January 07, 2020 04:55 PM UTC

BREAKING: Iran Launches Missile Attack Against U.S. Base in Iraq

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• by: Colorado Pols

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: As CNN reports, there have been no reported American casualties from last night’s missile attack by Iran on American bases in Iraq–and it appears that may have been design, with the Iranians trying to de-escalate the situation while still appearing tough:

Wednesday morning’s missile strikes against al-Asad airbase and Erbil airport — both of which play host to US troops — were clearly not an act designed to kill the most Americans possible…

The missile attacks don’t make sense if Tehran’s goal was to really hurt US troops in large numbers — as some had been pledging to do.

They do make sense, however, as the execution of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s order to strike back openly, military-to-military, in response to the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

Or, maybe Iranian missiles are just crappy. Either way, it’s being interpreted as restraint.

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As NBC News reports:

A U.S. military air base in Iraq’s Al Anbar province was hit by more than two dozen ballistic missiles from Iran on Wednesday local time, according to the Department of Defense.

“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Assad and Irbil,” the department said in a statement.

It is unclear whether there is any damage to Al-Assad air base or whether there are any casualties.

Iranian state TV described it as Tehran’s revenge operation over the killing of top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, according to the Associated Press. NBC News has not confirmed the report.

Obviously we will update this post as more information becomes available.