Iraq condemns U.S. air strikes as unacceptable and dangerous

Iraq knows the Iranian players and could control them if they so wanted...

Airstrikes are supposed to be dangerous.

We need to get out of muslim countries and not go back unless we are intent on eradicating Islam.

We should just get out of that mess and let them all kill themselves.

The Democrats want to goad Trump into a war - just another ploy to help them win in 2020.

Trump isn’t having it. After the 2020 landslide he can deal with the Mullahs.

You’re spot on about wanting to get President Trump embroiled in a war going into the 2020 election year. Since they’re faltering on the impeachment hoax, they have to try to tank the economy, start a war, and get riots going in the USA streets. Also, stir up more illegal invader controversy. They’ll have to find another bimbo (or more than one) to claim #metoo. Then dog the heels of the Trump children to see if they can hang some shady dealing on them someway/somehow. The Demonrats are so predictable.

“Unacceptable and dangerous” to whom?

Airstrikes are dangerous? Who knew?

Iraq as a nation has always been a Western fiction. It was an imposed confederation of Kurds, Christians , Sunni and Shi’ite Arabs. Political dissent ad disintegration was prevented by the brutal tactics od the dictator Saddam Hussein ad his thus. After the Bush invasion the divisions became apparent and violent. Saudi financed Sunni Arabs under the ISIS banner fought the Kurds and destroyed the Christian communities. They almost defeated the Shi’ites who were saved by Iranian support of their militias. It is these Shi’ite militias that essentially control Baghdad. America is wasting their time , blood and money remaining entangled in this cesspool.

Tensions have risen between Tehran and Washington — Iraq's two main allies ...

This statement says all you need to know about how utterly fouled up our policy in the Middle East has been for 25+ years.

U. S. civilian contractor = CIA?

And in other news.......

To h__ with the Iraqis...we’ve spent enough money and man power trying to civilize these people. “Bring them home”

U.S. Military Strikes Iranian Militia in Iraq and Northern Syria – Secretary Pompeo and Esper Briefing…

Posted on December 29, 2019 by sundance

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Miley traveled to Mar-a-Lago today to brief President Trump on issues around the middle-east. The three leaders also held a press briefing this evening about U.S. military strikes that took place earlier today.

At the beginning of his remarks Secretary Pompeo stated “we came to Florida today to brief the president on activities that have taken place in the Middle East over the course of the last 72 hours.” Additionally Pompeo said he would let Esper discuss “the military aspects but I wanted to put into context our policy with respect to the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Secretary Pompeo: “The attack that took place against the 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 is 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 always honor that commitment to take decisive actions when that takes place. We continue to demand the Islamic Republic of Iran act in a way that is consistent with what I laid out back in May 2018, for what it is that we expect Iran to do so that it can rejoin the community of nations.”
Secretary Esper: “DoD 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.”

General Milley, in uniform, did not speak. The men left without taking questions. Hogan Gidley from the WH press office presided. Reporting by David Martosko.

Personal and cynical note: The absence of a visible President Trump on the issue is noted; neither is there a tweet or a citation for a comment therein. Additionally, I wouldn’t trust that trio (Pompeo, Esper and Milley) as far as I could spit.

With strong indications that President Trump is working earnestly to remove U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the tail of the war machine is predisposed to wag the dog.

BREAKING: The Taliban ruling council has agreed to a cease-fire in Afghanistan to allow for signing of a peace deal with the United States. A peace deal would allow Washington to bring home troops and end its 18-year military engagement there. https://t.co/pXGBQCysLB
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 29, 2019

Airstrikes aren’t supposed to be warm fuzzies.

[”The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences,” his office said. ]

Assuming we know where he is, I suspect we could take him out along with his entire cabinet. All it would take is one well-aimed JDAM.

[Iraq as a nation has always been a Western fiction. ]

All countries are militarily-constructed fictions welded together by force. Iraq was in part the Ottoman vilayet of Baghdad for as long as the Turks could hold the empire together. But it wasn’t Turkish any more than the Raj was English. In time, conquered territories may assume the language and customs of the metropole. But it’s not a given. The British put Iraq together in its present configuration because they figured this was the best way to avoid the immediate beginning of large-scale war, as the parties fought over territory. Start them out in one territory, to begin with, and there’ll be less fighting, and no call for the British Army to have to jump in, at significant cost in men, equipment and provisions.

Shut up Iraq. Maybe you’d like a few bombs more.