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US bombs Syria (2021 Mideast bombing thread)

GRHorn

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Guest Lobo

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May have had something to do with Iran-backed Shia militias in the same area who conducted two rocket attacks on both U.S. military personnel and U.S. civilians in the last two weeks.  It's not definitive, but it could be related to "this is what happens if you keep launching rockets at Americans in the region."  I dunno.  It's obviously unprecedented in the modern era.  

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Captainant

Captainant 27,680

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Posted (edited)

Actual journalistic entity if you'd like some info and not just tweets:

https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-john-kirby-iran-syria-iraq-c10b1fb0ed653e687bfbf57d04b591b5

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US bombs facilities in Syria used by Iran-backed militia

 

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and ROBERT BURNS15 minutes ago

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States launched airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militia groups. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops.

 

The airstrike was the first military action undertaken by the Biden administration, which in its first weeks has emphasized its intent to put more focus on the challenges posed by China, even as Mideast threats persist. Biden’s decision to attack in Syria did not appear to signal an intention to widen U.S. military involvement in the region but rather to demonstrate a will to defend U.S. troops in Iraq.

 

“I’m confident in the target that we went after, we know what we hit,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters flying with him from California to Washington. Speaking shortly after the airstrikes, he added, “We’re confident that that target was being used by the same Shia militants that conducted the strikes,” referring to a Feb. 15 rocket attack in northern Iraq that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition personnel.

 

Austin said he recommended the action to Biden.

 

“We said a number of times that we will respond on our timeline,” Austin said. “We wanted to be sure of the connectivity and we wanted to be sure that we had the right targets.”

 

Earlier, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. action was a “proportionate military response” taken together with diplomatic measures, including consultation with coalition partners.

 

“The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and coalition personnel,” Kirby said. “At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to deescalate the overall situation in eastern Syria and Iraq.”

 

Kirby said the U.S. airstrikes “destroyed multiple facilities at a border control point used by a number of Iranian- backed militant groups,” including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada. The U.S. has blamed Kataib Hezbollah for numerous attacks targeting U.S. personnel and interests in Iraq in the past.

 

Further details were not immediately available.

 

Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School, criticized the U.S. attack as a violation of international law.

 

“The United Nations Charter makes absolutely clear that the use of military force on the territory of a foreign sovereign state is lawful only in response to an armed attack on the defending state for which the target state is responsible,” she said. “None of those elements is met in the Syria strike.”

 

Biden administration officials condemned the Feb. 15 rocket attack near the city of Irbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish-run region, but as recently as this week officials indicated they had not determined for certain who carried it out. Officials have noted that in the past, Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups have been responsible for numerous rocket attacks that targeted U.S. personnel or facilities in Iraq.

 

Kirby had said Tuesday that Iraq is in charge of investigating the Feb. 15 attack.

 

“Right now, we’re not able to give you a certain attribution as to who was behind these attacks, what groups, and I’m not going to get into the tactical details of every bit of weaponry used here,” Kirby said. “Let’s let the investigations complete and conclude, and then when we have more to say, we will.”

 

A little-known Shiite militant group calling itself Saraya Awliya al-Dam, Arabic for Guardians of Blood Brigade, claimed responsibility for the Feb. 15 attack. A week later, a rocket attack in Baghdad’s Green Zone appeared to target the U.S. Embassy compound, but no one was hurt.

 

Iran this week said it has no links to the Guardians of Blood Brigade.

 

The frequency of attacks by Shiite militia groups against U.S. targets in Iraq diminished late last year ahead of President Joe Biden’s inauguration, though now Iran is pressing America to return to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal. The U.S. under the previous Trump administration blamed Iran-backed groups for carrying out the attacks. Tensions soared after a Washington-directed drone strike that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and powerful Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis last year.

 

Trump had said the death of a U.S. contractor would be a red line and provoke U.S. escalation in Iraq. The December 2019 killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack in Kirkuk sparked a tit-for-tat fight on Iraqi soil that brought the country to the brink of a proxy war.

 

U.S. forces have been significantly reduced in Iraq to 2,500 personnel and no longer partake in combat missions with Iraqi forces in ongoing operations against the Islamic State group.

 

 

Relevant portion from the article is that it's a retaliatory strike for an attack against our kurdish (former?) allies:

Biden administration officials condemned the Feb. 15 rocket attack near the city of Irbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish-run region, but as recently as this week officials indicated they had not determined for certain who carried it out. Officials have noted that in the past, Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups have been responsible for numerous rocket attacks that targeted U.S. personnel or facilities in Iraq.

Edited by Captainant
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JerrysJheriCurl

JerrysJheriCurl 977

Posted
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I’m waiting for the hot takes from University of Wikipedia graduates, who majored Middle Eastern Studies and minored in Islam.
I’m also anticipating with baited breath for analyses by The University of Google Assistant Professors who wax and wane in their Geopolitical Conflict classes. 

يالله حبيبتي ،ان شاء الله
 

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MAUFRAIS

MAUFRAIS 6,629

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, JerrysJheriCurl said:

I’m waiting for the hot takes from University of Wikipedia graduates, who majored Middle Eastern Studies and minored in Islam.
I’m also anticipating with baited breath for analyses by The University of Google Assistant Professors who wax and wane in their Geopolitical Conflict classes. 

يالله حبيبتي ،ان شاء الله
 

double major in epidemiology.  

