Iran Revenge Strikes Target US Airbase in Iraq

Iran Attacks Largest US Base in Iraq

Well, we all knew this was coming sooner or later, and Iran has now just launched a revenge attack against the US, in the first direct attack against the US openly carried out by Iranian forces from within Iran since the Revolution in 1979, so this is a big development and radical change in the geopolitical game. Live coverage of the event as it went down with excellent commentary by Jake Morphonios from Blackstone Intelligence (@morphonios) below:

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Corp (IRGC) attacked two US bases in Iraq last night, in two volleys of guided missiles - the main target being the US Ain al-Asad airbase with Erbil base reportedly also being hit. This operation in retaliation of the US assassination of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani last week was dubbed ‘operation martyr Soleimani’ and was launched at 1:20-1:30am Wednesday morning local time, the exact time Soleimani was taken out six days earlier.

Iranian sources initially claimed 35 missiles fired, US officials claimed a total of 11 hit their targets while four failed in the air, but Iraqi officials announced 17 missiles had hit the Asad airbase alone; while the ‘official’ tally being reported this morning is 22. No Iraqi or US injuries or fatalities according to US official reports, though it was widely being reported that several US helicopters were destroyed, so it appears there was only substantial material damage.

US troops were alerted by an ‘early warning system’ in advance of the strikes and took cover, according to the President, while analysts and independent journalists could see the signs of Iranian preparations for the attack, and Iraqi spokesman has since announced Iraq was warned beforehand that only bases housing US troops would be targeted. Iraqi armed forces personnel stationed at US bases had previously been warned by the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) to evacuate and keep 1,000 feet away from US bases in preparation for coming retaliation in response to the assassination which also killed the 2nd in command of the PMU.

It is curious why the US took no action to intercept the missiles with advanced warning of the attack and obvious signs that IRGC was preparing the missile launch, as the bunkers there would likely not have offered much protection for the troops from a direct hit from missiles this big and powerful. It leads one to conclude that either the US air defense systems are worthless and the US is entirely incapable of defending itself in the region, or that allowing all missiles to reach their targets was intentional - in order to have the justification for war on Iran, which has clearly been the intended result of all the provocative actions leading up to this current escalation.

It is also rather unbelievable that 17 of these highly destructive precision missiles didn’t cause even a single casualty, though we are told to believe that relatively inaccurate and smaller rockets allegedly launched by PMU forces somehow did! Unless of course Iran intentionally targeted only infrastructure and equipment, while there was a deliberate aim to ensure no casualties, so as to decrease the chances of further escalation while at the same time signaling the US that Iran is not afraid to target them directly. Indeed, some analysts believe this is exactly the case:

‘With the attacks, Tehran signalled its capacity and readiness to respond to US attacks, thus saving face, and yet they have been well targeted to avoid fatalities and thus avoid provoking Trump's reaction,’ said Annalisa Perteghella of the Institute for International Political Studies in Milan. - The Daily Mail

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described the attack as a mere ‘slap’ and explained the real revenge and victory will be in evicting the US occupiers from the region. Iraqi Parliament has already recently passed a resolution demanding the government expel US forces from the country. The US is now considered an illegal occupier in both Syria and Iraq...

After foreign minister Javad Zarif announced the revenge attack - which targeted the base where Soleimani’s assassination was carried out from - had been 'concluded,' and reiterated that: 'We do not seek escalation or war but are willing to defend ourselves’; Iranian leadership said in statements relayed on state TV that if the US launched retaliatory attacks on Iranian soil, there would be a much stronger response - a real blow as opposed to another light warning slap. President Trump had previously tweeted the threat that if Iran attacked US assets in response to the assassination of Soleimani, 52 Iranian sites were already chosen as targets which would be attacked. In such a scenario, the IRGC would target the US airbase in UAE, all US allies which facilitate US aggression by hosting the US forces carrying out such attacks, and would directly attack Israel, which the statement said Iran also holds responsible for the assassination of their top general.

If the US does attack Iranian territory, Lebanese Hezbolla and Palestinian Resistance group Islamic Jihad will almost certainly also join in launching large-scale attacks against Israel. And possibly Syrian forces too; as well as potentially even the Yemeni Houthis, whose leadership previously vowed it had capabilities to strike Israel and wouldn’t hesitate if need be, for they also hold Israel partially responsible for the US/Saudi/ UAE war on Yemen.

Iraqi PMU officials already vowed to retaliate against the US for the killing of their deputy commander in the strike on Soleimani, and it is not clear whether such retaliation has yet taken place, as with Iran. Hezbolla chief Hassan Nassrala also previously vowed its own retaliation for Soleimani’s assassination, threatening that US troops will begin returning in coffins before the 2020 elections if they aren’t immediately withdrawn from the region. More background on this escalation in my video covering Soleimani’s assassination below, including the full range of threats made by opposition groups in the region.

And more great live coverage of this Iranian attack and discussion of the criminal nature of the US in the video below by Brian of High Impact Vlogs:

Trump’s Response

Trump’s initial response was a rather odd tweet stating that ‘all is well!’ The President was scheduled to address the nation last night, but the address was later rescheduled for this morning.

There were strangely no references to the ‘52 Iranian sites’ previously designated as targets, nor any new ridiculously absurd threats or promised vengeance, but rather a focus on deterring Iran from gaining nuclear weapons. It almost seems as if the President has reconsidered his previous stance that the US would respond ‘disproportionately’, maybe realizing the potential consequences of such an action (WW3). Instead he did appear to be aiming to avoid further escalation, though the speech was nonetheless full of lies, hypocrisy and absurd claims to seek peace for the region.

