Transcripts For ALJAZ The Men Who Stole The World 20240713

President what he wants to hear ok mr kimmitt for the moment thanks very much youre watching aljazeera and our continuing coverage of developing news out of iraq more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles have been fired at u. S. Facilities in iraq at least 2 iraqi air bases were targeted one bill and the other one at the. Base in the province of anbar iran state t. V. Says the revolutionary guards launched tens of surface to surface missiles the u. S. Assistant to the secretary of defense ensued a statement it confirms iran launched more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles against u. S. Military and Coalition Forces in iraq it is clear that these missiles were launched from iran and targeted at least 2 Iraqi Military bases hosting u. S. Military and coalition personnel. And bill the statement goes on to say we will take whole necessary measures to protect and defend u. S. Personnel partners and allies in the region were in conversation with mark kimmitt formerly an assistant secretary for Political Military Affairs under the george w. Bush administration he joins us from washington so were pretty clear on what they feel their options might be mark kimmitt will there be pause for thought in the white house right now as they are having that meeting in the situation room as to the optics around a tit for tat situation that can change that can descend into being something completely different very quickly. Well it certainly can but when you talk about the optics its interesting isnt it that iranians fired their missiles at exactly the sign same time that missile was fired across from seoul monny so theres obviously some optics being worked on both sides the photo of the of the Senior Iranian officials looking at the screen as iranian missiles are being fired so i think both sides understand that optics are important here that youre not only trying to achieve a military target but youre also trying to get a message out so i think its happening on both sides is that why they went for an airbase that donald trump himself is it is in december of 2800 do you think. It could well be all president s have visited aside i was with president bush when he visited assad in believe it was 2007 so that is a very large concentration but i think its also important to understand that it is among. The furthest bases west inside of iraq it could also be a very clear signal to the israelis that they have a reach that theyre not just firing at bases near baghdad but the reaching all the way across baghdad iraq and if they can reach all the way across iraq they can reach all the way into israel can i ask you one final question mr kimmitt relating to all pertaining to mr trumps News Conference inside the oval office a little earlier today not directly specifically to what were discussing now and because that is maybe still ongoing but when he talks about how we have eradicated. From iraq he didnt go all on to flesh that out because the reality is that yes the u. S. Led coalition in iraq eradicated by and large i still from its strongholds up and down iraq arguably theyre regrouping in places like the southern half of libya but he should have gone on should should he not can i suggest you to say with the help of the militia on the ground in iraq and some of the analysts we were talking to last friday and saturday was saying well there was a a revolving door relationship between the militia that worked for mani and the other militia that the United States was working with to get rid of eisel. Well i think we can be more specific than that we had a relationship with the p. M. S. Through the Iraqi Security forces we would not provide air support or the p. M. S. We would not provide equipment directly to the e. M. F. But obviously the Iraqi Security forces did so nobodys taking away from the p. M. S. Valor and heroics on the battlefield against isis they were the 1st of the battlefield after the fatwa from notch off far sooner than the reconstructed and re formulated Iraqi Security forces so we shouldnt take away from the p. M. S. Their valor on the battlefield or their accomplishments on the battlefield its not the fight against isis that is relevant it is what theyve done in the post fight against isis that is relevant ok mr kimmitt good to talk to you as a many thanks lets talk to our big hes our correspondent on the line for us out of tehran and again i said were guessing this kind of drip drip of statements coming through what else are we hearing. Well whats coming out of iran is that this is a retaliation for the assassination of course and so the money this is not an escalation from irans perspective to a all out war or a wider conflict and theyve given the United States the option so essentially what iran is saying is dont retaliate to this because if you do then we will have to retaliate again so it depends on what action United States takes from now we know that tens of missiles were fired from iran to United States bases in iraq we know that theres been 2 waves of attacks thats been confirmed on state media here the revolutionary guard corps has issued statements that sent out warnings theyve also said that if there is a retaliation using bases from regional countries iran will target those countries theyve also said that any attack. That is launched against iran iran does not see israel as a separate entity from the United States so this could if the United States retaliates to this attack this does threaten drawing in israel and other countries into what could be a wider conflict which i guess is a manifestation of why particularly 2 high profile countries in this region have been signaling since friday very clearly to the United States look please handle this properly because we might our names might be in the frame here. Yes the countries are very nervous at the moment we have to understand the