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Posted on 1/4/20 at 12:46 am to SECRantFan
quote:
3rd stringer has asked to enter the transfer portal
You might win comment of the year for 2020 3 days in
![](https://images.tigerdroppings.com/Images/Icons/IconLOL.gif)
Posted on 1/4/20 at 6:34 am to GEAUXmedic
quote:
Operation Blue Lightning
Needed a better name. Operation Red, White, and Blue Lightning would have been better.
Posted on 1/4/20 at 10:37 am to TaderSalad
quote:
fully expect this to be the beginning of a coup in Iran (especially if we keep picking off their leadership.)
That’s wishful thinking.
These people are products of decades of government of service. They're loyal to the government.
If we start killing high ranking officials, they’re not going to view it as an opportunity to jump rank and seize power, they’re going to seek revenge against us.
This post was edited on 1/4/20 at 10:37 am
Posted on 1/4/20 at 10:48 am to Lima Whiskey
They already want revenge for killing their uncle’s nephew’s cousin’s camel 30 yrs ago. What’s new?
Posted on 1/4/20 at 11:13 am to Lima Whiskey
quote:
That’s wishful thinking.
These people are products of decades of government of service. They're loyal to the government.
If we start killing high ranking officials, they’re not going to view it as an opportunity to jump rank and seize power, they’re going to seek revenge against us.
I see it as they are beholden to the government, just not the religious zealotry that's been running the government for the previous 40 years. This is part of why we've seen so many large protests within Iran against the government (another part of that is the impact of the sanctions, but that too can be put at the feet of the Ayatollah for not complying with international norms.
Posted on 1/4/20 at 11:31 am to Mr Sausage
quote:
What’s new?
Iran can hurt us.
They could assassinate an American leader. They have a large missile force, and they could hit American bases in the region, inflicting a serious loss of life. They have a large number of anti ship missiles. They could overwhelm our point defenses, and sink one of our ships. They could also close the Strait of Hormuz, although that would have a more limited economic impact on us.
They could also escalate through their regional partners, in Yemen, Lebanon, and in Syria. Hezbollah could devastate Israel with a massive sustained missile barrage, for example.
Iran could also exploit the Shiite majority in Saudi Arabia oil rich eastern provinces, sparking an uprising.
Iran has options.
Posted on 1/4/20 at 11:33 am to Lima Whiskey
quote:
Iran can hurt us.
![](https://images.tigerdroppings.com/Images/Icons/IconLOL.gif)
Posted on 1/4/20 at 11:33 am to Bard
quote:
see it as they are beholden to the government, just not the religious zealotry that's been running the government for the previous 40 years.
They wouldn’t have made rank, if they weren’t comfortable with the governments religious foundation.
Posted on 1/4/20 at 11:39 am to Lima Whiskey
quote:
They could assassinate an American leader. They have a large missile force, and they could hit American bases in the region, inflicting a serious loss of life. They have a large number of anti ship missiles. They could overwhelm our point defenses, and sink one of our ships.
Sounds like a wonderful idea for a country on the brink of collapse. This is how you get fricked in the arse.
The US could also unleash one Ohio class sub on them and call it a day.
This post was edited on 1/4/20 at 11:44 am
Posted on 1/4/20 at 11:50 am to Lima Whiskey
quote:
Iran can hurt us.
They could assassinate an American leader. They have a large missile force, and they could hit American bases in the region, inflicting a serious loss of life. They have a large number of anti ship missiles. They could overwhelm our point defenses, and sink one of our ships. They could also close the Strait of Hormuz, although that would have a more limited economic impact on us.
They could also escalate through their regional partners, in Yemen, Lebanon, and in Syria. Hezbollah could devastate Israel with a massive sustained missile barrage, for example.
Iran could also exploit the Shiite majority in Saudi Arabia oil rich eastern provinces, sparking an uprising.
Iran has options.
