# How concerned should we be ? Retaliatory Iran/Hezbollah response to Soleimani death? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932 "2020-01-04T13:38:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/21 "2020-01-05T00:51:23Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Cool, so in summary, we’re going back to war in Iraq as well in Iran, and we’re firing on civilians. This will go well. Bad summary. In summary and rockets will be ineffective on that target, will probably not even hit the intended target, and any attempt to make it a sustained attack will be met with Hellfire missiles. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/22 "2020-01-05T02:34:07Z")
None, nothing , no worries. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/23 "2020-01-05T08:30:49Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Yeah–Trump will happily start another Vietnam/Iraq-style invasion if that’s what it takes for him to get re-elected. I’ve been expecting this. I’ve said if this POTUS feels his financials are about to be revealed, unarguably showing his treasons, he’d wag the dog for diversion. Any Iranian response will justify escalation, then state of emergency, then martial law. This game is for keeps, folks. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/24 "2020-01-05T08:40:35Z")
I’d say I’m slightly to moderately worried. On the one hand, I live a few blocks away from the Kiryah (the Israeli version of the Pentagon) in Tel Aviv, so if the Iranians decide to lob some missiles in our direction, my apartment has a fairly good chance of getting hit. But I doubt they’ll do that. They know that if they bomb Israeli cities, we’ll bomb Iranian cities, and I don’t think they want to go that far quite yet. If they do decide to go after us, they’ll probably fire at military targets or at Israeli or Jewish targets abroad. Still, I’m keeping one ear open for the air raid sirens. I think my son will be having a missile drill today in school, too. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/25 "2020-01-05T11:40:23Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > all I’m sure of is it won’t make things any better I don’t usually “do” optimism, but here’s an attempt: It might lead to (or rather, hasten) America being pushed out of Iraq, which in the long run would be a very good thing indeed for all parties involved. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/26 "2020-01-05T13:56:48Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I think this line is actually the argument against military intervention. Even the biggest terrorist attacks only pose a tiny threat to most Americans, so it is/was stupid to start a giant war over it. > > It seems like we’ve already decided to risk war, but we should still try to remember that it’s virtually impossible the terrorists will hit your home on 123 Elm Street, so it’s appropriate for the US to be prudent and restrained in its response. That’s hardly an argument at all. Killing several thousand people and causing billions in damages in a major American city is actually a pretty good justification for a giant war. What is “stupid” is not having a clear objective of that war beyond “kill terrorists in Afghanistan”. Starting a second giant war by invading another country that had nothing to do with the attacks is stupid ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/27 "2020-01-05T14:29:29Z")
Am I allowed to be concerned about both drunk drivers \*and \*the Mideast? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/28 "2020-01-05T14:55:16Z")
Leaving Iraq will be a big boost to Iran’s interests. It will also make the US military’s mission in Syria much harder… It won’t effect American security at home for awhile. But it’s inevitable that terror training camps will get established. The terrorist groups will regain lost territory in Syria. The US homeland will always be a priority target. > **[Iraq's parliament may be about to do President Trump a big fat favor](https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/iraqs-parliament-may-be-about-to-do-president-trump-a-big-fat-favor/)** > > The biggest favor the Iraqi Parliament can do for US President Donald J. Trump right now is to vote to evict the United States from Iraq. The US president has been clear on his preference for drawing down the US presence in the region rather than... > [@](#): > > The biggest favor the Iraqi Parliament can do for US President Donald J. Trump right now is to vote to evict the United States from Iraq. The US president has been clear on his preference for drawing down the US presence in the region rather than beefing it up. Right now, he is asking his advisers why the United States should stay in Iraq, where the two stated missions are to train the Iraqi Security Forces and conduct counterterrorism operations. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/29 "2020-01-05T15:05:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Trump has a big extended family. > > I don’t even want to think about the US response to an attack against any of them. I would imagine it 2would be war, and sadly it would be justified. Soleimani, at least, was a soldier. However much Eric Trump might be a detestable little turd, killing a civilian for the “offense” of being related to a head of state is taking this to an entirely new level. A proportionate response would be the killing of a U.S. general, in Iraq, who was an active party in violence there. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/30 "2020-01-05T15:29:55Z")