‘As long as I am President,’ Trump said, ‘Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.’ These were the introductory words to this formal response, by the President of the nation which just so happens to be sitting on the most nuclear weapons in the entire world, and coincidentally also the only country to have ever openly used them - twice - with devastating consequences. Incredible the hypocrisy!

The immediate response to the attack announced by Trump was imposition of additional crippling sanctions on Iran, though he did mention other options are still being considered, so it would appear a military retaliatory response is not entirely off the table.

Such a tempered response as this still seemed to me to be entirely out of character for Trump, but I suppose he truly could be trying to avoid further escalation, or possibly trying to put Iran off guard in preparation for a coming stealth attack. Only time will tell, but it seems unlikely the powers that be would go to such great lengths for so many years to provoke a war with Iran, only to back down now when they finally get their perfect chance to launch it.

Trump repeated the absurd claim that Soleimani was the ‘world’s top terrorist’, but this time increased the number of US troop deaths laid at his feet from ‘hundreds’ to ‘thousands’, and said his hands were ‘drenched in blood.’ Also accused him of being personally responsible for starting many civil wars. Oops, the President must have forgotten about the US role in starting the Syrian so-called civil war...

He did manage to admit that ISIS was bad for Iran, but forgot to mention that Soleimani and the PMU commander killed in the recent assassination were largely responsible for defeating ISIS when the terrorist group was on the verge of taking Baghdad and Damascus, while the US stood by and did nothing as it watched the terrorist slaughter.

He repeated the lie that the military under his guidance defeated ISIS 100%, despite that they are still up and running, and have recently carried out attacks in Syria; and have also been attempting to escape complete destruction at the hands of the Syrian army by infiltrating into Iraq in the region where the PMU , operating out of the Iraqi military sites the US just bombed a little over a week ago, was actively hunting and killing those remaining ISIS cells.

Trump said it was ‘good for all parties’ that ‘Iran appears to be standing down’. He added that the ‘destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East’ by the ‘Iranian Regime’ since 1979 would no longer be tolerated, and invoked the commonly used and unsubstantiated claim of Iran being ‘the leading sponsor of terrorism’. The president must have forgotten that it is the US government which has continually sponsored radical Jihadi terrorists, particularly ISIS and al-Qaeda in Syria, and he himself recently authorized additional funding to the al-Qaeda linked White Helmet Jihadists there.

Trump is simply using the common Israeli tactic of blaming Iran for everything their own government is responsible for to deflect from their own aggression and crimes against humanity - namely ‘the destructive and destabilizing behavior in the Middle East’. For it was not Iran but rather the US which destroyed and destabilized Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen. But I forgot that it’s ok for the US to destroy, destabilize and sponsor terrorists, because it’s being done to ‘spread democracy’.

Indeed, Trump goes on to specifically name those very countries which the US has, or is in the process of actively destroying and destabilizing, and blamed Iran for ‘going on a terrorist spree’ and ‘creating hell’ in those very same countries with the exception of Libya replaced by Lebanon. This apparently because Iran opposes US occupation, bombings and terrorist proxies in these countries. It is worth noting that US intervention has now recently even been taking place in Lebanon, with the anti-government protests which took place there last year now revealed to have been US infiltrated and likely orchestrated in an attempt to destabilize the Lebanese government and foment a civil war, at least to some degree on behalf of Israel.

He repeats all the baseless claims regarding alleged Iranian aggression in the region last year, the most absurd probably being that they ‘launched an unprovoked strike against Saudi Arabia’, despite the Yemeni Houthis taking full responsibility for that attack and the US claims to the contrary being so absurd and self-contradictory that they were forced to entirely abandon the narrative.

Trump demanded that Iran ‘end it’s nuclear ambitions’, though it has been repeatedly verified they are only enriching uranium to low limits for energy purposes, and in fact the ‘regime’ does not seek nuclear weapons, as possession of them goes against their religious beliefs, and they have instead actively sought a nuclear-free Middle East. It is Israel which both already has nuclear weapons, refuses to sign the nonproliferation treaty, and opposes this option for a nuclear-free Middle East, as they do not want to give up their own nukes.

Though stating that ‘tens of thousands of ISIS terrorists have been killed during my administration’, he fails to acknowledge just how many thousands have been killed by Syria, Hezbolla, Iraqi PMU, Iran and Russia. Like always, ignoring the role of the US’s true enemies in defeating our fake terrorist ‘enemies’; the latter serving as the convenient pretext for foreign intervention and as helpful proxies to fight the true enemies at times.

Trump finishes the address by speaking to Iranian leadership and citizens, calling on Iran to work with the US to defeat ISIS (though I thought he just said they were already defeated), declaring that he wants prosperity for their country, and most importantly that the US is ready for peace. Which really sounds great, except that the sanctions being imposed on Iran which are starving their people and economy, which are all an act of war, says otherwise.

Iranian President Rouhani just one month ago said that: If the President of United States agrees to lift all the sanctions imposed on Iran, he will be ready to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump within an hour.

So if Trump really wants to make a better deal with Iran as he said, and if the US is truly ready for peace, then he should immediately announce the lifting of the crippling starvation sanctions rather than the imposition of even more sanctions as he has just done, and he should withdraw all US occupation forces from the entire region; including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen as well as those based in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Trump’s response sounds great compared to the expected announcement of coming attacks on Iran, and it may have averted imminent war temporarily, but this response is still nonetheless yet another act of war and further escalation. Until this absurd and hypocritical US approach to Iran is reversed, it will still inevitably lead to war, eventually.