Just how close did it get to full-blown war?

The news media seems unhappy that the bombing of Syria is already over.
I've read some smirking comments about Putin's threat of "consequences" that never happened.
But the real story may be that we came dangerously close to an ugly situation - with Iran.

Remember those Iranian-backed militias I talked about less than a week ago?
Recently Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared jihad against US and allied forces in Syria. So what do you think happened with those forces when we started bombing the Syrian government?

Just hours after the U.S. attack on alleged Syrian chemical sites, hundreds of Iranian-backed militia fighters reportedly surrounded a U.S. air base to the west of Baghdad, defying the orders of commanders in the city, according to the Lebanese newspaper Ad-Diyar.

U.S. military officials declined to confirm or deny the incident but cautioned that all Iraqi forces, including militias, must obey the central government.

"Coalition forces maintain the right to defend themselves and our Iraqi partners against any threat," U.S. Army Col. Ryan Dillon said in response to an emailed question about the report.

Just how close were the militia commanders from totally losing control of their troops, and witnessing a full-scale attack on U.S. forces? There is already evidence of our bases being shelled.
The facts that we felt it necessary to remind them of what Iraqi forces must do speaks volumes.
And in case that wasn't enough proof, check this out.

State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert called on Iraqi forces in Syria—where Shia militias from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are fighting on behalf of the regime—to return home.
“We would call on the forces, whatever forces, to remain engaged on the ground in Iraq and not go to Syria,” Nauert said on Friday, as she responded to a question from Kurdistan 24 at a press briefing.

That is the sound of people getting nervous.

"After the fight against the Islamic State, now what they say is, 'We're No. 1 against America, and everything else is No. 2,'" says Renad Mansour, an Iraqi-based researcher for Chatham House who has spoken with leaders and members of pro-Iranian militias.
"In rhetorical terms, they're making it clear Americans are their enemies. If a conflict heats up between the U.S. and Iran, these guys are the agents on the ground."
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Pricknick's picture

The news media seems unhappy that the bombing of Syria is already over.

It's what americans want.

Need more?

Just one more:

Face it. We are a warmongering nation.

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Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.

@Pricknick
Although I'm glad that a majority of Dem vote still oppose war.
It highlights just how disconnected the Dem establishment is from its base.

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Azazello's picture

@gjohnsit
If Hillary were the one launching "strikes", and she would have had she been elected, they'd be all for it.

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We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

@Azazello
From 2013
bomb.PNG

It turns out Dems are much more consistent and less hypocritical on this than Repubs.

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Bisbonian's picture

@gjohnsit I suspect it would reflect some inconsistency.

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"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

@Bisbonian
Even on the Libya bombing, before it completely imploded, the Dems were slightly more skeptical than Repubs.

Support for the air strikes is slightly higher among Republicans at 54 percent than it is among Democrats or independents (at 49 and 44 percent, respectively). More than half of Republicans (52 percent) and independents (57 percent) see no clear plan for the engagement, with a relatively high number of Democrats (43 percent) saying the same.
The Gallup results are noteworthy because at 47 percent approval, it marks the lowest level of initial support in Gallup polls for a variety of U.S. military actions dating back to Grenada in 1983. Pew’s comparisons for initial support in Iraq and Afghanistan at the outset of those conflicts were much higher than for Libya in the current poll.

As each overseas intervention turns into catastrophe, Dems get more and more skeptical.

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snoopydawg's picture

The militias have "always had this anti-American tone, but when you have one threat after another, you see they're trying to send a specific message," says Phillip Smyth, a scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who has been tracking Iranian-backed militias in Syria.

After decades of invading countries and killing their families, I'd think that would wonder what the consequences would be. Or was that the plan all along? Piss people off hoping that they'd attack back and then extend the forever wars?

We're very lucky that we haven't been attacked here at home. The we are "fighting them over their so that we don't have to" Here crap has gone on long enough.

