Well, that evidence is as unassailable as the Democrat impeachment evidence.Quote:
Originally Posted by davsel
It's a huge facility. Where is your support that American assets were damaged/destroyed?
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Well, that evidence is as unassailable as the Democrat impeachment evidence.Quote:
Originally Posted by davsel
It's a huge facility. Where is your support that American assets were damaged/destroyed?
Oh, what the hell, I have time to spare for your education.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/...022159468.html
The POTUS disagrees:Quote:
Ain al-Asad was the second largest American airbase in Iraq established during the US occupation of the country between 2003 and 2011.
The airbase hosted President Trump during the Christmas holidays in 2018. The visit was Trump?s first journey to a conflict zone since taking office in January 2017.
In 2016, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) also launched attacks at the base, which then housed several hundred US troops and advisers training the Iraqi army after the US withdrawal in 2011.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...ps/2821255001/
As does Iraq and Iran:Quote:
We have a very extraordinarily expensive air base that?s there. It cost billions of dollars to build. ... We?re not leaving unless they pay us back for it.
https://www.npr.org/2020/01/08/79450...he-u-s-in-iraq
Quote:
Iraq's military has confirmed that Iran sent a warning shortly after midnight local time that the missile attack was starting or would soon begin, according to the Iraqi News Agency. The warning stated that while the missiles would hit targets on Iraqi soil, they would be aimed only at U.S. military assets.
I guess you didn't expect me to read your linked articles....Quote:
Originally Posted by davsel
As to believing their statement about "aiming", I guess you can claim that anything they hit was a "US military asset". Seems pretty crazy since we're discussing that they couldn't even reliably aim their missiles to miss targets.Quote:
Trump did not specify which air base he was referring to...
???Quote:
Originally Posted by Gman
I'm done
Not that you can really trust anything coming out of Iran or WaPo...
Missile strike on U.S. bases ‘did not intend to kill,’ says Iranian commander
Quote:
ISTANBUL —An Iranian military commander said Thursday that a barrage of missiles fired at bases used by U.S. troops in Iraq were not aimed at inflicting casualties, in the latest sign that Iran was seeking to avoid any further escalation of hostilities with the United States.
After more than a dozen missiles crashed down on the bases on Tuesday, both sides for now appear to be stepping back from further conflict.
“We did not intend to kill,” said Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force, according to Iranian state media. “We intended to hit the enemy’s military machinery.” He did, however, repeat the government’s claim that “tens of people were killed or wounded.” U.S. and Iraqi officials said the strikes caused no casualties.
US Officials are confident that the plane was shot down by Iranian forces.Quote:
Originally Posted by BPTactical
ETA: US officials: 'Highly likely' Iran downed Ukrainian jetliner
Quote:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two U.S. officials said Thursday it was “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed a Ukrainian jetliner late Tuesday, killing all 176 people on board.
The crash came just a few hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops amid a confrontation with Washington over the U.S. drone strike that killed an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general last week. The officials, citing U.S. intelligence, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. They had no immediate information on intent.
President Donald Trump suggested that he believes Iran was responsible and wouldn't directly lay the blame on Iran, but dismissed their claims that it was a mechanical issue — and denied any U.S. responsibility.'
“Somebody could have made a mistake on the other side.," Trump said, noting the plane was flying in a “pretty rough neighborhood."
“Some people say it was mechanical,” Trump added. "I personally don't think that's even a question."'
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.
The crew of a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed in Iran, killing all 176 people on board, never made a radio call for help and was trying to turn back for the airport when the burning plane went down, an initial Iranian investigative report said Thursday. Ukraine, meanwhile, said it considered a missile strike as one of several possible theories for the crash, despite Iran's denials.
The Iranian report suggests that a sudden emergency struck the Boeing 737 operated by Ukrainian International Airlines early on Wednesday morning, when it crashed, just minutes after taking off from Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran.
Investigators from Iran's Civil Aviation Organization offered no immediate explanation for the disaster, however. Iranian officials initially blamed a technical malfunction for the crash, something initially backed by Ukrainian officials before they said they wouldn't speculate amid an ongoing investigation.
The crash came just a few hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops amid a confrontation with Washington over it killing an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general in a drone strike last week.
The Ukrainian International Airlines took off at 6:12 a.m. Wednesday, after nearly an hour's delay at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport, the main airport for travelers in Iran. It gained altitude heading west, reaching nearly 8,000 feet, according to both the report and flight-tracking data.
Then something went wrong, though “no radio messages were received from the pilot regarding unusual situations,” the report said. In emergencies, pilots reach out to air-traffic controllers to warn them and to clear the runway for their arrival, though their first priority is to keep the aircraft flying.
