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Yesterday, at least one of two Katyusha rockets fire at Al Asad Air Base in Western Iraq hit within the wire and injured U.S. military personnel, according to multiple reports. Although five troops were injured, everyone is alive and battle damage assessments are still being conducted.
You see those kids in the featured image above. Those are our kids. Kids just like them were injured at Al Asad Air Base and I, for one, am freaking tired of this shite. Our kids are sitting out there as Katyusha fodder, while politicians and defense contractors get wealthy. Not rich, wealthy. I know, I know that it has been ever thus. Occasionally, you just get done. I am done. Today, is the 13th anniversary of Extortion 17. My friends lost their son Ssgt. Patrick Hamburger on that day when his Chinook was shot out of the sky.
No one was killed at Al Asad yesterday. We are grateful. It’s been a whole six months since Islamic Resistance in Iraq attacked that base and our military personnel had to be checked for brain injuries. And, they wonder why kids don’t want to sign up for this shite. About last night, from the New York Post:
“Biden says US will respond to attacks targeting troops ‘in a manner and place of our choosing’ hours after rocket attack leaves American personnel in Iraq injured”:
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed in the White House Situation Room on Monday after a suspected rocket attack against a military base in Iraq left a number of US personnel injured.
Biden, 81, said he discussed “developments in the Middle East” with his national security team, according to a post on his X account which did not acknowledge the latest attack on US troops in the region.
Yeah, they discussed the Middle East, but Biden was already asleep and Kamala was already Kamalalala by the time the rockets were launched at the base. More:
“We received updates on threats posed by Iran and its proxies, diplomatic efforts to de-escalate regional tensions, and preparations to support Israel should it be attacked again,” the president said.
“We also discussed the steps we are taking to defend our forces and respond to any attack against our personnel in a manner and place of our choosing,” he added.
But, that’s part of my problem with this shite. We never get retribution. Our kids just sit there as Katyusha fodder. The simps in the press get their jollies by getting embedded with the troops when there is a war, but unless they can get glory, the media forget about the troops.
Look at Harris trying to look “deep” sitting there between Biden and Blinken. Notice the nameplates turned, not for the participants, but for proper media attribution. I am done:
Today @POTUS and I met with our national security team to discuss developments in the Middle East.
Our commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering. As we prepare to support the defense of Israel against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups, we are also working to… pic.twitter.com/QO5TciMn8Q
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) August 5, 2024
According to NBC News, this is no big whoop, they get shot at every day at Al Asad Air Base:
Here is what is left of the box truck used as the rocket launcher:
#EXCLUSIVE : Video of the vehicle reportedly was used to launch rockets at Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq.#USA #RocketAttack #Iran #Isarael #alasadairbase #IraqAttack #AinAlAssadAirbase pic.twitter.com/SoAbLhajRM
— upuknews (@upuknews1) August 6, 2024
This is from Politico:
Al-Asad has come under attack multiple times from Iranian-backed militias over the past year. From October to January, American and coalition troops endured more than 150 attacks, culminating in a January strike on a U.S. outpost in Jordan that killed three U.S. troops.
In response, the U.S. launched a large counterstrike that hit 85 targets across Iraq and Syria.The region has been on edge the past week in the wake of the assassinations of top Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Beirut and Tehran, respectively. Israel has claimed credit for the former but has not commented publicly on the latter.
And, back to the New York Post:
On Friday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered more US troops, ships, fighter jets and “land-based ballistic missile defense” systems to the Middle East to counter potential retaliatory strikes from Iran.
The “posture adjustments” were made “to improve US force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies,” according to the Pentagon.
I would love to make some “posture adjustments”:
We need to stick a few politicians out in the desert and let Iran lob some Katyusha rockets at them.
I am done.
Featured Image: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/flickr.com/cropped/Creative Commons
Mad Celt says: What the hell are we doing with a base in Iraq? Oh, yeah, making it safe for the MIC to get richer while young Americans die in vain.
GWB says: Not really just that. If we want to respond to Middle East issues promptly, we need a base there, and we don’t really have another one. We have some airfields we can land at – with the local gov’t’s permission. And some ports we could use to offload troops – with the local gov’t’s permission. We actually own Al Asad (even if that is just based on possession being 9/10s of the law). All else being equal, it’s our gateway to landing large numbers of troops and materiel.
That doesn’t mean I’m happy with the constant attacks, to which we do not adequately respond. We need to stop worrying about “winning hearts and minds” and start worrying about making them fear us viscerally. A neighborhood in Anbar should run out screaming at the bad guys when they drive in with their rockets, “No no no! Do you want them to kill us all? We won’t let you!” Followed by either chasing them out or killing them.
I’m a big fan of “Speak softly and carry a BIG stick.” And I’m a fan of using it as you need to ensure the world will not get in your face. If you’re going to stuff an US base in the middle of the most belligerent and a**holish countries in the world, it needs to be a giant green ogre with the biggest club around.
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