position that iran holds the strait of hormuz that 20 percent of the worlds oil passes through and that waterway between iran and or mine is only 33 kilometers wide at its narrowest point and the shipping lanes only about 3 kilometers wide so if this does escalate iran has already said that they have the ability to close down the strait of her most rich could have global ramifications the countries the regional countries theyve been asking the United States to have some restraint we know that country foreign minister was here and he had asked iran for restraint but the response from iran was that theyre all out of patience and restraint after the assassination of them so the money so this from iraq to step perspective is revenge for this as a nation of course and so the money he was his burial at the 4th day of mourning was just. Just last night we saw crowds coming out onto the streets filling up the sphere his home city of kut amman. On monday we saw his funeral take place and the horizon with the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini led those prayers and crowds that large though that many people act in the streets had not been seen in iran for 30 years in this since the funeral of the founder of this planet republic like the last for many so the government here the authorities here the political establishment here does have widespread support right now because people on the streets were asking for revenge the politicians said that they would carry out prevention the military lead to the same that there would retaliate and thats exactly what theyve done. We have 3 correspondents monitoring these ongoing developments in real time as big as youve just been hearing there is in tehran osama bin jabez in baghdad john hendren is in washington d. C. Lets go to you john so there in the situation room were talking about mr s. But were talking about mr pompei were talking clearly about donald trump the u. S. President the cia and i guess the 1st thing theyll want to hear they want to hear from the base commanders who are running the shows who have been hit in the past couple of hours. Thats right one of the 1st things are going to want to know is how many people have been wounded or killed and as we were as you were discussing a little earlier it was one death that seemed to prompt the assassination of super money. This could be another major reason for retaliation on the u. S. For the 1st thing theyre going to want to do is assess exactly what has happened in those attacks and i cant confirm this but i am seeing multiple reports that a 3rd base has been struck in taji again we cant confirm that and seeing a number of reports from local media that that is the case if so that would mean that much to iran has struck Northern Iraq hitting the kurdish territory it is struck al Anbar Province and about 27 kilometers north of baghdad in taji so theres a real possibility for some major rep oppressions from this deaths injuries and that is going to be the information that the white house is feeling in one suspects that if it is bad and not that we might hear from the white house within the next 24 hours or so theyre going to want to respond to this either in a statement or possibly even the president himself so theyre going to be in those rooms right now is sensing exactly what happens i dont think were going to expect to hear from them until you know exactly what that is and thats going to require these attacks to come to an end and its not clear to me that that has happened yet so this appears to be multiple layers of attack to run in that square conversation is taking place john between mr trump mr pompei and assess the cia and they got a handle on what actually happened at least we now understand perhaps 3 bases. Who is the person saying to the trumpet ministration broadly look this is a very very dangerous and yet incredibly new almost situation youve got to react accordingly or maybe mr trump doesnt feel the pressure to react to a new one situation because he is a free range kind of guy even when it comes to this kind of thing you know what the pentagon will generally do what the defense secretary will generally do is present a series of options and that is apparently what happened when the money was killed the president was at mar a lago it was during the holidays this is his vacation resort in florida and he was apparently pulled out of a celebration and was presented with a number of different options for things that the military could do. And he picked what by all reports was the most extreme of them so there may not be anybody in there suggesting that he measure his tone and if there would be anybody with the authority to do that it would be the defense secretary or mike pump aoe the secretary of state who by all reports was aggressively in favor even pushing trump toward killing school money so youll have an entire National Security staff there likely the president is being presented with. A bunch of options that as mark kimmitt discussed earlier are all going to have been on the shelf for quite some time they will have prepared for this and now he will be picking what exactly the white house is going to do and thats going to be based in part on how many casualties there are but i guess as well you dont have to be a military strategists to know there is no perfect reaction to this situation given if only the adoration that we apparently soul from hundreds of thousands of people on the ground in iran what donald trump does unless he does nothing at all is going to get a highly negative reaction in tehran and in fact that. Absolutely there is incredibly dangerous risk of creeping escalation if this attack results in massive casualties the temptation for the president and its generally in his nature would be to. Go with a more dramatic response and to run has already as weve all been discussing has already warned against that would certainly launch another series of