Tag: Iraq

The Trump Doctrine In Action

Two of the three principles of the Trump Doctrine I discussed here are that if you harm/kill an American the you will die; and, if you use a proxy, both you and the proxy will die. Simple, straightforward, and a good and much needed thing.

While the media highlighted the attack (and some ongoing), they seem to be downplaying the fact that we did retaliate. What’s more, according to Gateway Pundit and other sources, guess what, we did it again.

It seems that our strike took out General Siamand Mashhadani, one of the top leaders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who just happened to be in Iraq. Pity about that. Seems some people just can’t get their head around the fact that there has been a change in leadership, and that he means what he says.

Reminds me, I need to go back and do a more detailed post about the Trump Doctrine, as it is in action on everything from the defense front to the coronavirus fight. I truly do believe it is one of the most profound doctrines to come out of the White House since the original Monroe Doctrine.

You’ve Got To Be Fracking Kidding Me…

The news coverage to which I awoke this morning already has me banging my head against walls, desks, and other hard surfaces. The hysteria burns…

First, Iran did NOT launch ICBMs. They don’t have any. An ICBM is an Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, and again, for the cognitively impaired, they don’t (yet) have any. Yes, they would love to have some, especially if they worked.

It’s not clear (to me, yet) if they launched IRBMs. For those playing at home, that is an Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile. Yep, they’ve got some. That work sometimes. That might actually go to the target area instead of deciding to go walk-about.

They most likely launched SRBMs, aka Short-Range Ballistic Missiles. Keep in mind that the model rockets I launched as a child were technically SRBMs, at least when the “warhead” failed to pop off and the parachute deploy. Which happened more often than I cared for.

SRBMs include several flavors of SCUD missiles. Yes, some SCUDs can be IRBMs, at least technically. I say that given the targets of the air strikes that brought Suleimani to Iraq (hint, in parts of Iraq and especially Syria, even SRBMs can threaten Israel).

Is the launch an escalation? Yep, and a significant one in that they openly launched from Iran. Is it a major earth-shattering pearl-clutching panty-peeing Flouncecon 1 event? Nope.

Couple of things to note about Operation Symbolic Revenge. First, look at the number actually launched, which is 15 (best sources), not 10s or dozens. Then, look at the number of birds that failed between launch and landing. Then, look at the accuracy of the attack. To a great extent, yawn.

Also look at the immediate response of the Iranian government after launch. In short: We’ve taken revenge; if you don’t retaliate we won’t do anything further; if you do retaliate you will be great big mean poopyheads and you will pay a bitter price via Operation Symbolic Revenge II.

For those saying it’s a act of war: DUH! What do you think the sacking of the embassy in Tehran was? What do you think the attack on our diplomatic outpost in Benghazi was? What do you think the attack on our embassy in Baghdad was? What do you think the proxy (and possibly some direct) attacks on our troops over the last almost 20 years were? What do you think the attacks against our interests elsewhere, as well as against other countries, via proxy forces were and are?

Get a grip: Iran has been at war with us since around 1979. We’ve mostly ignored it, and at best have dealt rather poorly with it. Danegeld never works. Ignoring has only emboldened.

So far, Trump and his administration have taken rather measured, and extremely effective, responses. My hope is that those continue. Again, it would take about 35 minutes to destroy Iran as a power without using nukes or even necessarily putting American lives at risk to do so. For all that I would have no problem with that, I think there should be at least a couple of more steps before we do so, though to do so would be completely justified on any/every level.

As for those at Flouncecon 1 wailing that we are bumbling our way into a major ground war: You are complete and total fecking morons. Patton was wrong: people like you know even less about fornication than about war, which may help prevent the stupid genes from being spread. We can at least hope so. If you can’t take a look at what has been done, and how, then there is a good bit out there about why this isn’t going to happen. If you can take a good look at what has been done and how, what makes you think they will drop proven and effective for something different that is not likely to work on any level?

Personally, I’m hoping that the next steps do enough damage that the people of Iran can make a change. More than thousand died protesting the regime last year, be nice if they could get out and do something without being killed en-masse. There are a number of ways that this can happen, without a massive effort on par with Afghanistan and Iraq.

