JUDGEMENT

© MMXX V.1.0.2
by Morley Evans

With regards to the events of January 2020 in Iran and Iraq, the following seems clear. These events are part of an on-going war between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran that began in 1953 with the overthrow of the Iranian government of Mohammed Mossadeq by the CIA.

That was a continuation of British colonial policies in the Middle East.

As such, subsequent events cannot be considered in isolation. Nevertheless, the assassination of Iranian Major General Soleimani in Bagdad on 3 January 2020 will be used in this essay as a starting point.

Eric Margolis provides an overview here: 

January 3, 2020: Soleimani assassinated in Baghdad
Background

January 8, 2020: Iranian reprisal attack 

Iran fired the ballistic missiles at about 5:30 p.m. EST Tuesday, which was early Wednesday in Iraq, Department of Defense spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.

The barrage targeted the al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and the Erbil base, which is in Iraq's semiautonomous Kurdish region. The Ain al-Assad base was used by U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein and currently houses about 1,500 U.S. and coalition forces.

January 8, 2020: 
UIA shootdown


CONCLUSION:

The Iranian response to the assassination of General Soleimani was measured and designed to avoid deaths. The United States was notified in advance what would be struck so personnel could be evacuated from targetted sites. 

An order to close the airport in Teran was ignored. A low-level operator of a SA-15 antiaircraft system had ten seconds to decide whether to shoot or not shoot an unidentified object. Why did the Ukrainian flight 752 not identify itself? Were its transponders not working? Boeing inspected this specific aeroplane two days before the event. It passed inspection. Why was the order to suspend all flights ignored? Iran is still wide-open to commercial flights. There are many unasked and unanswered questions.

Iran acknowledged its error and accepted responsibility within hours of first denying responsibility. The United States has never accepted responsibility for a similar event even years after it occurred.

Iranians lost their lives in both events.
Mossad aimed. Trump pulled the trigger.

Iran has a sophisticated offensive missile system capable of precision targetting. In addition, Iran has accurate and detailed intelligence. Iran has a very capable antiaircraft system. 

"We can attack your bases and you can't do anything about it," is not an idle Iranian threat. The events of January 2020 prove this. Will the war end? Probably not. The USA should realize it is not dealing with a mob of primitive goat herders, but it won't. 

"We're invincible! We defeated the Nazis! We defeated the Soviet Union!" They crow, "We can't be stopped! History is on our side!"

Persia was renamed "Iran" by the late Shah after he was returned to power by the United States in 1953. Persia is one of the oldest civilizations on earth. Others have come and gone. Persians have learned how to survive. The USA got started in 1776. Israel got started in 1947. Today's Saudi Arabia did not exist before the United States developed Saudi oil in 1950. Even Great Britain — which began its current history in 1066 — is young compared to Persia.

Blowhards always get their comeuppance. Yours is coming, USA. The writing is on the wall. Read it.