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| Iraq |
| Despite billions spent on missile shields, US troops were defenseless when Iran attacked |
| 2020-01-17 |
| [Washington Examiner] In the early morning darkness of Jan. 8, several thousand U.S. troops huddled in Saddam Hussein-era bunkers in western Iraq as 11 ballistic missiles rained destruction on parts of the sprawling al Asad air base ‐ Iran's promised "harsh revenge" for the killing of its top general, Qassem Soleimani, in a U.S. drone strike five days earlier. The night sky lit up, and the bunkers shook as two waves of missiles struck over an hour and a half, sending a shockwave through the air and rattling some American troops who were above ground standing watch. Even with the benefit of an advance warning of the attack, there was little the troops could do but duck and cover ‐ and hope it would not be their day to die. Move quickly to your assigned, or nearest bunker and prayerfully await the 'all clear.' Sort of SOP in a combat zone. "All is well!" President Trump tweeted when the attack was over. "So far, so good! We have the most powerful and well-equipped military anywhere in the world, by far!" But despite well over $350 billion spent in the past three decades, when they were most needed to protect U.S. forces and potentially prevent an escalation to all-out war, America's vaunted missile defenses were missing in action. From the tours the military gave reporters two days later, it was clear that while a warning from the Iraqis gave the United States time to disperse its forces and lower the risk of casualties, the fact that no one died or suffered more than a concussion was also due in large part to sheer luck. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #15 "Despite billions spent on the war on poverty, the poor are defenseless." Not to mention, keep increasing. When ya gonna look into that, Mr. "Journalist'? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2020-01-17 16:30 |
| #14 Subscriber access article. Can't tell if article is fake news or fake outrage. Patriot SAM batteries were withdrawn from Iraq. Bust the official who made that poor decision. |
| Posted by: Percy Hapsburg4903 2020-01-17 12:17 |
| #13 Wow. It would be interesting to find out who decided to ignore it and why. The charming guy who led the Friday sermon today? |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-01-17 11:07 |
| #12 Wow. It would be interesting to find out who decided to ignore it and why. |
| Posted by: gorb 2020-01-17 11:00 |
| #11 It has been reported that the smoldering butcher, er, Gen Solemeini's word was law, along with wish, suggestion and concept. And that apparently things have changed insofar as the new C.O of the IRGC ordered the airport in Teheran closed before their missile strike and his direct order was ignored. |
| Posted by: Cesare 2020-01-17 08:26 |
| #10 i thought the media talking point was that Iran meant to miss so it was no big deal? |
| Posted by: Bob Grorong1136 2020-01-17 07:03 |
| #9 Nobody hurt. Defenseless. Got it. |
| Posted by: Beau 2020-01-17 06:18 |
#8  The presence of a Ukrainian flagged civil aircraft attempting to climb out of Tehran would be a kinetic response show-stopper. Russian AAA radar (or anyone else's) when flipped to the "ON" position, emits an electronic signature. If preparing for a response and one of more electronic AAA signatures appeared for no apparent reason, It might give one pause. The two events taking place simultaneously would certainly produce an... "Oh SHI* Jake".... weapons hold moment. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-01-17 04:30 |
| #7 It was my understanding that RoE are to take out the place where the attack came from regardless of whether anyone was hurt or killed. But it's the President's call to make. My take is Iran got lucky. Then they downed the airliner. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-01-17 04:18 |
| #6 Iran rocket attack on Iraqi military base injured 11 US service members, official reveals |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-01-17 04:11 |
| #5 re: #1 No RoE for reciprocating fire? There was one, basically if any US service members was injured or killed, then US would respond. Turns out it was a good thing no one was hurt or killed because as it happened, Iran shot down an airliner with the purpose of blaming it on the USA. |
| Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2020-01-17 02:47 |
| #4 So, get licence to manufacture Iron Dome in USA. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2020-01-17 02:14 |
| #3 The fact that NO AMERICAN SERVICE MEMBERS were killed during a massive attack by a dozen Iranian ballistic missiles under Trump's watch is something the Lame Stream Media cannot get their feeble minds around. They HAVE to find something to beetch about. |
| Posted by: Goober Tingle7365 2020-01-17 01:08 |
| #2 despite well over $350 billion spent in the past three decades, ... America's vaunted missile defenses were missing in action. A bit misleading there, Mr Journalist. That $350 billion over 30 years represents research and development as well as hardware. Some of that money went for R&D and hardware to defend the continental United States against intercontinental ballistic missile attack, a separate problem from defending an airbase. Some of it went for ships and hardware for naval defense. I expect a good portion of it was spend on defending US bases around the world. Last I looked al Asad is an Iraqi air base. Lastly, some reports suggested some of the Iranian missiles *were* shot down, but it is hard to filter out the chaff from actual factual news reports. Gawd, I hate journalists. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2020-01-17 00:52 |
| #1 two waves of missiles struck over an hour and a half No RoE for reciprocating fire? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2020-01-17 00:45 |