Although no one died in the Iranian missile strikes on US bases in Iraq, in part due to advance warning from Tehran, the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he personally believed that Iran intended otherwise.
“I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, that [the strikes] were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft, and to kill personnel,” Army General Mark Milley told reporters on Wednesday.
“That’s my own personal assessment,” he added. “But the analytics is in the hands of professional intelligence analysts. So they’re looking at that.”
Milley did not elaborate whether those were the same analysts who “assessed” the truthfulness of the now-debunked ‘Russiagate,’ or the equally phantom existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, used to justify the 2003 invasion.
The overnight attacks on Al-Asad airbase and Erbil involved over a dozen ballistic missiles, fired by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in revenge for the US drone strike that killed General Qassem Soleimani, one of the IRGC’s top commanders.
The Iraqi government confirmed that it had received advance warning about the strikes from Iran, enabling US troops to take precautionary measures and activate their “finest in the world” air defenses. No lives were lost as a result.
Both Iran and the US declared victory and stood down on Wednesday morning, with US President Donald Trump describing the outcome as “a good thing for all parties concerned.”
It was a stunning turn from Tuesday’s hard line championed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and not everyone at the Pentagon seems happy about it, if Milley’s comments are anything to go by.
‘Worst military briefing ever’
Pentagon officials sent to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers on the almost-war apparently didn’t do too well either. Emerging from the classified briefing, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) gave a blistering denunciation of what he heard as “probably the worst briefing I’ve seen, at least on a military issue,” adding that the military could not name a single instance in which they would feel it necessary to ask for congressional approval.
Exact details of the briefing are classified, but Lee hinted that the military apparently told lawmakers that they could not debate or discuss the strike that killed Soleimani, or whether a military intervention against Iran was legal, as that would signal division and weakness to Tehran.
“It is not acceptable for officials within the executive branch of government…to come in and tell us that we can’t debate and discuss the appropriateness of military intervention against Iran,” Lee fumed afterward. “It’s un-American. It’s unconstitutional and it’s wrong.”
Lee and fellow Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said the briefing convinced them to change their mind and support the War Powers resolution proposed by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia), Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate.
‘Harsher revenge’: Revolutionary Guards commander vows it’s not over after Iranian missile strikes on US forces in Iraq
A senior Iranian military commander has promised further action against the United States, a day after Tehran launched missiles at two bases housing US troops in Iraq.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Abdollah Araghi said that Iran would take “harsher revenge soon,” without specifying what that might entail, Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday.
The deputy head of the IRGC, Ali Fadavi, described Iran’s missile attacks on US forces as a display of the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities, claiming that the Americans “couldn’t do a damn thing” about the strikes.
Earlier, President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran’s ultimate goal, in retaliation against the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, is the complete removal of US forces from the region.
Iran’s supreme leader described the missile strike as a “slap in the face” for the US, but said that the attack was not “sufficient” to remove “the corrupting presence of America in the region.”
Tehran defended the strikes as a legitimate act of self-defense. US President Donald Trump said that Washington would respond with more sanctions while reserving the right to take further military action against Iran in the future. The escalation has prompted calls from the international community for an easing of US-Iran tensions.
As a very short, compacted description, basically Mark Milley taunted Iran saying that they wanted to kill American soldiers but they were unable because they are stupid monkeys or something. Iran said NO, we didn’t wanna kill anyone this is why we sent a warning in advance to the Iraqi government and you know what? We’ll show you, more strikes to come!
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Iran has a vagina and everyone laughs at them