That the majority of Americans believe that Trump was right in bombing the false chemical weapons facilities is beyond sad. After the WMDs debacle, no one should ever take the government's word ever again. As my sig state, even when people knew that a false flag was coming, that they believed it anyway is beyond my comprehension. The Goebell's saying never crosses their mind.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

boriscleto's picture

@snoopydawg When the only source of 'news' for the vast majority of Americans is the propaganda on the TV machine?

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

@boriscleto

What is the purpose of them telling this lie? Wag The Dog?

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CB's picture

propaganda, or what the Atlanticists call it, public relations. And no one in the world is better at this shiite than FUKUS. Here's an article by Max Blumenthal who exposes this deadly destructive rot infecting Syria.

Inside the Shadowy PR Firm That’s Lobbying for Regime Change in Syria

Posing as a non-political solidarity organization, the Syria Campaign leverages local partners and media contacts to push the U.S. into toppling another Middle Eastern government.
...
The Syria Campaign has been careful to cloak interventionism in the liberal-friendly language of human rights, casting Western military action as “the best way to support Syrian refugees,” and packaging a no-fly zone — along with so-called safe zones and no bombing zones, which would also require Western military enforcement — as a “way to protect civilians and defeat ISIS.”
...
A creation of international PR firms

Best known for its work on liberal social issues with well-funded progressive clients like the ACLU and the police reform group, Campaign Zero, the New York- and London-based public relations firm Purpose promises to deliver creatively executed campaigns that produce either a “behavior change,” “perception change,” “policy change” or “infrastructure change.” As the Syrian conflict entered its third year, this company was ready to effect a regime change.
...
Shaping the message

Among The Syria Campaign’s main priorities, for which it has apparently budgeted a substantial amount of resources, is moving Western media in a more interventionist direction.
...
Damage control for opposition extremists

The day after Omran made headlines, the left-wing British news site the Canary publicized another photograph that exposed a grim reality behind the iconic image.

Culled from the Facebook page of Mahmoud Raslan, the activist from the American-operated Aleppo Media Center who took the initial video of Omran, it showed Raslan posing for a triumphant selfie with a group of rebel fighters. The armed men hailed from the Nour Al-Din Al-Zenki faction. At least two of the commanders who appeared in the photo with Raslan had recently beheaded a boy they captured, referring to him in video footage as “child” while they taunted and abused him. The boy has been reported to be a 12-year-old named Abdullah Issa and may have been a member of the Liwa Al-Quds pro-government Palestinian militia.
...

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@CB Something like 70% of the American people supported Bush's invasion of Iraq two days into it.

Seventy-Two Percent of Americans Support War Against Iraq
http://news.gallup.com/poll/8038/seventytwo-percent-americans-support-wa...

Associating 9-11 with the invasion certainly got those numbers up. I would not be surprised if some false flag happened on American soil which is blamed on the Russian as the final action to push Americans over the edge to support total war with Russia.

But this go-around the propaganda about Russia/Putin exceeds that of Iraq. Brick by brick, the propaganda has been built up where it simply cannot be counted with any rational discussion. One can only wait it out. McCarthyism took about 6-7 years to implode. Hopefully, there will be no war with Russia before that time.

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(NY-22, Utica south to Binghamton) was on local TV saying that We have to strike back, or something of the sort. The opponent is Brindisi, who was hand-picked by Schemer (D-Tel Aviv) himself for this district. BTW, Bernie won this district in the 2016 primary.

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Mary Bennett

Anja Geitz's picture

Who approve of the airstrikes over Syria also believe Assad used chemical warfare on his own people. It is striking, however, that it fell across partisan lines. Unless of course that data is bullshit too.

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

i remember quite clearly pundits saying that if Bush bombed Iran, American troops in Iraq would come under huge attacks by Shia militias. And Iranian suicide bombers. I remember an article that Iran was looking to train up to 35,000 suicide bomber in response.

Even without attacking the Russians, we are at the edge of a regional war that could spread.

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ggersh's picture

But the real story may be that we came dangerously close to an ugly situation - with Iran.

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley