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Iran’s Attack On U.S. Bases Is A Face-Saving Gesture From The Ayatollahs
The Federalist ^ | January 8, 2020 | Sumantra Maitra

Posted on 01/08/2020 8:05:18 AM PST by Kaslin

click here to read article


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1 posted on 01/08/2020 8:05:18 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

and Israel watched where the Ayatollahs went to ground


2 posted on 01/08/2020 8:06:28 AM PST by butlerweave
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To: Kaslin
no. this was NOT benign.
they ground-tested their precision missiles, too.

on US/coalition equipment bases.


3 posted on 01/08/2020 8:09:21 AM PST by Diogenesis ( WWG1WGA)
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To: Kaslin

Of course it’s a face-saving gesture.

And smart, too. Obviously when we waxed Soleimani, we needed to permit Iran a face-saving gesture. AND, we got some useful intel in the exceedingly unlikely event we need to go to war with them.


4 posted on 01/08/2020 8:11:35 AM PST by Jim Noble (There is nothing racist in stating plainly what most people already know)
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To: Diogenesis

Your pic was broken on my side


5 posted on 01/08/2020 8:12:49 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

6 posted on 01/08/2020 8:13:43 AM PST by yoe
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To: Jim Noble

I agree. This was for internal consumption and propaganda. They can say to their people they counter-attacked and give some bogus casualty statistic. Pure chest thumping for the masses.


7 posted on 01/08/2020 8:15:13 AM PST by BBQToadRibs
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To: Kaslin

Iran’s regime is weak. They can’t be perceived of being unable to protect their people or their generals. Now would be the time for Iranian expats to march in the streets of Europe.


8 posted on 01/08/2020 8:17:05 AM PST by Yollopoliuhqui
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To: Kaslin

This thing was a huge win for Trump and may just be his legacy. For all intents and purposes, we took out two of their top guys and they blinked. This ends 40 years of failed policy.


9 posted on 01/08/2020 8:17:06 AM PST by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: yoe

I read on another Freep thread that when B.Hussein was in office 2015, he warned Iran that Israel was trying to kill Soleimani. Unreal!! He was protecting the guy responsible for killing and maiming our troops and Trump gets impeached for making a freakin phone call??

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3806328/posts?page=18#2


10 posted on 01/08/2020 8:17:18 AM PST by GrandJediMasterYoda (Out of the depths of leftist hell, I cry to you oh lord!)
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To: Kaslin

Kicking myself that I could have seen this coming (the face saving conventional attack, but only realized it just now.

It’s all contained in the Ayatollah’s statement that the response to the killing of Soleimani should be conventional. In hindsight the reason for that statement was that:

1. Soleimani built a network of proxies who could reasonably be expected to avenge his killing.

2. The Iranian regime doesn’t have direct control over those proxies either because they were always built to have a measure of independence, or because Soleimani was personally the guy controlling them.

3. They were panicking that one of the proxies would start a war by attacking us without orders.

Hence the statement which was designed to signal to them not to attack, because Iran would be attacking directly.

But if they were afraid of war AND they were planning to attack us, then we could already have predicted they would make a conventional attack that was deliberately designed to deescalate.

Moral of the story: Iran is genuinely afraid of war.


11 posted on 01/08/2020 8:19:43 AM PST by edwinland
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To: Kaslin

I hope Trump nukes their faces off.

Save us this problem in the future.


12 posted on 01/08/2020 8:19:58 AM PST by Delta 21 (Be strong & prosper, be weak & die! Stay true.... ~~ Donald J. Trump)
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To: Diogenesis

Was anything hit, other than dirt?

Sometimes you take a hit, and don’t retaliate, to defuse the situation. No harm done, no harm returned.

This is diplomacy/negotiation at work by a master. Trust him, though it seems odd at times.
...now, a _subsequent_ hit would not be tolerated - and if an American is killed, they’ll regret (well, what of them remains to).


13 posted on 01/08/2020 8:21:13 AM PST by ctdonath2 (Democrats oppose democracy.)
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To: cuban leaf

All that huh?!?!

That’s up there with Reagan toppling the soviet union :(

I LOVE Trump but the statements here sometimes are herd like and hysterical :)


14 posted on 01/08/2020 8:21:40 AM PST by dp0622 (Radicals, racists Don't point fingers at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin' to make ends meet)
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To: yoe

Boy, the least he could have done before calling the press conference was take out the Hefty trashbag he left on the chair to his left ...


15 posted on 01/08/2020 8:23:39 AM PST by BlueLancer (Orchides Forum Trahite - Cordes Et Mentes Veniant)
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To: Kaslin

Yep. I was asking myself — what the heck? They launched 15 ballistic missiles and essentially hit NOTHING !

Either their AIM is so bad and they’re incompetent or they deliberately hit nothing.

If the former, then they’re worse than I thought ( but I don’t underestimate them since they were able to hit our drone when they wanted to ).

This “face-saving” measure is consistent with the reports we’ve been hearing that their own propaganda WITHIN Iran for their own people tells them that they killed dozens of our troops.


16 posted on 01/08/2020 8:24:10 AM PST by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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To: dp0622

Yes, all that. My response was inspired by this article:

https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3806464/posts

In all seriousness, this may be the highlight of both his terms. This is unprecedented. This thing fizzled so fast it’s worth noting, and worth reading the points made in the link above. :)


17 posted on 01/08/2020 8:26:27 AM PST by cuban leaf (The political war playing out in every country now: Globalists vs Nationalists)
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To: cuban leaf

CBSN was trying to get an expert to say we aren’t safer today but the expert saying we are safer. DOnt think they liked that response


18 posted on 01/08/2020 8:26:48 AM PST by RummyChick
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To: ctdonath2
Was anything hit, other than dirt?

Nope not even a baby food factory or Aspirin factory.

19 posted on 01/08/2020 8:29:39 AM PST by itsahoot (Welcome to the New USA where Islam is a religion of peace and Christianity is a mental disorder.)
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To: Yollopoliuhqui

Yes, Iran’s regime IS weak. They are a typical, corrupt, 3rd world ideological tyranny. Fractured by multi-ethnicism, with a weak economy typical of collectivist economic central-planning - with all the corruption and factionalism that results.

All they have is “asymmetry.”


20 posted on 01/08/2020 8:32:05 AM PST by PGR88
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