And Trump is the first President since Ronald Reagan to say “I double dog dare you” while backing it up. It is about time to use the US Military in a increasing measured response that proves we are done playing the patsy. And before you say what about our allies....screw those cucks! We all know they haven’t pulled their fair share of the water since WWII.
Posted on 1/4/20 at 12:06 pm to GEAUXmedic
for those of you who are not familiar with the late Qasem Soleimani....
Gen. Petraeus on Qasem Soleimani’s killing: 'It's impossible to overstate the significance'
PRI.org ^ | January 2, 2020 | Staff
Posted on 1/4/2020, 11:04:10 AM
The United States is sending nearly 3,000 additional troops to the Middle East from the 82nd Airborne Division as a precaution amid rising threats to American forces in the region, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Iran promised vengeance after a US airstrike in Baghdad on Friday killed Qasem Soleimani, Tehran's most prominent military commander and the architect of its growing influence in the Middle East.
The overnight attack, authorized by US President Donald Trump, was a dramatic escalation in the "shadow war" in the Middle East between Iran and the United States and its allies, principally Israel and Saudi Arabia.
As former commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and a former CIA director, retired Gen. David Petraeus is very familiar with Soleimani. He spoke to The World's host Marco Werman about what could happen next.
Related: Kataib Hezbollah attacked the US embassy in Baghdad. Who are they?
Marco Werman: How did you know Qasem Soleimani?
Gen. David Petraeus: Well, he was our most significant Iranian adversary during my four years in Iraq, [and] certainly when I was the Central Command commander, and very much so when I was the director of the CIA. He is unquestionably the most significant and important — or was the most significant and important — Iranian figure in the region, the most important architect of the effort by Iran to solidify control of the Shia crescent, and the operational commander of the various initiatives that were part of that effort.
General Petraeus, did you ever interact directly or indirectly with him?
Indirectly. He sent a message to me through the president of Iraq in late March of 2008, during the battle of Basra, when we were supporting the Iraqi army forces that were battling the Shia militias in Basra that were supported, of course, by Qasem Soleimani and the Quds Force. He sent a message through the president that said, "General Petraeus, you should know that I, Qasem Soleimani, control the policy of Iran for Iraq, and also for Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Afghanistan."
And the implication of that was, "If you want to deal with Iran to resolve this situation in Basra, you should deal with me, not with the Iranian diplomats." And his power only grew from that point in time. By the way, I did not — I actually told the president to tell Qasem Soleimani to pound sand.
So why do you suppose this happened now, though?
Well, I suspect that the leaders in Washington were seeking to reestablish deterrence, which clearly had eroded to some degree, perhaps by the relatively insignificant actions in response to these strikes on the Abqaiq oil facility in Saudi Arabia, shipping in the Gulf and our $130 million dollar drone that was shot down. And we had seen increased numbers of attacks against US forces in Iraq. So I'm sure that there was a lot of discussion about what could show the Iranians most significantly that we are really serious, that they should not continue to escalate.
Now, obviously, there is a menu of options that they have now and not just in terms of direct Iranian action against perhaps our large bases in the various Gulf states, shipping in the Gulf, but also through proxy actions — and not just in the region, but even in places such as Latin America and Africa and Europe.
Related: The history of US-Iran relations: A timeline
Would you have recommended this course of action right now?
I'd hesitate to answer that just because I am not privy to the intelligence that was the foundation for the decision, which clearly was, as was announced, this was a defensive action, that Soleimani was going into the country to presumably approve further attacks. Without really being in the inner circle on that, I think it's very difficult to either second-guess or to even think through what the recommendation might have been.
Again, it is impossible to overstate the significance of this action. This is much more substantial than the killing of Osama bin Laden. It's even more substantial than the killing of Baghdadi.
Final question, General Petraeus, how vulnerable are US military and civilian personnel in the Middle East right now as a result of what happened last night?
Well, my understanding is that we have significantly shored up our air defenses, our air assets, our ground defenses and so forth. There's been the movement of a lot of forces into the region in months, not just in the past days. So there's been a very substantial augmentation of our defensive capabilities and also our offensive capabilities.
