Between Iraq and a Hard Place

Stand for Israel | January 8, 2020

Iran hits Iraqi military bases housing US troops — ERBIL, IRAQ - JANUARY 08: Iraqi security forces find and collect the pieces of missiles as they gather to inspect the site after Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targeted Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq, a facility jointly operated by U.S. and Iraqi forces, at Bardarash district of Erbil in Iraq on January 08, 2020. (Photo by Azad Muhammed/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The Islamic Republic of Iran continues its escalation of hostilities with the United States, causing not just an American response, but one from Israel, as well. After more than a dozen Iranian missiles struck American bases in Iraq, The Times of Israel’s Raphael Ahren reports that PM Netanyahu warned Iran of being dealt “a crushing blow,” as the U.S. prays for “overwhelming victory”:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday warned Iran against attacking Israel in response to the American killing last week of senior military commander Qassem Soleimani.
“We’re standing steadfast against those who seek our lives. We’re standing with determination and with force. Whoever tries to attack us will receive a crushing blow in return,” he declared at a conference in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu was speaking after Iran fired over a dozen missiles at US bases in Iraq. Iran claimed 80 US troops were killed in the strikes, and warned that it could strike next at Israel; the US said there were no casualties…
Before the prime minister spoke, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman briefly addressed the Iranian attack on a US base in Iraq overnight Tuesday-Wednesday.
“We’re all watching closely the event in the regions,” he said at the conference at the Begin Center in Jerusalem, organized by the right-wing Kohelet Forum think tank.
“Initial assessments are positive, and we pray those reports are true,” he said.
“Our military is by far the strongest in the world and our cause is just. We pray to God that we will prevail, overwhelmingly and without loss of innocent life.”