Biden orders air strikes against Iran-backed militas near Iraq-Syria border

[Sir Mohamed]

https://twitter.com/axios/status/1409296361946710019

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

The Iranian regime is bad, but I hope he's not trying to provoke a war.

[Person Man]

The Iranian regime is bad, but I hope he's not trying to provoke a war.

No more than what Trump did.

[Crumpets]

The Iranian regime is bad, but I hope he's not trying to provoke a war.

No more than what Trump did.

Or than what Israel does every other week. And I don't say that as a "whattaboutist" line, just that, if you're an Iranian proxy in eastern Syria and the bombs are a-bursting, you probably don't care much what flag was on the tail of the aircraft that launched them more than "oh, I guess it's the Americans this time."

[Pyro]

Without Congressional approval and lacking proof of an imminent threat to the United States, the air strikes were illegally conducted and will only serve to enflame tension in the region. The U.S. military needs to exit Iraq and Syria, and the Biden Admin needs to be true to their DNC pledge to de-escalate relations with Iran.

[PSOL]

The Iranian regime is bad, but I hope he's not trying to provoke a war.

Even if bilateral relations would be established, I expect both sides to strike each other’s proxies. This isn’t the warmongering act people think this is. Even though I don’t like Biden doing this, it isn’t comparable to what Trump did in killing Sepah general Qassem Soleimani

[President Johnson]

I'm actually supportive of limited airstrikes against Iranian-backed forced that pose a direct threat to US and allied service personell or are a severe security risk.

Reengaging in talks with Iran is certainly the right way to go here, though I've become less optimistic with this newly elected "president" who's a hardliner. Unfortunately, the damage Trump has done by pulling off an imperfect but overall working agreement can hardly be made undone.

[Crumpets]

Without Congressional approval and lacking proof of an imminent threat to the United States, the air strikes were illegally conducted and will only serve to enflame tension in the region. The U.S. military needs to exit Iraq and Syria, and the Biden Admin needs to be true to their DNC pledge to de-escalate relations with Iran.

Here's the official legal justification. Take of it what you will. For what it's worth, as someone who watched this area closely for several years, Iranian-backed groups along the Euphrates have been known to fire across the river towards the Kurdish-controlled areas with a US presence.

https://twitter.com/OIRSpox/status/1409609990973890573

[omar04]

Iraqi MOD condemns the US strike as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty. https://twitter.com/IraqiSpoxMOD/status/1409440297390686210?s=19

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

[brucejoel99]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

And now they've engaged in attacks against U.S. personnel, so your "point" - such as it even is one - is wholly worthless.

[LtNOWIS]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

They played a role but it was the Iraqi military who who did most of the fighting, including the hard urban fighting in Mosul and Fallujah. The Iraqi Special Forces being the spearpoint.

[GALeftist]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

I wish people would stop lionizing any actor for whom ISIS is a bridge too far. That is an enormous club, including several other flavors of despicable jihadists who we should be very hesitant to endorse.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

I wish people would stop lionizing any actor for whom ISIS is a bridge too far. That is an enormous club, including several other flavors of despicable jihadists who we should be very hesitant to endorse.

We've endorsed plenty of "moderate" jihadists in Syria.

[Big Abraham]

The Iranian regime is bad, but I hope he's not trying to provoke a war.

No more than what Trump did.

"our warmonger is better than your warmonger!"

[KaiserDave]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

If fighting ISIS makes you a good actor, that makes basically every militia in the Middle East good. Which is of course, nonsense.

[Lief 🗽]

Thank you Mr. President! I think we can all celebrate a couple of real sick sons of bitches sent to straight to Hell!

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

If fighting ISIS makes you a good actor, that makes basically every militia in the Middle East good. Which is of course, nonsense.

Did I claim anyone was good in the entire region?

[HillGoose]

hell yeah!!

[KaiserDave]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

If fighting ISIS makes you a good actor, that makes basically every militia in the Middle East good. Which is of course, nonsense.

Did I claim anyone was good in the entire region?

No, but you did just completely misunderstand my point. There's 0 point in trying to engage with you, but I'll try. Fighting ISIS is not make one a good actor. Your pithy comment really doesn't say anything good about these militias. Just fighting ISIS doesn't make one a good actor, and if you applied that standard consistently, you'd have to say a wide array of groups including the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were good actors. Hence my point, fighting ISIS doesn't make one good, or disqualifies one of criticism.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

If fighting ISIS makes you a good actor, that makes basically every militia in the Middle East good. Which is of course, nonsense.

Did I claim anyone was good in the entire region?

No, but you did just completely misunderstand my point. There's 0 point in trying to engage with you, but I'll try. Fighting ISIS is not make one a good actor. Your pithy comment really doesn't say anything good about these militias. Just fighting ISIS doesn't make one a good actor, and if you applied that standard consistently, you'd have to say a wide array of groups including the Taliban and Al-Qaeda were good actors. Hence my point, fighting ISIS doesn't make one good, or disqualifies one of criticism.

Of course no one is a good actor, including the US. It would be much better if we just ignored that area of the world.

[Lief 🗽]

fighting ISIS doesn't give you a "get out of jail free" card to attack American soldiers lol

[Horus]

We need to leave the area completely and forever. Tired of our soldiers getting hurt and killed in unwinnable, unnecessary conflicts.

[omar04]

Those "Iran backed militas" are who defeated ISIS.

I wish people would stop lionizing any actor for whom ISIS is a bridge too far. That is an enormous club, including several other flavors of despicable jihadists who we should be very hesitant to endorse.

No one in the popular crowd is remotely near ISIS' brutality or ideology. Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (the brigade the fighters killed belonged to) count Shabaks and a small group of Christians in their ranks.

https://twitter.com/TomtheBasedCat/status/1409434745327472640

[Pyro]

Without Congressional approval and lacking proof of an imminent threat to the United States, the air strikes were illegally conducted and will only serve to enflame tension in the region. The U.S. military needs to exit Iraq and Syria, and the Biden Admin needs to be true to their DNC pledge to de-escalate relations with Iran.

Here's the official legal justification. Take of it what you will. For what it's worth, as someone who watched this area closely for several years, Iranian-backed groups along the Euphrates have been known to fire across the river towards the Kurdish-controlled areas with a US presence.

https://twitter.com/OIRSpox/status/1409609990973890573

The official justification is a farce. The U.S. occupation of Syria is in defiance of international law. We have no jurisdiction there, and our continued presence (and bombing campaigns) has only increased anti-American sentiment in the region. If the objective is to keep our soldiers safe, we need to get tf out of there and quit the back-and-forth strikes and counterstrikes.