Eyewitnesses, including the crew of another flight passing above it, described seeing the plane engulfed in flames before crashing at 6:18 a.m., the report said. Flight-tracking data for the plane stopped before the crash, which occurred in the town of Shahedshahr to the northeast of the plane's last reported position. That's the wrong direction of the flight plan, bolstering the report's claim that the pilots tried to turn the aircraft back to the airport.
The crash caused a massive explosion when the plane hit the ground, likely because the aircraft had been fully loaded with fuel for the flight to Kyiv, Ukraine.
The report also confirmed that both of the so-called “black boxes” that contain data and cockpit communications from the plane had been recovered, though they sustained damage and some parts of their memory was lost. It also said that investigators have initially ruled out laser or electromagnetic interference as causing the crash.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's Security Council, told Ukrainian media that officials had several working theories regarding the crash, including a missile strike.
"A strike by a missile, possibly a Tor missile system, is among the main (theories), as information has surfaced on the internet about elements of a missile being found near the site of the crash," Danilov said. He did not elaborate on where he saw the information on the internet.
Ukrainian investigators that arrived in Iran earlier on Thursday currently await permission from Iranian authorities to examine the crash site and look for missile fragments, Danilov said.
The Tor is a Russian-made missile system. Russia delivered 29 Tor-M1s to Iran in 2007 as part of a $700 million contract signed in December 2005. Iran has displayed the missiles in military parades as well.
Iran did not immediately respond to the Ukrainian comments. However, Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, the spokesman of the Iranian armed forces, denied a missile hit the airplane in a comments reported Wednesday by the semiofficial Fars news agency. He dismissed the allegation as "psychological warfare" by foreign-based Iranian opposition groups.
Ukraine has a grim history with missile attacks, including in July 2014 when one such strike downed a Malaysian Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard.
Danilov also said other possible causes under consideration included a drone or another flying object crashing into the plane, a terrorist attack or an engine malfunction causing an explosion. However, no terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack and the plane was only 3? years old.
Oleksandr Zaporozhchenko, a mechanic with the Ukraine International Airlines in 2016-2018, said he knew one of the crew members of the plane and had never heard any complaints about the aircraft.
“It is one the most reliable planes out there,” Zaporozhchenko told The Associated Press.
The manufacturer of the plane's engines, U.S.-French firm CFM, declined to comment. French air accident investigators have not been asked to take part in the investigation so far.
The plane was carrying 167 passengers and nine crew members from several countries, including 82 Iranians, at least 63 Canadians and 11 Ukrainians, according to officials. Many of the passengers were believed to be international students attending universities in Canada; they were making their way back to Toronto by way of Kyiv after visiting with family during the winter break.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he planned to call Iranian President Hassan Rouhani about the crash and the investigation.
“Undoubtedly, the priority for Ukraine is to identify the causes of the plane crash,” Zelenskiy said. “We will surely find out the truth.”
The crash ranked among the worst losses of life for Canadians in an aviation disaster. The flag over Parliament in Ottawa was lowered to half-staff, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has vowed to get to the bottom of the disaster.
While the cause of the tragedy remained unknown, the disaster could further damage Boeing’s reputation, which has been battered by the furor over two deadly crashes involving a different model of the Boeing jet, the much-newer 737 Max, which has been grounded for nearly 10 months. The uproar led to the firing of the company’s CEO last month.
Boeing extended condolences to the victims’ families and said it stands ready to assist. However, it remains unclear if Iran will allow that amid tensions with Washington, given Boeing is a U.S.-based firm.
If Iran launched a SAM, the US saw it.
The US knows what happened - this is just more political theater playing itself out.
WWIII??
I don't think so.
It didn't start when MH17 was shot down over Ukraine. Nobody really seemed to bat an eye about that one.
And now another passenger plane is shot down. And apparently with a RUSSIAN missile just like MH17.
Civilian aircraft shot down using Russian equipment more than once now and nothing will happen. This will be old news before February.
From the USA today article:Quote:
Originally Posted by davsel
Quote:
CBS News, citing unnamed sources, reported that U.S. intelligence picked up signals of a radar being turned on, and that U.S. satellites also detected two surface-to-air missile launches shortly before the plane exploded. Federal officials were briefed on the intelligence Thursday, and a source who was in the briefing said it appears missile components were found near the crash site, CBS reported.
The Iranians also grabbed the black boxes right away and...mysteriously...the data is lost. [Dunno]
The left is pushing this WWIII BS. Now the young'uns that get their news from social media are being targeted by selective service scams. Yeah, sure, you need to pay to register. Riiiight.