaty is in the fucking toilet. All that diplomatic and economic pressure on Iran to keep them from acquiring nuclear warheads, only for the Americans to attack them anyway, for reasons transparently related to their government's internal strife? Everyone's going to want a nuclear deterrent after that.
And maybe we'll be better off for it.
There are hardly any excesses of the most crazed psychopath that cannot easily be duplicated by a normal kindly family man who just comes in to work every day and has a job to do.
-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
Replace "ginger" with "n*gger," and suddenly it become a lot less funny, doesn't it?
-- fgalkin
lol the NPT was already int he Toilet when Russia invaded Ukraine.
JFC. It's amazing that people are willing to jerk the timeline around when it suits them.
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles."
Mange wrote: ↑2020-01-02 10:24pm
This could very well lead to war. The price of oil has jumped $2/barrel.
Gold's at a "six year high" too, according to Bloomberg.
"Oh no, oh yeah, tell me how can it be so fair
That we dying younger hiding from the police man over there
Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"
- A.B. Original, Report to the Mist
"I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."
- George Carlin
Solauren wrote: ↑2020-01-02 10:21pm
Trump thinks this will discourage Iran? Bloody hell, he's a fucking idiot.
Yes. Assassination, attacks, and the like never discourage the opposition. Nations are not peons on the level of mailclerks and doorman where Trump can crush them utterly.
Solauren wrote: ↑2020-01-02 10:21pmAnd the sad part is? This was probably to distract/derail the impeachment process. After all, it's treason to impeach a sitting president during a time of war!
Well, no, it's not but I expect that was sarcasm.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Mange wrote: ↑2020-01-02 10:24pm
This could very well lead to war. The price of oil has jumped $2/barrel.
No if's about it from my viewpoint.
EnterpriseSovereign wrote: ↑2020-01-02 11:20pm
So Trump's goal is to shift focus away from his impeachment and drum up re-election support by starting a war?
Yep.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Ace Pace wrote: ↑2020-01-03 07:56am
I'd take a more relaxed view. When Israel accidentally assassinated Mohammad Ali Allahdadi (a general in the IRGC), Iran vowed revenge and found itself somewhat impotent.
This wasn't an accident.
True, Iran's options are somewhat limited, but they're as smart and clever and sneaky as anyone else. They might have something nasty in the works.
Or they might just go full bore ahead and build a nuke - because with the like of Trump at the helm of the US juggernaut how much do they really have to lose if Trump decides to go to war with them? Or maybe buy a nuke off North Korea which is always looking for some cold, hard cash and would love to see the US in pain.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-01-03 11:31am
Or they might just go full bore ahead and build a nuke - because with the like of Trump at the helm of the US juggernaut how much do they really have to lose if Trump decides to go to war with them? Or maybe buy a nuke off North Korea which is always looking for some cold, hard cash and would love to see the US in pain.
What would Iran do with a nuke?
"Oh no, oh yeah, tell me how can it be so fair
That we dying younger hiding from the police man over there
Just for breathing in the air they wanna leave me in the chair
Electric shocking body rocking beat streeting me to death"
- A.B. Original, Report to the Mist
"I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately."
- George Carlin
You don't have to have the thing mounted on a missile and flying through the air, after all. Put it on a boat, get close to a shore with an "American asset" and blow it up. Or bring it ashore somewhere with little oversight or law enforcement, then load it on a truck, and drive it into a US city. Nuke Israel as a nearby "American asset" and thorn-in-the-side. Get one just to piss off the Americans. If I can come up with this shit I expect actual military and government guys to do even better at coming up with nasty scenarios.
That was the whole point of the agreement under Obama, to cut a deal with Iran to halt its nuclear program. Well, Trump tore it up and used it for toilet paper, so why the fuck should Iran even try to play nice or compromise anymore? Now the US took out a high-ranking and (so I'm told) well liked Iranian official.
So - absolutely NO reason anymore for Iran to back off nuclear technology, be it for either peace or war.
Or, hell, make a dirty bomb. Or just spread radioactive dust around in an American city. Or nerve toxin. It's not like there is no precedent for that.
