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Iraq
Missiles hit Iraq base hosting US troops
2019-06-18
[Rudaw] Three Katyusha missiles have hit Taji Military Base, north of Baghdad, where US forces are stationed, Iraq's Security Media Cell has reported - the second such attack on a military base in four days.
False flag, Herb?
"A short while ago, three Katyusha missiles fell on Camp Taji," Iraq’s Security Media Cell announced on Monday night.

Camp Taji, about 85 kilometers to the north of the capital Baghdad, hosts US military personnel.

Last Friday, three mortars hit Balad Air Base, which houses F-16 airplanes Iraq has purchased from the US, leading to fire in the dry brush around the camp.

Hoshyar Zebari, senior KDP official and former Iraqi Minister for Foreign Affairs, condemned the "alarming and risky" attacks.

"Rockets & mortars attack #Balad air base hosting Iraqi #F16US fighters, #American technicians & advisors. Today’s mortar attacks on #Taji base also with US & coalition advisors north #Baghdad is alarming & risky game by the perpetrators," Zebari said in a tweet on Monday night.

A May 19 Katyusha rocket struck Iraq’s Green Zone, missing the US embassy by just a mile.

The assailants of the attacks are unknown, but many Iran-affiliated Iraqi Shiite militias are currently active in Iraq and are thought to be responsible.
Good to know.
Tensions between US and Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan, the abbreviation IRGC is a cognate form of Stürmabteilung (or SA), the term Supreme Guide is a cognate form of either Shah or Führer or maybe both, and they hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
continue to simmer following attacks on two ships, one Japanese-owned, the other Norwegian-operated, in the Gulf of Oman. The US has accused Iran of attacking the ships ‐ claims Iran have strongly denied
No, no! Certainly not!
Iraq has sought a de-escalation of tensions, repeatedly saying that it wishes to avoid being caught in the crossfire of a possible US-Iran conflict.
No doubt.
The Jerusalem Post adds:
Camp Taji, northwest of Baghdad is one of four locations used by Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve during the war against ISIS. It is a center of training for the US-led coalition that has been fighting ISIS since 2014. Taji was an important center for US forces and an area where detainees were kept in the past. It is a large military complex, essential for training.
Posted by:trailing wife

#13  These are unguided rockets. The katyusha, not a missile but a rocket, was always considered a nasty animal. The BM13 platform that fires it can be mounted on a number of truck chassis and is quite modular. Mount the 32 rocket artillery on a fast Isuzu-turbo diesel powered vehicle and equip four (or even 2) extensible stanchions, and you've got a mobile artillery that can send 16 M13 rockets flying within seconds, fold up and get to launch point 2 before the rockets hit.

The rockets themselves are hopelessly inaccurate, but in half dozens can still lay down tonnes of concentrated damage to areas. Weighing around 45 kilos, the rocket is fast and difficult to detect once in the air. The one tell is a singsong of the launch itself, and can be picked up by field acoustic sensors.

The rockets and launchers in question have got to be from Saddam's stockpiles because in the 2003 war these things were heavily used. The rag-heads have made several makeshift launchers for these rockets, including those featuring donkeys ☺, and one which involves four poor bastards holding a steel rail and one unlucky summbitch steadying the rocket itself as it's launched. But all they have to do afterward is hide or run away. Even though hitting anything is pure luck.

Since not many rockets were launched (only 3 were reported ) I think the launch vehicle could be some rag-head variant that allows limited launch capacity and very low signature.
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-06-18 12:44  

#12  Need new glasses. When I first read it I thought it said measles.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2019-06-18 12:22  

#11  Technology only works when applied.
Posted by: Skidmark   2019-06-18 09:28  

#10  Given Tom Clancy's write ups on fire finder radar I would be surprised if they weren't tracked, but, they do have to be in the air a while to get a good reading and the fire spot needs to stay there. So, I can see that it's not like shooting back at the perp in a gun fight.
Posted by: AlanC   2019-06-18 07:31  

#9  So a quick check finds articles about Kerry meeting with Iranian officials less than two weeks ago.
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2019-06-18 07:27  

#8  Would have to think some drones or satellites could figure out where the missiles are being launched from.

In the meantime, confine Kerry Lurch to Taji. If nothing else but for pure entertainment factor.
Posted by: Woodrow   2019-06-18 06:34  

#7  ...well, he did with the 'North Vietnamese' at one time in Paris.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2019-06-18 06:25  

#6  I wonder who is telling Iran they can win against the US?

Wasn't Kerry seen talking with Iranians in Paris a month or so back?
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2019-06-18 03:36  

#5  My dear, you know I am indeed a little civilian housewife (slightly less nearly 5’ than I used to be, darn it!) and I am absolutely dreadful without blatant clues like LOL or those cute little winky emoticons. The problem is that verbal subtleties fly over my head — sometimes literally. There was this party when I was in the early years of adulthood, the three tall gentlemen I happened to be conversing with, and the chair I had to stand on so that I wasn’t talking directly to their diaphragms...

Pax?
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-06-18 02:56  

#4   So if those who know decide not to answer our curiosity, we’ll have to be understanding.
It was a rhetorical question, burgers all know that, Sensitive One.
Posted by: Thimp Clusort2035   2019-06-18 01:29  

#3   I’m just a simple little civilian housewife
Not, LMAO
Posted by: Thimp Clusort2035   2019-06-18 01:26  

#2  I’m just a simple little civilian housewife, Thimp Clusort2035. I’m afraid I have no idea what can and cannot be known in either environment — no doubt some of our considerably more experienced readers can explain it to both of us.

The other possibility, of course, is that they do know, but have no intention of sharing while they’re hunting. Loose lips, and all that. That's one reason we strongly discourage those who know non-open source things from sharing that kind of information in this wide open environment. So if those who know decide not to answer our curiosity, we’ll have to be understanding.
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-06-18 01:18  

#1  So, ShotSpotter can track gunfire in American cities, but, the US Military has no idea where mortars and rockets come from?.....
You have got to be kidding.
Maybe they are looking in mirrors TW? Stupid.
Posted by: Thimp Clusort2035   2019-06-18 00:50  

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