retaliatory attacks by to iran. This is a really dangerous place in vats going to be what theyre discussing theyre going to be sitting in that room discussing. What is a response that will be Strong Enough to satisfy the dignity of the American People and and the troops who have been either killed or injured or at least attacked in this case but will stop short of prompting a full scale war or a more dramatic escalation from tehran thats going to the calibration that they will be discussing whether they get it right bill and thats a matter of your history thats a matter for history to decide john thanks very much well events been moving very quickly in the past 4 and a half 5 hours now before the news broke that perhaps 3 bases have been targeted by irans revolutionary guard forces with 2 waves of missiles hitting that. Base to turn off hours ago mr trump before that that had an impromptu News Conference along with the current Prime Minister inside the white house he was talking about the killing of cillin mani as quotes having saved a lot of lives and many countries have thanked him he said he also went on to say cinnamon he was planning imminent attacks with more details to be revealed to congress on wednesday. We had tremendous information weve been following for him for a long time and we followed his path for those 3 days and they were not good steps we didnt like where he was stopping they were not good steps we saved a lot of lives hes been called a monster and he was a monster and hes no longer a monster hes dead and thats a good thing for a lot of countries and he was planning a very big attack in a very bad attack for us and other people and we stopped him ok lets bring in a friend of aljazeera lawrence called former u. S. Assistant secretary of defense he joins us on skype from washington lawrence great to have you back here on the program as. Well as your reading of where we are right now. Well basically President Trump has no good options he thought that killing so monica would put a stop to this tit for tat the well were sponsors he does not want to get the United States and a big war with iran i may not read it much bigger for example that iraq but on the other hand he doesnt want to look weak because basically he thought that killing so all the money will flow to stop through all of this and remember he ran as the president who is going to get us out of these wars if you count the troops he sent then after the bin the recent attacks on the u. S. Faces andy samberg we have 60000 troops in the region right now and so he has no good options and it will be passe to see what he does we do remember after the membrane iranians blew up the Saudi Oil Fields he didnt retaliate the iranians may have taken matters of signal that they could you know question by attacking the american bases and kill a. Contractor and of course that he retaliated by filling general salt so a lot of that religion is going to be are there any americans that are still in these attacks on the 2 or maybe 3 faces some of the information im saying suggests that they are rating and sometimes they are rocky portion of the bases where the troops are. Not not together. Interesting when you talk about his reaction might be colored by his desire or his administrations desire perhaps to broaden it slightly not to look weak in the face of what might still be ongoing as you and i are talking but looking at the announcements coming out to tehran there is a certain goading element to what theyre saying i think thats a fair interpretation of these little bullet points that were getting from the revolutionary guard but if donald trump doesnt have any good options whats his least worst option well i think is least work option would be to maybe. Attack it on a rainy and share for example in the strait of up hormuz or to basically on hit some of the a rainy enforces that order in iraq those are the plans for things like that he can do and now we get we have the whole situation with iraq what how are the iraqis going to say whatever his responses will it get them to want to move the u. S. Forces out which would undermine our security because isis is very you know reconstituting itself not as a caliphate on as a terrorist group whos telling him what to do inside this meeting thats going on inside the White House Well well basically i think hes going to get the options secretary asked for has come out today and say he would not attack the cultural sites remember the president said that if the iranians retaliate hes going to have 52. 00 sides to basically because thats already hostages the iranians took 9879. 00 would he attack any of those or maybe attack one or 2 of those sites but not the cultural sites. We have seen donald trump in the past on several occasions to do with several aspects of his relationships with other World Leaders around the globe say one thing and then 234 weeks later his secretary of state says Something Else so the policy which was kind of delivered on the whole if tilts into being Something Else but this is the most crucial moment of the Trump Presidency surely oh no doubt about it because he put it in south and there even today brooke what we know about these he said he would respond forcefully if the iranians even something out of course they have got something and so this puts him in a very very good home concession secretary pomfret always very rocky as hes wanted to go where so many white quite a while to be interesting to see what secretary aspart now is because likely all military aid will know that a widespread conflict were going to rock would be much worse than happened in iran and you know remorse several 1000 people there are. In iraq and look at the situation now and it seems to be you dont want to raiding insider lines. Lawrence korb there in the states thank you very much just to remind us of a developing story out of iraq and weve done normal shuttle to bring you continuing