Me, I’m not too worried and am looking forward to the President’s remarks later this morning. As for the feckless politicians mourning a fracking terrorist: Sod Off. The masks are off, take a look at who truly cares for America and Americans; and, take a long look at who clearly does not. Remember it come election day.

Soleimani And The Ghosts Of Teddy And Jimmy

Qasem Soleimani (Suleimani) was a “revered military leader” only to a very select few. To the rest of the world, including many in his own country, he was a feared man who engaged in killings and terror around the world — particularly in the Middle East. He was directly and personally responsible for deaths and injuries to our troops and support personnel.

I shed no tears for his death. In fact, I smiled. If where he was killed is where I think it is, there may even be a touch of the poetic in the justice that has been meted out. For all that I did say a prayer for his soul (I suspect it needs far more prayers than I can give), I will smoke a cigar today at some point for the fact that he is gone.

The usual suspects have their panties in a twist, screaming about how “oh god oh god we’re all going to die” because President Trump gave the Iranians the business end of a Hellfire (oh, I hope it was, adds to the poetic aspect) instead of pallets of cash which Soleimani has used to spread misery and death around the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere. To Congressman Schitt and all the other desperate pearl clutchers in the lace panty brigade, I offer the immortal words of Commander Bialar Crais: “Tough Noogies!”

That said, alert levels at various locations in the U.S. and overseas have been raised. This is right and prudent, especially as the Mahdi Army has been reactivated, and there are some reports that it, along with Quds and others, have sleeper cells in the U.S. Iran will try to do something to strike back, and it is possible that sleeper cells in the U.S. may act on their own even if told not to do so. There are reports right now that PMF forces are massing in and around Baghdad. There are also reports of additional strikes of some sort in and around Baghdad. Maybe the two are connected… There are also some interesting movements of military aircraft underway. Lots of open-source intel out there, but as with official intel reports, the fun lies in trying to separate out the 99 percent that is bullshit from the 1 percent that is gold.

My take is: ignore the pearl clutchers and the bug-out because Armageddon is here types, be alert, and celebrate two victories.

First, a mastermind of terror is dead. The media won’t cover it, but you can find out a lot about him and what he has done via the blogs and other experts. Think I may even raise a drink along with smoking a cigar, now that I think about it.

Second, celebrate that American Leadership, political and military, looked to the ghosts of the Rough Rider and Reagan rather than to the failed shades of Jimmy Carter, Obama, and Hillary. The Baghdad embassy was defended and reinforced, as President Trump did not do like his predecessor and go to bed and then to a fundraiser. Nor did he blame what happened on a movie that no one had ever heard of, and had jack shit to do with what happened. Iran was warned there was a price to be paid, and they learned that there was a high and personal price to be paid. One wonders if they have thought about what the next level will be, and how personal it could be made. Also, give thanks that the leadership apparently does already have next steps planned and ready to go.

What we have now is not Desert One; it is not Benghazi; and, it is not the start of Armageddon — at least not for us. Iran can (and often does) do something incredibly stupid. That said, I’ve noticed that President Trump has almost always gone for pointed, personal, and somewhat surgical responses. He makes points, very strongly and at a high cost for a regime that is in dire economic straights and is facing an unprecedented level of unrest from major sections of its population. The Iranian regime is more than brittle, it can (and hopefully will) shatter at the right blow or series of blows.

For all that they want Armageddon (to bring about the return of the Hidden Imam), the leadership of Iran is not in a position to make it happen themselves other than on a limited scale. So long as no major power joins them, this will remain true. Fact is, they want to survive so as to welcome the Hidden Imam. What scares them right now is that at home and abroad, they see the signs of their own mortality. That may cause them to do something stupid, truly and epically stupid; but, it will not be the Armageddon they seek.

Stay tuned. I’m hoping that the little list that seems to exist has some of the same names as mine. I have to admit, it would be nice to see justice done, even if long delayed. Soleimani is the latest and greatest on that list, and the world is much improved by his departure. Now if some others will join him…