Pentagon: US contractor dies in rocket attack at Iraq base

[theHawk]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. contractor died Wednesday when at least 10 rockets slammed into an air base housing U.S. and other coalition troops in western Iraq, the Pentagon said.

Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said the contractor “suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering” and died shortly afterward. He said there were no service members injured and all are accounted for.

The rocket attack was the first since the U.S. struck Iran-aligned militia targets along the Iraq-Syria border last week, killing one militiaman and stoking fears of another cycle of tit-for-tat attacks as happened last year. Those attacks culminated in the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani in Baghdad.

No one claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, which comes two days before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the country amid concerns about security and the coronavirus pandemic. The much-anticipated trip will include stops in Baghdad, southern Iraq and the northern city of Irbil.

The rockets struck Ain al-Asad airbase in Anbar province early in the morning, U.S.-led coalition spokesperson Col. Wayne Marotto said. Kirby said the rockets were fired from east of the base.

In addition to American troops, Danish and British are among those stationed at the base. It's the same base that Iran struck with a barrage of missiles in January of last year in retaliation for the killing of Soleimani. Dozens of U.S. service members suffered concussions in that strike.

US warns of military response to rocket attack on Iraq base

The White House warned that the U.S. may consider a military response to the rocket attack on Wednesday that hit an air base in western Iraq where American and coalition troops are housed, raising concerns this could trigger a new round of escalating violence. A U.S. contractor died after at...

www.yahoo.com

This is an AP story, I have not seen it on FoxNews or CNN yet. These days I kinda like to see some corroboration before going off half-cocked, but this shit has to stop and a strong message has to be sent. And not just with words either. We need to find out if we don't already know who is responsible and bomb the fuck out of them, including the Iranian fuckwad who authorized and paid for it to happen. If you fuck with the US then we fuck back and we have a much bigger dick.

Weakness invites attacks. We have an inept, decrepit, frail old man as our “leader”.

 

[pknopp]

We have NO business still being in Iraq.