coverage iran says has launched more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles at u. S. Facilities in iraq at least 2 bases have been taught that is one in a bill and the other one is the base in the province of irans revolutionary guard has issued a warning to u. S. Allies in the region saying theyll be attacked if they countries are used to strikes against tehran. Lets go to baker who is our correspondent in tehran any clarity yet as to whether this is 2 bases attack twice both has there been an attack on a 3rd base as well. At the moment were not sure but what i can tell you its news coming out of this news agency which has links to the revolutionary guard here now what were hearing is that these missiles could have been launched from the West Province which is the closest ring in sight to the u. S. Space anan acid which is about 322 kilometers away theres a possibility that these attacks on the years base were going from the province to the missiles that could have been used and this is all just coming from other sources currently which is a 4313 which has a range of around 500 kilometers the i. R. G. C. Has said when they carried out these attacks around 1 32 am local time that it was trying to fulfill their promise this at that tens of missiles had been fired and assads base used to describe the capital of the United States in iraq and they said that they are sending a message to the great satan to the arrogant United States but theyve also want that any retaliation could result in a wider conflict and of specifically highlighted israel that they do not see any differentiation between israel and the United States but iran is also making clear that this is a retaliation for the assassination of course and so the money essentially gives the United States an attitude because iran does not want an all out war does not want an escalation this saying this is a retaliation for a single act but if they are attacked if the United States does retaliate iran has warned for further escalation further retaliation and remember iran has proxies and allies and militias in the region that have militias in iraq they have the hutu rebels in yemen they have his the law in lebanon to have also been a presence of militias in syria so this could escalate very quickly if the United States. Once these missile attacks have been carried out this morning in iran local time some of the analysts weve been talking to in the past 2 hours of all been saying the same thing and its this theres certain theres a certain kind of manipulation of the optics going on here and part of the appeal for targeting the al assad base was because donald trump visited that base in cells in december of 2018 now as a one off or 2 off spectacular ok from a Military Point of view will go with that from a planning point of view yes but can iran sustain this because the other thing that everyone is saying is iran cannot maintain asymmetric situation of war squaring off against the United States. Well theres no doubt that the United States has overwhelming firepower i think everyone knows that but iran does have the ability to change the face of the middle east and we have to be clear about that if you look at the positioning of iran regionally and the strait of hormuz strait 20 percent of the worlds oil passes through the narrowest point between iran and oman is only 33. 00 klunk just wide those waterways those those shipping lanes are only 3 kilometers or white now iran can close the strait of hormuz we dont know how long they will be able to sustain that but that would cause Global Disruption iran does have the ability to strike United States bases in regional countries and it earlier on yesterday there was some talk about 1000 bases in the region that statement was quickly retracted from within iran but they do have the ability to target those bases has been like in lebanon have missiles they can target israel or the hutu rebels have shown that they can target saudi arabia and and shia militias inside iraq have said that if iran is attacked they will target u. S. Bases and u. S. Forces so iran cannot have a direct conflict with the United States but they will give it a goal but look there is no appetite for a full out war here iran is making it very clear that this is a retaliation for the assassination of general sense of the man they dont want to know without a whole United States said that they do not want. Of a wider conflict so its really the ball is really in the United States court currently if they retaliate to this iran again will be forced to for the escalate and remember the hundreds of thousands of people out on the streets across iran for the funeral and the 3 days of 4 days of mourning for general gazans are the money the government the political establishment head does have Popular Support. This wasnt the case back in november where there were antigovernment protests taking place the this as a nation of governance of the money by the United States has mobilized people in support of the government and the poor in support of the political establishment and there have been calls for revenge from the streets of iran not just from the politicians not just from the military does not just from the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini but from the people on the streets we heard it in that ran on monday the word that was being used as in the current the calm which is the farsi word for revenge and that was echoed again over the last 4 days so there is Popular Support and that would be support for that sense that iran has taken this that today but is an appetite for a white escalation no there isnt a said thanks very much lets talk to Joshua Landis hes the director of the center for middle east audience at the university of oklahoma who joins us on skype from the city of Norman Joshua welcome back to aljazeera where are we with this just now whats your reading of how difficult how dangerous