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White House waited for GOOD WEATHER to launch strikes on Iraq and Syria to avoid 'unnecessary casualties': B-1 bombers flew from US and dropping 125 missiles on seven targets in 30 minute blitz deemed a 'success'
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • The U.S. military launched major airstrikes on 85 targets in Iraq and Syria on Friday, in response to the January 28 deaths of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan

  • Joe Biden on Tuesday said he had already decided on the response to the Iranian-backed aggression: Iran warned the US not to attack its territory

  • Friday's strikes were authorized when it became apparent that there would be clear skies, to ensure precision in the bombing

The Pentagon unleashed its first wave of bombs on Iranian-backed militias on Friday because the clear skies provided an accurate target, with 85 targets being hit in Iraq and Syria during the course of a 30-minute raid.

Seven separate facilities - four in Syria and three in Iraq - were struck by the B1 bombers, which flew directly from the United States, refueling mid air.

Iraq was warned in advance, said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, but Iran - which supports and arms the militias - was not.
distinction without a difference.
Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the strikes were ordered because the weather was in their favor. The bombs can be dropped when there is cloud cover, but the U.S. waited until the skies were clear in 'an interest of ensuring that we're hitting all the right targets,' said Sims.

He said the U.S. was looking to avoid 'unnecessary casualties' - but they did expect militants in the seven facilities to have been killed.

Footage shared on social media showed a series of explosions in the city of Al-Qaim: the first explosions from the U.S. bombs, and then the secondary explosions from the munitions detonating. The mayor of Al-Qaim, Turki Al-Mahalawi, said the strikes hit three houses used as weapon warehouses by the PMU - al Hashed al Shabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). The PMU is backed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and is believed by Washington to be responsible for many of the 165 attacks launched since October 7 on U.S. sites and personnel in the region.

Yahya Rasool, spokesperson of Iraq's Armed Forces, said the strikes were a 'violation of Iraqi sovereignty.'
Yes, that is the point.
'The city of Al-Qaim and the Iraqi border areas are being subjected to airstrikes by U.S. aircraft, at a time when Iraq is striving hard to ensure the stability of the region,' Rasool said, according to CNN.
Striving and failing. Hence the targets in your territory that were targetted.
Mick Mulroy, a former Pentagon official in the Trump administration, told The New York Times that the U.S. strikes appeared to be focused on Iranian supply lines, which pass through Iraq and Syria.

Mulroy said he believed it is unlikely many Iranian soldiers would have been killed because Iran had time to move its personnel out of harm's way - likely a deliberate move by the U.S. to avoid unnecessary escalation.

The New York Times reported that a site in the Iraqi city of Akashat was also hit, describing the target as a command headquarters of the PMU. The PMU is just part of a coalition of Iran-backed groups which call themselves the 'Axis of Resistance', and claim they are attacking U.S. targets in response to Washington's support for Israel's action in Gaza.

Joe Biden on Friday said that the airstrikes were just the beginning.

The operation was over in 30 minutes.

'Initial indications are we hit exactly what we meant to hit, with a number of secondary explosions associated with the ammunition and logistics locations,' Douglas Sims said.

'We know that there are militants that use these locations.

'We made these strikes tonight with an idea that there would likely be casualties associated with people inside those facilities.'

Senator Jack Reed, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he endorsed the strikes.

'This was a strong, proportional response,' said Reed, a Democrat representing Rhode Island.

'In fact, the 85 targets struck tonight mark a greater number than the prior administration. Iran's proxy forces in Syria and Iraq have been dealt a significant blow, and Iranian-linked militias around the Middle East should understand that they, too, will be held accountable.'
Posted by: Skidmark 2024-02-03
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=690361