Posted on 12/29/2019 6:12:56 PM PST by bitt
The White House Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 29, 2019
PRESS BRIEFING BY SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO AND SECRETARY OF DEFENSE MARK ESPER
Mar-a-Lago Palm Beach, Florida
6:49 P.M. EST
SECRETARY POMPEO: Good evening. Myself, with Secretary Esper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Milley, came here to Florida today to brief the President on the activities that have taken place in the Middle East over the course of the last 72 hours.
I will leave to Secretary Esper to talk about the military activity, but I want to put it in the context of our policy with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The attacks that took place against an Iraqi facility threatened American forces. This has been going on now for weeks and weeks and weeks. This wasn’t the first set of attacks against this particular Iraqi facility and others where there were American lives at risk.
And today, what we did was take a decisive response that makes clear what President Trump has said for months and months and months, which is that we will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy.
We will — we will always honor that commitment to take decisive action when that takes place, and we continue to demand that the Islamic Republic of Iran act in a way that is consistent with what I laid out, back in May of 2018, for what it is that we expect Iran to do so that it can rejoin the community of nations.
And with that, I’ll turn it over to the Secretary of Defense.
SECRETARY ESPER: Thank you. As we reported earlier today, the Department of Defense took offensive actions in defense of our personnel and interests in Iraq by launching F-15 Strike Eagles against five targets associated with Kata'ib Hezbollah, which is an Iranian-sponsored Shiite militia group. The targets we attacked included three targets in Western Iraq and two targets in Eastern Syria that were either command and control facilities or weapons caches for Kata'ib Hezbollah.
The strikes were successful. The pilots and aircraft returned back to base safely. I would add that, in our discussion today with the President, we discussed with him other options that are available. And I would note also that we will take additional actions as necessary to ensure that we act in our own self-defense and we deter further bad behavior from militia groups or from Iran. Thank you.
END 6:51 P.M. EST
P
Yep.
.
Remember President Trump said...."If you want to keep a secret, send a courier."
Some significant events unfolding in Iraq. Did Iran miscalculate that they are ready for this?
You’d think there’d be more posting on this rather than a armed citizen-stopped church shooting or Joe Biden getting heckled.
Why is a bunch of Congress headed back to DC on emergency flights? What will the Crazy Mullahs do and...
Now I hear the Prime Minister of Iraq is saying the US had no authority to do this raid.
From your twitter link (Heshmat Alavi):
“Sky News Arabia sources:
Abu Ali al-Khazali, head of the #Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah militia, has been killed in today’s U.S. airstrikes.”
Maybe a relative of Qais and Laith al-Khazali, who were running Death squad ops for the Iranian regime in Iraq?
Those bastards need killing.
This looks like a decapitation strike against a main surrogate of the Iranian regime - one of their “Foreign Legions”, cultivated by Gen Suleimani around the region.
There has been a low level civil war of sorts going on in Iraq, against the Iranian surrogates. This would seem to up the stakes, and the pace of the conflict.
Airstrikes good. Ground forces bad.
Your twitter link indicates somebody kicked a hornets nest.
There’s a helluva lot of Iranian militia and Republican Guard in Iraq and they are vowing to kill Americans.
The US embassy in Baghdad is being evacuated by US Special Forces.
Heshmat Alavi is excellent, I see him re-tweeted a lot and should check him out more, thanks for link.
Just perfunctory MSM coverage. What is your source on a “bunch of Congress” returning to DC on emergency flights?
I agree. This could be significant.
interesting stuff - saw this thread on my cheap phone earlier.
“””””””’Now I hear the Prime Minister of Iraq is saying the US had no authority to do this raid.””””””””””””
Sounds like it is time to cut off the aid we send them.
That should help set their minds right.
Post number 5. At least the Gang of Eight, or Pelosi.
Confusing so I said a bunch.
I follow this brave soul on Twitter.
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