the situation can get well if you get for going to dangerous because iran is committed to escalating. Zarif the foreign minister and others made it very clear months ago that iran could not afford to capitulate to the United States because they believe the United States wants regime change and would crush them so they have to ask will it ever since President Trump scuttled the you know there has been a step change or escalation and then you know neither side can afford to give in because it looked weak the leaders of both sides have committed to this. Escalation and its hard to see how it how it gets you know where the off ramp is and how you can escalate. On a scale of one to 10 up to this latest situation as of what happened last friday in the early hours of friday morning when customs for the money was assassinated near the airport how would you sum up the u. S. Relationship with iraq i mean on the one hand youve got people saying its always been a complete disaster on the other hand youve got other people saying well actually we gave will the u. S. Gave iraq democracy well you know you can quibble about what kind of government iraq has and certainly there are some iraqis who are happier today than they were under Saddam Hussein but the you know the basic fact is that the United States in order to destroy the order that was in iraq under Saddam Hussein cast the sunni arabs from the top of society down to the bottom and catapulted the shiite arabs who are at the bottom of society previously under Saddam Hussein 60 percent of the population to the top and gave them the government. And the government is run by shiites today they have a majority in parliament and they voted for america to get out they are sympathetic to slow money theyre sympathetic to iran the shiites i unlocked in iraq look at ceylon each sulaimani as a hero he came in he saved them from isis sweeping in possibly going to take baghdad in 2014 he organized the shiite militias he armed them he helped iran helped them to turn back isis so did america but many people are grateful to so muscly money for that sunni arabs many of them look at silly money as a criminal in the same way that george that excuse me in the same way that President Trumped us but iraq is divided the thing is that the shiites have the majority and they voted and they are sympathetic and by and large facility money and thats something that america did they did not understand america did not understand iraqi realities and thats been born in an out time after time weve miscalculated at almost every turn is there any chance joshua in your mind to read it to the iranians have now done is symbolically significant and will be a one off. Its not a one off you know this is a once that the arms deal once they did nuclear deal with scott by President Trump on coming into office he believed he could get a middle better deal thats what he said other people in the Administration Believe that iran is just a bad actor and needed to be crushed and thats you know thats i think what the. What the prevailing mood is and this administration pompei o and others believe that iran is weak its a small actor in the region and america can do a tremendous damage fairly easily and it probably can thats you know of course thats why iran has to has to be extremely cautious in the coming weeks because the United States that really winds up can do a tremendous damage to iran as its done already and we saw that what america did to cut off feet what it did Saddam Hussein and its willing to do you know maybe its willing to do the same thing to iran i think not but it can do a lot of damage to iran and so this is a dangerous escalation we understand joshua that donald trump is going to talk to america he talked to the world within the hour would it be fair if i inferred from that that a decision has been taken i mean is this going to be a george bush desert storm is up and running were doing something kind of moment or will it be were on the reacting were playing it calm. I think weve lost Joshua Landis there in norman in the states well go back to joshua if we can lets. Go back to an earlier conversation we had with ismael also dani a retired iraqi Brigadier General he gave us his view on how far the iranian government may go in terms of retaliation following the assassination of so the money on friday. Iranians are taking the credit to hit back directly they wouldnt even leave their proxies to deliver the message to the americans that is expected and by the way its kind of saving face for them because killing so they money is as is an insult from the americans to iranian establishment to iranian a state as a whole and therefore i think iran ian has to retaliate i mean they are they are compelled to retaliate in a way that will be selecting the target would be with the same. Volume or the size of killing soleimani as well its going to be impacted as well as what has impacted on iran so if youre on has selected this option but i dont think so this is going to be. The only retaliation from iran the conflict has already been begun in air and on and on iraq between the United States and iran iran has proxies and they were delivering always the message to on iraqi soil to americans who are supporting the iraqi forces but i think this time its different than other time the the killing as i said the killing of journalists or they money was an insult to the iranians so i symmetrical where for that that we we are expecting is not going to be. In a way to prevent to show we cannot to prevent this kind of where prayer. By any means. Even by the primitive means i dont think show iranian would be accepting to sit on the table to negotiate any kind of resolution or compromise with the americans. Iranian also well give liberty or freedom to their proxies and region to retaliate in a way they selected so its it for me i think this is the most they can do they dont want to go into a no war