And, you know, the question Iran has to ask itself is, "Where does this end?" If they now retaliate in a significant way — and considering how vulnerable their infrastructure and forces are at a time when their economy is in dismal shape because of the sanctions. So Iran is not in a position of strength, although it clearly has many, many options available to it, as I mentioned, not just with their armed forces and the Revolutionary Guards Corps, but also with these Quds Force-supported proxy elements throughout the region in the world.
Two short questions for what's next, Gen. Petraeus — US remaining in Iraq, and war with Iran. What's your best guess?
Well, I think one of the questions is, "What will the diplomatic ramifications of this be?" And again, there have been celebrations in some places in Iraq at the loss of Qasem Soleimani. So, again, there's no tears being shed in certain parts of the country. And one has to ask what happens in the wake of the killing of the individual who had a veto, virtually, over the leadership of Iraq. What transpires now depends on the calculations of all these different elements. And certainly the US, I would assume, is considering diplomatic initiatives as well, reaching out and saying, "Okay. Does that send a sufficient message of our seriousness? Now, would you like to return to the table?" Or does Iran accelerate the nuclear program, which would, of course, precipitate something further from the United States? Very likely. So lots of calculations here. And I think we're still very early in the deliberations on all the different ramifications of this very significant action.
Do you have confidence in this administration to kind of navigate all those calculations?
Well, I think that this particular episode has been fairly impressively handled. There's been restraint in some of the communications methods from the White House. The Department of Defense put out, I think, a solid statement. It has taken significant actions, again, to shore up our defenses and our offensive capabilities. The question now, I think, is what is the diplomatic initiative that follows this? What will the State Department and the Secretary of State do now to try to get back to the table and reduce or end the battlefield consequences?
The flag that Donald Trump posted last night, no words. Was that restraint, do you think?
I think it was. Certainly all things are relative. And I think relative to some of his tweets that was quite restrained.
pri
Posted on 1/4/20 at 12:09 pm to Lima Whiskey
quote:They've been doing this for how many hundred years? And just wanted to kill infidels for how many before that?
they’re going to seek revenge against us.
We killed a guy that was planning on killing how many MORE of us?
Where is the downside?
Posted on 1/4/20 at 12:10 pm to Lima Whiskey
quote:Already have.
Iran can hurt us.
quote:Who is fukin paying you to spout this stupid shite?
Iran has options.
![](https://images.tigerdroppings.com/Images/Icons/Iconconfused.gif)
Posted on 1/4/20 at 12:35 pm to Yaboylaroy
quote:
Sounds like a wonderful idea for a country on the brink of collapse. This is how you get fricked in the arse.
They have to hit back, because holding back will make them look weak, and encourage more attacks.
They’re in a position where they have to accept the consequences of striking back, because the alternative is even worse.
Posted on 1/4/20 at 12:44 pm to Lima Whiskey
BREAKING: Mortar shells fall on the presidential palaces complex in the city of Mosul, which hosts a number of flag_us US. forces.
Now we’re climbing up the escalation ladder. Insurgency against US forces in Iraq has begun.
Now we’re climbing up the escalation ladder. Insurgency against US forces in Iraq has begun.
This post was edited on 1/4/20 at 12:46 pm
Posted on 1/4/20 at 12:48 pm to GEAUXmedic
Well, we knew this was coming. Proxies seem to be the best bet on retaliation at the moment. You're doing a great job on this thread, by the way. Thanks for the work. ![](https://images.tigerdroppings.com/Images/Icons/Iconcheers.gif)
![](https://images.tigerdroppings.com/Images/Icons/Iconcheers.gif)
Posted on 1/4/20 at 12:49 pm to Lima Whiskey
quote:
They have to hit back, because holding back will make them look weak, and encourage more attacks.
In the long-term, this was also true without us taking out Soleimaini. Correct? And not just hit back, but just hit. They’re always going to have to be in a state of conflict with the US because that’s their outlook, their worldview.
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