{"articles":[{"reaction_config":[{"text":"Support","color":"#2ca788","stance":"support"},{"text":"Oppose","color":"#ef3e42","stance":"oppose"}],"id":40335,"title":"The U.S. Takes a War Footing Against Iran After Soleimani Strike - Do You Support the Strike?","html_content":"

by Axios | 1.3.20

President Trump, after warning three days ago that Iran would pay \"a very BIG PRICE,\" authorized a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport that killed Iran's top general and second most powerful official, Qasem Soleimani.

Why it matters: Soleimani had cost hundreds of American lives and was among the Middle East's most feared powers. But Iran seems certain to respond, potentially further destabilizing the world's most volatile region.

\"In killing General Soleimani,\" the N.Y. Times reports, \"Trump took an action that Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had rejected, fearing it would lead to war between the United States and Iran.\"
\nFrom the Pentagon's statement: \"At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.\"

Behind the scenes: A source in close contact with Trump administration senior national security officials tells Axios that one scenario they are especially concerned about — and have been prepared for — is Iran launching cyberattacks.

That's the most likely way that Iran could retaliate stateside.

The big picture: The president who wanted to bring home the troops is now engaged in the most intense conflict with Iran in recent history.

So much has changed — and so fast.
A few months ago, Trump was musing about bringing U.S. troops home from the Middle East, and to let others fight it out in the sand.
Now, he’s adding forces, and they’re necessarily on a war footing.

Between the lines: Trump now has to prepare for an extreme backlash from Iran — and likely intensified attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East, and anywhere else within Iran’s planning reach.

It also means possible retaliation against U.S. allies, especially Israel, writes Axios contributor Barak Ravid.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a trip to Greece to return to Israel to monitor the situation.
It is still unclear if the U.S. gave Israel any heads up before the strike on Soleimani.
Israeli officials tell Ravid that Israel doesn’t know if and how Iran is going to retaliate — but, right now, the decision is to keep a low profile and not get involved in the ongoing tensions in Iraq.

Risk of world war ... CFR President Richard Haass tweets: \"Make no mistake: any war with Iran will not look like the 1990 Gulf war or the 2003 Iraq wars.\"

\"It will be fought throughout the region w a wide range of tools vs a wide range of civilian, economic, & military targets. The region (and possibly the world) will be the battlefield.\"

The bottom line: Modern wars are fought mostly with the most expensive, most difficult to recruit, train and retain: special forces.

Go deeper: Trump's twin war threats

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Most of the family leans left. I consider myself the counterbalance. The more you tell people to think about things from the opposite direction, they’re minds explode.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"backtotheright","issue_count":41,"is_following":null,"influence_score":2135,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":87,"following_count":39,"position_count":198,"id":"W1nobJ6b","partner_id":null},{"name":"ManfromNebraska","vote_count":468,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/BZe7DYq9/large_bze7dyq9-1544809772.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/BZe7DYq9/small_bze7dyq9-1544809772.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/BZe7DYq9/tiny_bze7dyq9-1544809772.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/BZe7DYq9/following","followers":"/api/users/BZe7DYq9/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"manfromnebraska","issue_count":28,"is_following":null,"influence_score":4850,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":152,"following_count":121,"position_count":472,"id":"BZe7DYq9","partner_id":null},{"name":"RAN","vote_count":393,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/mE5G634j/large_me5g634j-1546016198.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/mE5G634j/small_me5g634j-1546016198.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/mE5G634j/tiny_me5g634j-1546016198.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/mE5G634j/following","followers":"/api/users/mE5G634j/followers"},"about_me":"Conservative trying to help stop “the Devil’s Triangle” democrats, media,and Academia.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"ran","issue_count":36,"is_following":null,"influence_score":1470,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":53,"following_count":57,"position_count":313,"id":"mE5G634j","partner_id":null},{"name":"Robert","vote_count":0,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/667751423/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/667751423/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/667751423/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/667751423/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/mJ80opB1/following","followers":"/api/users/mJ80opB1/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":0,"influence_level":0,"follower_count":0,"following_count":1,"position_count":0,"id":"mJ80opB1","partner_id":null},{"name":"Just.Dave","vote_count":288,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/90odJdxE/large_90odjdxe-1604717057.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/90odJdxE/small_90odjdxe-1604717057.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/90odJdxE/tiny_90odjdxe-1604717057.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/90odJdxE/following","followers":"/api/users/90odJdxE/followers"},"about_me":"I am 37 years old, therefore technically a millennial, however I don't think I have much in common with that generation. I am old school Republican in regard to equality (not democratic or like the liberal of today, as they are as racist and sexist today as they ever were; changing their tactics only and none of their values... Rather to the likenesses of President Lincoln and President Grant.) I don't think that any individual group has the right to determine the value of another individual or group; which is the reason I am against abortion where a single woman can decide alone the value of the life growing within her womb. I don't believe the federal government should have any real say on this issue, I believe that individual states should look into whether or not abortion fits within the state's values. I am more modern conservative in that way; I believe the federal government should set guidelines for the states to govern themselves under, and not much more than that. I'm less socially conservative on other topics: I don't care about same sex marriage, marry whomever you want, just make sure it's to the right person and actually work through difficult times, don't just go for a convenient divorce... and people can identify as whatever they want, just don't ask for special privileges regarding these social issues... No special treatment for anyone based on age, sex, race, ethnicity, sexual preference, religion, class, etc. because that is also racist, sexist, etc. We are all created equal, with \"created\" being the operative word. Jesus said that a man is not defiled by the things a man puts into his body but by what comes out of his heart. We are not made different by the color of our skin, the food we eat, the music we listen to, the television we watch, but by our words and actions. See the handbook on Conservative Republicanism for all other values.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"just.dave","issue_count":8,"is_following":null,"influence_score":1590,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":62,"following_count":96,"position_count":219,"id":"90odJdxE","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":1153937,"body":"You know what I support following through on your word and defending America. I’m so tired of people acting like this guy was an innocent bystander. \nLIKE MY TAKE? GIVE ME A FOLLOW","parent_type":"Article","parent_id":40335,"created_at":"2020-01-05T19:19:43.772Z","liked":false,"like_count":4,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/comments/1153937","likers":"https://www.causes.com/api/v1/likers?likeable_id=1153937&likeable_type=Comment"},"article_id":40335,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/comments/1153937.png","note":{"text":"Support","color":"#2ca788","stance":"support"},"note_text":"Support","note_color":"#2ca788","user_id":"W1nobJ6b","liker_ids":["BZe7DYq9","mE5G634j","mJ80opB1","90odJdxE"]}}

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