The point is that Iran now has zero reason to trust the US, zero reason to cooperate in hopes of not being attacked, and thus zero incentive to hold back from jabbing the US in any way it can. They aren't going to win in a ground war, so they'll resort to what is called asymmetric warfare.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Almost 3,000 US troops will be sent to the Middle East after an American rocket killed an Iranian military chief, Washington has said.
It comes after Iran has warned of "harsh retaliation" following a US airstrike that killed Tehran's top general, Qassam Soleimani.
On Friday leaders of both Iran and the United States fired rhetoric at one another, with an adviser to Tehran stating: "Trump, through his gamble, has dragged the US into the most dangerous situation in the region."
The airstrike was quickly followed by a chorus of appeals for a climbdown in tensions between Iran and the United States. Governments around the world have been vying to find a consistent position on the killing that deescalates tensions.
In Iranian cities mourners protested against the death and the US intervention, a match strike against the tension tinder box that is the Middle East.
Trump claims airstrike should have happened 'many years ago'
US President Donald Trump - who had earlier in the night tweeted an image of an American flag - said the general was responsible for many deaths abroad and in Iran.
He said that he "should have been taken out many years ago".
Defence officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not yet announced by the Pentagon, said the troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The United States urged American citizens to leave Iraq "immediately".
U.S. embassies have issued a security alert for Americans in Lebanon, Bahrain Kuwait and Nigeria.
Around 5,200 American troops are already based in Iraq to train Iraqi forces and help in the fight against Islamic State group militants - that number will almost double with this new deployment.
Last updated Fri 3 Jan 2020
Trump is wasting no time in ratcheting things up further.
Solauren wrote: ↑2020-01-02 10:21pm
Trump thinks this will discourage Iran? Bloody hell, he's a fucking idiot.
Yes. Assassination, attacks, and the like never discourage the opposition. Nations are not peons on the level of mailclerks and doorman where Trump can crush them utterly.
Solauren wrote: ↑2020-01-02 10:21pmAnd the sad part is? This was probably to distract/derail the impeachment process. After all, it's treason to impeach a sitting president during a time of war!
Well, no, it's not but I expect that was sarcasm.
Yes, the last sentence was sarcasm.
I've been asked why I still follow a few of the people I know on Facebook with 'interesting political habits and view points'.
It's so when they comment on or approve of something, I know what pages to block/what not to vote for.
Chatter on Twitter indicates that there have been more strikes in Baghdad tonight. A convoy carrying the senior leadership of the PMU (which was declared a terrorist organization just a few hours ago) was apparently targeted.
Mange wrote: ↑2020-01-03 05:59pm
Chatter on Twitter indicates that there have been more strikes in Baghdad tonight. A convoy carrying the senior leadership of the PMU (which was declared a terrorist organization just a few hours ago) was apparently targeted.
From twitter: Shibl al-Zaydi reported killed in another American airstrike, per Iraq. Al-Zaydi has served as a financial coordinator between the IRGC-QF and sectarian armed groups in Iraq and assisted in facilitating Iraqi investments on behalf of IRGC-QF designated Commander Qasem Soleimani.
... Shibl al-Zaydi now confirmed killed. Shibl is the leader of Kata'ib al-Imam Ali or the Imam Ali Battalions. #Iran #Iraq
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
Broomstick wrote: ↑2020-01-03 12:02pmThat was the whole point of the agreement under Obama, to cut a deal with Iran to halt its nuclear program. Well, Trump tore it up and used it for toilet paper, so why the fuck should Iran even try to play nice or compromise anymore?
That was never a serious agreement, after:
Gadhaffi gave up his CW programs after seeing Saddam get smoked. Then later under Obama, Gadhaffi himself got smoked.
Obama did more to destroy anti-proliferation than anyone.
Now the US took out a high-ranking and (so I'm told) well liked Iranian official.
We took out the head of the Iranian equivalent of the Schutzstaffel (SS)'s foreign wetworks division which runs state sponsored terror ops all over the globe after he decided to play dick games with us over our embassy.
"If scientists and inventors who develop disease cures and useful technologies don't get lifetime royalties, I'd like to know what fucking rationale you have for some guy getting lifetime royalties for writing an episode of Full House." - Mike Wong
"The present air situation in the Pacific is entirely the result of fighting a fifth rate air power." - U.S. Navy Memo - 24 July 1944
