Despite billions spent on missile shields, US troops were defenseless when Iran attacked

The Washington Examiner ^ | January 16, 2020 11:00 PM | Jamie McIntyre

[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

[BTerclinger]

( : >)

[Elsie]

(if not a pre-positioned reconnaissance satellite in geosynchronous orbit)

These are a LOT farther out (~22,000 miles) than the recon ones that fly over at around 100-150 miles up.

[gibsonguy]

he served as CNN’s military affairs and Al Jazeera America’s national security correspondent from 2014-2016. was a newscaster for NPR’s “All Things Considered”

CNN, Al Jazeera and NPR. Three strikes your out. This guy screams rat tool. No doubt they have the Examiner in their sites.

[Paladin2]

We need to implement a stop and frisk campaign to sop up all of Iran’s missiles an d operators in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palistan.