> [@Isosleepy](#): > > Wouldn’t want to be on a tanker in the strait of Hormuz. Wouldn’t want to be in Iraq or Dubai. Other than that, odds of Iranian response affecting me personally are very low. I’m glad to hear you don’t patronize Trump hotels (or any other entity so branded). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/31 "2020-01-05T15:44:24Z")
:eek: I hadn’t considered the Trump resorts and hotels. They would be considered soft targets. Easy pickings with a lot of casualties. They can’t all be quickly secured before something happens. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/32 "2020-01-05T15:45:35Z")
Deleted, Duplicate post ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/33 "2020-01-05T15:50:52Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > :eek: > > I hadn’t considered the Trump resorts and hotels. They would be considered soft targets. Easy pickings with a lot of casualties. > > They can’t all be quickly secured before something happens. Plus it would hit him in the pocketbook. A win-win for Iran. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/34 "2020-01-05T16:07:38Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > But it’s inevitable that terror training camps will get established. By Iran, you mean, to strike against the American homeland? I wouldn’t be so sure. They’d have very little to gain. > [@aceplace57](#): > > The terrorist groups will regain lost territory in Syria. What terrorist groups? If you’re talking about the Sunni jihadist groups involved in Syria’s civil war, the tide has already turned against them. An American departure wouldn’t change that. > [@aceplace57](#): > > The US homeland will always be a priority target. For the aforementioned Sunni jihadists, maybe so. For Iran and their friends? Again, I wouldn’t be so sure. They have bigger priorities, and bigger plans. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/35 "2020-01-05T16:34:45Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > I’m glad to hear you don’t patronize Trump hotels (or any other entity so branded). Why ever would I? I played one round of golf on a Trump property once (not my choice). It looked like what I imagine a colorblind Albanian pimp’s idea of “luxurious” might look like. Assuming this is some sort of design philosophy, I felt no need to ever visit any other Trump-branded property. But for those less easily aesthetically offended, who do patronize such, I can imagine them making alternate choices. More so in abroad Trump places than US ones. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/36 "2020-01-05T17:12:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > :eek: > > I hadn’t considered the Trump resorts and hotels. They would be considered soft targets. Easy pickings with a lot of casualties. > > They can’t all be quickly secured before something happens. Disguise yourself as a Russian and you can walk right in. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/37 "2020-01-05T17:21:24Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > and any attempt to make it a sustained attack will be met with Hellfire missiles. Though with the Iraqi parliament already clamoring for the US military to leave the country, it seems equally likely that we’ll be evacuating the embassy via helicopter a-la Khe Sanh. If the Iraqi government asks us to leave, and we don’t leave, and we’re firing Hellfire missiles, now we’re officially a hostile military operating in Iraq again. At war, in other words. Firing into densely populated areas, per your post. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/38 "2020-01-05T17:23:19Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Is this the new line to justify the administration? > > 4000 US soldiers died in the Iraq war, so should we not take it seriously since opiates kill a hundred times more people? - 3000 killed on 9/11 vs. \> 10,000 DUI deaths _each & every year_ since 9/11. I’m much more afraid driving home after the Super Bowl. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/39 "2020-01-05T17:27:44Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > . . . it seems equally likely that we’ll be evacuating the embassy via helicopter a-la Khe Sanh. . . Pardon the nitpick, but I think you mean Saigon - the [hold on](https://news.unclesamsmisguidedchildren.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/vietnamrefugees.jpg), we’re gone Saigon (which I don’t dispute was another great win for the US, its military, and its prestige in the world). ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2020, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932/40 "2020-01-05T18:38:41Z")
Iraqi Parliament votes to expel all foreign troops. Imho we need to pull out by Jan 30. Leave them to their fate. It’ll erupt into full civil war by the end of the year. The Islamic State,ISIL grabbed Iraqi territory not long after Obama pulled out most of the troops. It required almost two years of heavy fighting for Iraqi and US troops to defeat ISIL. It’s not our concern anymore. I wish we could get out of there within 7 days. > **[Iraqi Parliament votes for plan to end US troop presence in Iraq after...](https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/05/world/soleimani-us-iran-attack/index.html)** > > The Iraqi Parliament voted Sunday to obligate Iraq's government "to work towards ending the presence of all foreign troops on Iraqi soil," according to the media office of the Iraqi Parliament. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concerned-should-we-be-retaliatory-iran-hezbollah-response-to-soleimani-death/845932.md?page=3)