Severe Response: Defense Secretary Puts Iran on Further Notice

Townhall.com ^ | January 2, 2020 | Katie Pavlich

[jazusamo]

Defense Secretary Mark Esper put Iran and its militia groups operating in Iraq on further notice Thursday morning, warning that further violence and attacks against the United States will be dealt with accordingly.

"If anybody challenges us, they will be met with a severe response, a strong response by U.S. forces," Esper said during an interview with Fox News. "I'm not going to telegraph what we're going to do but people know that we have vast capability to do any number of things. We will act in response to actions by Iran or its proxies and we will act to pre-empt any attacks on our forces, our personnel, but Iran or its proxies."

Esper went on to say President Trump's entire national security team is on the same page.

"Our aim is to deter further Iranian bad behavior that has been going on now for over 40 years. It's time that Iran start acting like a normal country," he said.

On Wednesday evening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made it clear Americans stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which was attacked by Iranian terrorists Tuesday, have no plans to leave.

Department of State

✔@StateDept

. @SecPompeo on @FoxNews : There are no plans to remove embassy staff or U.S. troops from Baghdad. https://go.usa.gov/xpMnT

2,264

8:11 PM - Dec 31, 2019

Secretary Pompeo

✔@SecPompeo

Spoke today with Iraqi Prime Minister al-Mahdi, who agreed that #Iraq would continue to uphold its responsibility to keep U.S. personnel secure and would move the Iran-backed attackers away from @USEmbBaghdad . We’ll continue cooperation to hold #Iran and its proxies responsible.

9,174

1:46 PM - Jan 1, 2020

[blam]

444 days is seared into my brain.

I won't forget these bastards.

[jazusamo]

Amen! I hear you.

[yarddog]

We keep warning them.

[sockmonkey]

My problem is that what the US is calling Iranian militias have been fighting Daesh, protecting Christians, and are recognized by the Iraqi Gov’t as part of their defense forces.

My opinion is:
We need to get out of Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and quit our part in the Saudi war on Yemen.

[Zhang Fei]

[444 days is seared into my brain.
I won’t forget these bastards. ]

---

#MeToo

[exnavy]

Some ragheads are about to have their world rocked.

[polymuser]

I didn’t think we’d forget 9/11, but 7 years later we elected a guy named Barack Hussein Obama President.

1979...

[HollyB]

“ Our aim is to deter further Iranian bad behavior that has been going on now for over 40 years. It’s time that Iran start acting like a normal country,” he said.”

[Afterguard]

I seem to recall an incident during the first gulf war, i think, where we put a tomohawk thru the front door of some mullahs house while he was standing in it. That’s what we should do to the entire Iranian leadership.

[mrsmith]

Your opinion supports your assumptions...
Lots more going on though.

Most interesting IMO is that Iran is running out of dough to support their proxies.
It’s “use it or lose it” time for them.
Very dangerous.

Soon, their proxies will abandum them. Making the ME a much safer place.

I like Trump’s measured plan to get us out of there. It’s not quick, but it’s sure.

[jazusamo]

MAGA!

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[richardtavor]

I liked the US warning shots - flares from Apache helicopters. The next projectiles will be hellfire missiles up their a**es..

[sockmonkey]

Seeing this , and similar on Twitter in past 10 minutes, but Twitter keeps taking them down. Also video of same.

US airforce attacks #Iraq army positions in alQaim/alBuKamal on border with #Syria; in retaliation rockets hit US positions in #Baghdad airport shutting it down and forcing all US air assets into the air.

[sockmonkey]

Vehicles on fire at Baghdad Airport

[jazusamo]

Looks like it’s getting serious.

[Zhang Fei]

[Seeing this , and similar on Twitter in past 10 minutes, but Twitter keeps taking them down. Also video of same.

US airforce attacks #Iraq army positions in alQaim/alBuKamal on border with #Syria; in retaliation rockets hit US positions in #Baghdad airport shutting it down and forcing all US air assets into the air.]

---

This is pretty much what I was expecting. The Iraqi government is possibly as unpopular as the Iranian government with their respective citizenry. That is the meaning of the massive demonstrations and the shootings of hundreds of civilians in Iraq that mirror what has happened in Iran. The militia that has surrounded the embassy is an arm of the the Prime Minister’s power base. It is possible, even likely, that he will order the Iraqi armed forces into action against the embassy. That means the Marines might have to deal with howitzers, helicopter gunships and F-16 strafing runs and air-to-ground munitions like JDAM’s and Hellfires. In other words, this could be Dien Bien Phu, Arnhem, or, in the best case, Khe Sanh. Except instead of 10,000 or more soldiers in defensive positions, there are only 100+ Marines. If attacked by the Iraqi armed forces, they will need round the clock, minute-to-minute air coverage.

[mlo]

"Seeing this , and similar on Twitter in past 10 minutes, but Twitter keeps taking them down. Also video of same."

Maybe they take it down because it's not true. Is there any legitimate new source reporting this?

[mrsmith]

Twitter theory is that those were PMF leaders (the ones who attacked our embassy) in those vehicles.
If so, good news!
Especially, it shows cooperation of Iraq with US.

of course, who knows...

Iran is broke and desperate.

[tomkat]

I didn’t think we’d forget 9/11, but 7 years later we elected a guy named Barack Hussein Obama President.

Perhaps THE most ignominious episode in American history.