Posted on 01/16/2020 9:20:03 PM PST by Zhang Fei
In the early morning darkness of Jan. 8, several thousand U.S. troops huddled in Saddam Hussein-era bunkers in western Iraq as 11 ballistic missiles rained destruction on parts of the sprawling al Asad air base — Iran's promised "harsh revenge" for the killing of its top general, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike five days earlier.
The night sky lit up, and the bunkers shook as two waves of missiles struck over an hour and a half, sending a shockwave through the air and rattling some American troops who were above ground standing watch.
Even with the benefit of an advance warning of the attack, there was little the troops could do but duck and cover — and hope it would not be their day to die.
"All is well!" President Trump tweeted when the attack was over. "So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well-equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!"
But despite well over $350 billion spent in the past three decades, when they were most needed to protect U.S. forces and potentially prevent an escalation to all-out war, America's vaunted missile defenses were missing in action.
From the tours the military gave reporters two days later, it was clear that while a warning from the Iraqis gave the United States time to disperse its forces and lower the risk of casualties, the fact that no one died or suffered more than a concussion was also due in large part to sheer luck.
It was also apparent that there were no defenses against ballistic missiles protecting the U.S. troops at the base despite the rising tensions with and direct threats from Iran, which possesses a formidable arsenal of both ballistic and cruise missiles.
A request by the Washington Examiner for an explanation of
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
[Presstitute Propaganda pile of poop .....]
How about:
Perfectly-predictable Presstitute Propaganda pile of preposterous poop .....
(wink)
Wooooohoooooo!!!!!!!
DB wrote:
” Better than any ballistic missile defense around military installations in the Iraqi desert was the certainty of complete and total destruction had any American been hurt or killed.
(replying to all 4 of you as you all seem to know what you’re talking about.
Given the above, AND “the bunkers shook as two waves of missiles struck over an hour and a half”
If that latter means the Iranians were firing every 5-10 minutes for 90 minutes (still a lot of missiles), shouldn’t our satellites have been able to pinpoint the Iranian launch sites and we could have hit them?
Kabuki?
I thought that the Israelis developed the Iron Dome.
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-uss-new-iron-dome-missile-defense-system-works-2019-8
“The US military is buying Israel’s battle-proven Iron Dome that destroys rockets.”
If you look at the photos of that base you’ll see some of Saddam’s aircraft bunkers scattered about.
Those have 2-3 FEET of reinforced concrete in their roofs.
They were designed to protect aircraft from just this kind of attack.
We were able to penetrate them during the ‘91 war because we designed special bombs to do so.
Once we were in Iraq, we repaired them and put them back in service... not for aircraft, but for personnel.
I was never in Al-Asad (aka Camp Cupcake), but I was on a similar base in the same area for 6 months in 2006 as a contractor. Spent plenty of time in such a bunker.
A LOT of money has been wasted in Iraq and Afghanistan with almost nothing to show for it.
Ditto needs said again. Pull our troops out of the Middle East.
Let the inhabitants in the region resolve their differences. Americans are not proxy warriors. We need to defend our own borders and country instead of frittering it away elsewhere.
ROTFLMAO !
As Sadam would say ...... We hit every one of the enemies missiles with just one single air base ! Kabuki indeed ....... Stay Safe !
What I have read at military sights, it was joint development between the US and Israel with US options to purchase.
Well; IF our satellites were sufficient in number, location and allocation of resources; then MAYBE they could.
Contrary to popular belief; we don't quite live in the world that tv and movies have created in our minds.
;)
I agree. There is nothing more important than protecting our American service men and women. Instead we deploy our technology elsewhere? We need to save our USA money and lives and get out of the ME?
Perhaps, but except for the word joint. Joint means joint sacrifice and joint payment.
I understand what you are saying about real life vs TV , but one would think we would at least have a 24x7 AWAC circling (if not a pre-positioned reconnaissance satellite in geosynchronous orbit) over Iran during the week we were taking out Soleimani (if not full time).
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