we cant say a war that is a comprehensive for a conventional war with the americans because they are unable to do so but also i think americans also do not want to go to the war because that this is in for the war can be easily the started but no one can have the decision to end the war if that attack would be a result of heavy casualties on the americans theres the that would be the retaliation Something Different if there would be no casual it is its only minor casualties or materialistic casualties then. Retaliation will be different also so it depends on the evaluation of her math of the attack and how the american would be reacting towards this kind of attack so in my perspective that the americans will favor to us collation the situation because i think their forces in iraq are vulnerable there are lots of you know nonstate actors could deliver the message or deliver their reaction and that would be causing a lot of kids realty is maybe and therefore i think. You know i said this will go for the us collation the situation. Ok that was an earlier conversation that we had maybe about 90 minutes ago now within the flow of reaction to whats going on in iraq we understand that there has been a meeting convened inside the situation room inside the white house in washington were talking about the cia were talking about mr pompei oh the u. S. Secretary of state were told that mr esper the defense secretary and donald trump mr trump we understand will address the worlds. Address the world address the nation the United States within the hour what does that mean as to the Decision Making process we will have to wait and see but the u. S. Assistant to the secretary of defense did issue a statement about 2 hours ago now confirming iran has launched more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles against u. S. Military and Coalition Forces in iraq it is clear that these missiles were launched from iran and targeted at least 2 Iraqi Military bases hosting u. S. Military and coalition personnel. And bill the statement goes on to say we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend u. S. Personnel partners and allies in the region lets go to john hendren who is our correspondent in washington so john as we wait for the u. S. President on the may be worth saying since the Defense Department put out that statement theres been these reports saying that a 3rd base that may be been targeted as well. Thats right while ive been sitting here my colleague on a brick house has been reaching out to the pentagon where a Senior Defense official said they are only confirming 2 bases have been struck that is erbil in the north of iraq and the al assad base in Anbar Province there were some reports that a base in taji which is about 27 kilometers north of baghdad was struck and the pentagon says that is not the case and the confusion may lie in the fact that these bases are constantly harassed often with shoulder launched rockets or other projectiles so there might have been some confusion over some small incident there but in any case the pentagon is simply saying that 2 bases have been struck and there are initial reports that there are rocky casualties we have heard no reports of american casualties but of course any casualty inside those bases its potential cause for retaliation itll be interesting to see the Iraqi Governments response to that but as you say right now youve got all these officials in washington gathered around the situation room and in that room the president would be flanked by the defense secretary on one side the secretary of state on the other theres a there would also be the director of National Intelligence the head of the cia and of the treasury believe it or not often there is a department of justice official in there that may be to talk about what legalities are involved but in any case of the president is indeed going to speak to us in just a matter of minutes or an hour or so that suggests that they believe that this incident as i was drawing to a close they have been able to assess what the casualties are and they will be they will base their response on the number and the effect of those casualties inside those bases but again those are 2 massive sprawling bases it would take time to scour them and determine exactly what the damage is and by all accounts. That is what has been going on since weve been talking to points join point number one we understand as well now that mr trump will not not be talking to the nation so clearly theres a lot of footwork a delicate footwork going on below the surface when it comes to what theyre planning what theyre thinking about and how they are guessing theyre going to get that out there in the Public Domain but you raise an interesting point there about having the best legal brains in the room the situation room at the same time because youve reminded me of a strand of our conversation from last friday which is this that if the u. S. Goes to war its got to go to congress 1st and theyve got to talk about it. Thats right under the war powers act of 1973 the president can only engage in hostilities for Something Like 48 hours and must go to congress to get approval for a war and congress can cut off any conflict after 60 days now of course the problem right now is that you have a democratic controlled house and Republican Controlled Senate and that Republican Controlled Senate has shown a willingness to go along with President Trump on a number of things but it has drawn the line on on Foreign Affairs policy sanctions with russia for example or something they disagreed with the president on so it is conceivable that congress could take a strong hand here and this may be part of the white house calculus when they talk about on wednesday a matter of hours from now going to congress and presenting the evidence that qassam sulaimani presented some kind of dire and immediate threat to american lives that could be part