SabreFan1

Iran is already changing it's version. Initially they said they shot "tens" of missiles (plural), now it's 15. Also, they have no way of knowing exact casualty numbers in a base in Western Iraq. They're just trying to puff out their chests to their population.

For sure the Navy is positioning boats with cruise missiles onboard as we speak. Right now I'd imagine Trump and his people in the Situation Room are just deciding what to hit.

What do you mean "know to leave"? There's video on Twitter showing announcements over the loudspeakers telling people to take cover before the missiles hit. Everyone, including the Canadians in the base likely ran for cover into the nearest bunker.

Everything depends on how far all of this goes. It would take a ground war similar to the one in Iraq to ensure sure that Iran gets no nukes. I'm not sure Iran will keep shooting back and forth with the US long enough for it to go that far.

Fortunately and by the grace of God, no Canadians were harmed in the attack. They haven't said what kind of troops Canada had stationed there. It could have been technical experts or motor pool guys for all the rest of us know.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not sorry in the least that he's dead, I just would have liked Trump to have been a bit more discreet about it. A special ops team from the US or any of our allied nations could have taken him out on his way through Iraq while he was in his vehicle. Iran would have gotten the message to stop their crap with the embassies without being internationally embarrased, and an evil dude would still be just as dead as he is now.

In that case. Even if it turns out that Iran did mistakenly down the Ukrainian airliner it won't ignite anything. Russia annexed an entire part of that country and the only consequences was a bunch of international finger wagging and eventually maps needing to be updated.

Try and make intelligent arguments. It makes CDC a better place. I've made it abundantly clear over the last 3 years that I don't like Trump. He's badly mishandled this Iranian situation. If he felt the urge to assassinate the Iranian general, it should have been done covertly not by bombing an airport in plain sight for everyone to see. Iran and the US haven't liked each other for the last 40 years. When people or nations don't like each other, they tend to not care what each other thinks and if they shoot at one another, they also tend to not care about the target.

Trump only wants people that kiss his rear and yes men. Those positions may go another 5 years unfilled if the election goes his way.

Keep reading. It's being said that it was a technical issue that caused the crash. Also, the US has no military hardware in Tehran so if it turns out it was brought down, Iran is the obvious culprit.

You don't need to hit an airliner with a missile to bring it down. I was talking about the missile attack on the base. I then realized that Warhippy was likely talking about the airliner in the 2nd quote.

I think if they had a choice they would have loved to wipe out an entire base or two, but I double checked after my last post and I was right, they still use older style relatively inaccurate missiles. As for Bone Spurs, he's going to escalate the situation for sure.

There's video of the missiles coming out of Iran. That's what everyone said about Iraq and Afghanistan. Nobody has enough invested with Iran to fight over. China has enough to worry about with North Korea and like I said before, Putin and Russia stand to make money no matter how the conflict goes. *Just realized you might be talking about the airliner in the second quote*

The US doesn't need help in this. In the past "help" has always been token forces joining in just so the US can say to the world that it has a coalition. Trump won't give a rat's behind about a coalition when it comes to Iran. You can cheerlead for Iran all that you want. The simple truth of the matter is that the only way that they can possibly hope to win is politically and Trump isn't going to care what the rest of the world thinks of him politically. Militarily Iran is still stuck with old and outdated equipment.

Bloomberg is reporting that it was technical issues. Colour me a tad skeptical. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-08/boeing-737-carrying-180-people-crashes-in-iran-state-media-says

Russia and especially China aren't going to put their national interests at risk just for Iran.

I know Iran has old surplus equipment, but how in the h*ll do you mistake an airliner for a US warplane and shoot it down?!

Iran is playing a silly game. It's likely going to end up being a tit for tat exchange until one side stops. It's a "game" that they have no hope of winning. The Ayatollah is still the head of Iran and if he has a deluded belief that "Allah" will protect Iran, lots of Iranian people are going to die.

I'm not a fan of how Trump went about killing the Iranian general. I have not even tried to defend it here once. I'd have preferred that it was done a lot more covertly if it was deemed necessary. Although I just think Trump did it because he's impulsive and was still angry over the embassy. Had a foreign country that we don't like done the exact same thing, we'd have hurled insults and condemnation at them. This is Trump and his cronies doing. The upcoming election will be decided in a few key swing states. Trump may have just p*ssed away his 2nd term this week.

Which situation? The bases or the current Iran situation? The bases are rather obvious since we literally have Iran surrounded and have for years. As for what's going on tonight, CDC is pretty quick with the info. Trump's probably going to be true to his word and that usually means cruise missiles and/or targeted drone strikes on more of Iran's leaders. I'm hoping for targeted drone strikes on their leaders because even though US cruise missiles have pretty good accuracy, they still are subject to environmental and human problems so the Navy could shoot at an Iranian government building and end up blowing up a nearby hospital or residential neighborhood.

I don't disagree with most of what you wrote, but what's been silly these last few days to me is that I have no doubt that people here, especially those who lean more liberal, wouldn't be as indignant had Obama done this when he was president. When he killed Osama Bin Laden, he risked war with the nuclear armed nation that was protecting Bin Laden by sending in spec ops troops unannounced. I agree with what he did, but it came with a crapload of risk had the Pakistanis decided to retaliate.

I loved that movie as a kid. Unfortunately as I got older I realized how many things were so incredibly made up and not possible, but it was still entertaining even then.

I doubt they could tell them anything that they already didn't know. It's no secret where the US bases are. Since Iran is by far mostly Sunni, it would be relatively easy enough to narrow down anybody in Iraq doing anything untoward. The Iraqi Sunnis are likely still angry that they lost their power after Saddam was deposed.

You won't feel that great if any Canadians are among any casualties. Unfortunately there are allied nation troops in US bases all throughout the Middle East. So the UK, NZ, Australia, etc. might be getting some bad news by tomorrow if their soldiers were "lit up".

It's a good thing Millennials didn't live during the Cold War. Much bigger things than this went on. WW3 almost started in the early 80's because the USSR thought that the US/NATO was readying a first strike when all that was happening was a wargame.