12 ballistic missiles were launched at US forces in Irbil, Iraq and it is believed that the launch came from Iran. Reuters. There were no US military casualties in the attack. Irbil airport, in the Kurdish ruled region of Iraq, has come under attack by Iranian forces before. Nobody has taken credit for the current attack, but Iran has used Shiite militias to attack US troops in the past.
#BREAKING: Reports several ballistic missiles hit the US base in Erbil pic.twitter.com/XMTXHDQs76
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) March 12, 2022
My Comment:
Though most sources are being cagy about who is responsible for this attack, it's pretty damn obvious that it's Iran. They area the only power in the region that has these ballistic missiles and the only group that has any reason to use them. I am extremely confident that this was an Iranian attack on US forces that thankfully failed.
People have pointed out that there is a symbolic meaning behind this attack as well. Qasem Soleimani was born on March 11th and I am guessing that this attack was meant as revenge against his death. It failed, obviously, but Iran is still trying to get payback for that incident. They have tried in the past but have failed and they have failed yet again.
I don't think there is any other motive. Some people have suggested that the strike may have been in response to the breakdown of talks for a new Iran nuclear deal, but that makes little sense. From what I understand it's the Russians that have torpedoed those talks, not the United States. Indeed, Biden has reached out to Iran lately in an effort to find another source for oil after sanctioning the Russians.
There isn't any word that I have found that there were any civilian or military casualties, which seems pretty surprising, but remember, these missiles are designed for nuclear or chemical loads where accuracy is not as important. Without those kind of warheads, a conventional attack with ballistic missiles tends to be fairly inaccurate.
Our policy for Iran didn't make sense before and it really does not make sense now. We shouldn't be making deals with a country that is actively shooting at our troops. As much as people are demonizing the Russians, they aren't launching ballistic missiles at us. And I don't want to hear anything about Russia invading Ukraine when Iran is essentially doing the same thing in Yemen. If it's wrong to buy oil from Russia because of Ukraine than surely it's even worse to do so from Iran.
I also think that nuclear deal is not something we should do. The Iranians have not earned any kind of concessions and they are actively attacking out troops. And though I never believe the Israeli reports that Iran is six months from getting the bomb (it's been that for about 10 years now) I don't think a deal will actually prevent them from making progress on that goal. We will just be screwing ourselves over.
Iran does appear to be taking advantage of the obvious weakness of our current president. Biden was always going to be a weak president but when he failed at his withdrawal from Afghanistan he sent a clear message to the world that America wasn't capable anymore. Russia figured it out sooner than the rest but it looks like Iran is testing us now as well.
As for what Biden is going to do, I have no idea. Biden's been fairly predictably making wrong choices so it's possible he will launch strikes. I think that is unlikely though as Biden seems to be pretty pro-Iran in the first place. But I also know that he doesn't appear to be fully in control of his government, after the asinine "Polish MIGS to Ukraine" scandal where the State Department tried to start a war with Russia. It's just another thing to worry about and for about a billionth time since 2021 I have been wishing Donald Trump was still President.
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