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troph

troph 24,851

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Lobo said:

May have had something to do with Iran-backed Shia militias in the same area who conducted two rocket attacks on both U.S. military personnel and U.S. civilians in the last two weeks.  It's not definitive, but it could be related to "this is what happens if you keep launching rockets at Americans in the region."  I dunno.  It's obviously unprecedented in the modern era.  

This is exactly it. That’s the line you cross if you want strikes against you.  Strong move, should cause all adversaries to take note.  Doubtful it escalates.  Pretty clear message to me.

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washparkhorn

washparkhorn 9,939

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Long-Held Policy to respond in this manner. 

This is normal and does not divert from principled foreign policy stances this nation has preached and practiced since WWII.  It displays strength and level-headedness to the world (which is a matter for geopolitical power and use of the military). If we did anything different, it would shock the world. 

Spoiler

 

  • Continued assertion of tit for tat policy.
  • Status quo. 
  • Remind the world of the Shia v. Sunni schism and the threats posed by the conflict. 
    •  The House of Saud is taking a big hit with the Khashoggi killing and Yemen. They violated the golden rule - don't get caught. Of course they got caught. 
    • Syria is where we meet Iran face to face. 
  •  Iran was probing.
  • We answered appropriately.

Now we wait.

Iran should remember this Nation is spoiling for a fight. A lot of pissed off motherfuckers with pipes.

Iran should not fuck around with this. They were offered their seat back at the world community. They should take it graciously.

We want Iran under nuclear agreement - they need guardrails.

We need adults.  A lot of powers testing boundaries. They think we are weak. 

 

 

Or something like that. I am looking forward to Mars. Let's race with China for Mars instead of pursuing foreign quagmires.

But this was an appropriate response given the state of the world.  

and remember:

 1984

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washparkhorn

washparkhorn 9,939

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5 minutes ago, bernorange said:

It strikes me as curious that this happens on the heels of the news about the change in US-Saudi relations re:Khashoggi disclosures and Biden-King phone call (posted in middle east quagmire thread this morning).

neoconservative ghosts in the machine - wag that fucking dog. 

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JerrysJheriCurl

JerrysJheriCurl 977

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17 minutes ago, bernorange said:

It strikes me as curious that this happens on the heels of the news about the change in US-Saudi relations re:Khashoggi disclosures and Biden-King phone call (posted in middle east quagmire thread this morning).

Say more please. What makes it curious to you?
Sunnah a biatch. Shiite could be going down. 

Edited by JerrysJheriCurl
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PRONG HORN

PRONG HORN 3,146

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2 hours ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Why?


It’s not because of anything going on right now.  It’s a strategic move to show the world that the USA will still do its job even under Biden.  It’s about our relationship with other world powers and what we get in exchange for cleaning up messes. 

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BradInATX

BradInATX 9,208

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21 minutes ago, cactusflinthead said:

I remember days when this was in CR.

CR in DT.

Come on in!

We have two Cloak Rooms now. The Cloak Room, and the Cloak Room for people who don't want to post in the Cloak Room.

This threading the needle and not just moving all CR threads to the CR is going great.

Edited by BradInATX
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cactusflinthead

cactusflinthead 27,601

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

We have two Cloak Rooms now. The Cloak Room, and the Cloak Room for people who don't want to post in the Cloak Room.

This threading the needle and not just moving all CR threads to the CR is going great.

Friday Eve baby on the night shift.

I remember seeing this old colonel talking about an ally down in SE Asia.

"Yeah, he's a sonofabitch. But, he's our sonofabitch."

Realpolitik. Who exactly is bitching and why?

What is your skin in the game?

Perhaps maybe a few more credible sources before I go down this rabbit hole.

 

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cactusflinthead

cactusflinthead 27,601

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In the great light of one quick look at Twitterville I found we dropped 7 500# bombs.

American officials said the strikes were a relatively small, carefully calibrated military response: seven 500-pound bombs dropped on a small cluster of buildings at an unofficial crossing at the Syria-Iraq border used to smuggle across weapons and fighters.

 

That's not enough ammonium nitrate for 2 pallets.

I am having a hard time getting concerned over this.

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Captainant

Captainant 27,680

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So wait, do yall think that an out-of-the-blue assassination of a top general we aren't at war with is equivalent to blowing up an empty forward base in response to direct attacks against servicemembers?

Because you're leaving out a shitload of important context to just say "UNGA BUNGA BOTHSIDO BINDEN BOMBO IRAN!!!"

Edited by Captainant
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troph

troph 24,851

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Captainant said:

So wait, do yall think that an out-of-the-blue assassination of a top general we aren't at war with is equivalent to blowing up an empty forward base in response to direct attacks against servicemembers?

Because you're leaving out a shitload of important context to just say "UNGA BUNGA BOTHSIDO BINDEN BOMBO IRAN!!!"

I think the compare is to trumps missle blast into Syria not the assassination of the Gen in Iraq. 

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40,851

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13 hours ago, Captainant said:

Actual journalistic entity if you'd like some info and not just tweets:

https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-john-kirby-iran-syria-iraq-c10b1fb0ed653e687bfbf57d04b591b5

Relevant portion from the article is that it's a retaliatory strike for an attack against our kurdish (former?) allies:

Biden administration officials condemned the Feb. 15 rocket attack near the city of Irbil in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish-run region, but as recently as this week officials indicated they had not determined for certain who carried it out. Officials have noted that in the past, Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups have been responsible for numerous rocket attacks that targeted U.S. personnel or facilities in Iraq.

Kurds? No whey!

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