of the calculus there but the president has also said hes trying to avoid a war the defense secretary marc esper just hours ago here in washington said the Defense Department was not seeking a war but it was essentially prepared to wage war so theoretically the calculus here is to come up with a kind of retaliation that would fall short of engaging in an outright war maybe one of the reasons the president is not coming out is because theyre still waiting to get information on exactly what has happened tonight and whether all of those events are over and i asked about calculus john i mean we were talking to various people in the past hour or so Joshua Landis was saying this that nobody wants to lose face and nobody wants to appear weak but other analysts seem to be pushing for the idea look if you want to go down the road of retaliation talking about the u. S. You cant go further down the road than. Killing cast some sort of money thats the most damaging thing you could do if only because his arc of influence went all the way were being told down to the who sees in yemen and he wasnt a man with a plan he was the plan. Thats right and President Trump has kind of boxed himself into a corner here because hes already said that if iran retaliates as it now clearly has that the u. S. Would indeed retaliate again on iran so hes got a face saving problem if he doesnt retaliate and there would be diplomats some perhaps in that room the situation room weve been talking about it would suggest that you know retaliation might be the appropriate action at this point because the u. S. Is already pre tally ated so to speak and that doesnt really sound like donald trump to me hes a guy who makes makes threats and doesnt want to look weak he has shown a willingness to pull back from military conflict in the past. But if hes issued this threat to retaliate and it will be very difficult for him one suspects given his general nature just simply do nothing at this stage ok john thank you very much a little detour in this story for you at the moment there are still civil air craft in the above iraq flying through a rocky space the federal Aviation Authority has issued emergency restrictions for persian gulf airspace citing potential for miscalculation or mis identification of what that means to flying through space over this region will have to give out a few hours to some of that one and get a handle on that for you lets talk about where we are with this story as all right now iran says its launched more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles at u. S. Facilities in iraq at least 2 bases have been targeted one in a bill and the other one was the base in the province of irans revolutionary guard has issued a warning to israel and other u. S. Allies in the region saying theyll be attacks if they come trees are used for strikes against tehran can be helped it is a correspondent at the white house so kimberly in that building behind you there in the situation room deciding what to do next. Yeah thats exactly right now as john has been reporting the president is not making any decisions on his own he is flanked by the u. S. Secretary of defense the u. S. Secretary of state the chair of the joint chiefs of staff but this is certainly something as john was discussing the president telegraphed essentially his next move and has backed himself into a corner we remember just a few hours ago the u. S. President was sitting in the oval office flanked by the Prime Minister of greece in which he said very clearly were for pair to attack iran if we have to as retribution he also said if for iran does anything they shouldnt be doing theyre going to be suffering consequences very strongly now the president has always said he doesnt telegraph his next move yet he has done exactly that so people in the United States watching very carefully as i came in here my driver was great to the radio listening to live broadcasts of each and every development and expressing concern saying that his daughter was deployed member of the u. S. Military theres a very real sense of tension here in washington right now the ordinary american is aware that something major has happened and given the fact that most americans dont generally watch the developments that happen in the middle east they tend to be fairly insular this shows the gravity in the significance to the ordinary american and there is a visible presence i should add outside the white house right now given the fact that there are those high profile men and women advising the president as part of his National Security team on next steps there is heightened security outside the white house something we dont typically see at this hour but even that weve seen in some of the major metro stops as i was leaving the white house in the last couple of hours that was also increased security so just to give you a. Sense of the feeling in the mood here in washington it is very tense and there is a realize ation that this president this commander in chief has asked lated this i mean this tit for tat back and forth to a point that most americans are now saying we could be at war and the kaleidoscope of consequences around a tit for times can change so dramatically with one missile thats misfired or hits the wrong target. Indeed and heres the thing that we know from the reporting that the f. A. A. As you said has issued the emergency restriction for persian gulf airspace were also hearing some reporting we cannot confirm this but there are u. S. Military planes now in the air from the base known as diego garcia which we know would have been the sort of launchpad if you will if there was some sort of attack on iran now the question becomes just because the planes are in the air the president still has to make the next decision and that is whether or not those planes potentially f. 35 bombers whether they will strike and so thats what we think is happening right now now this is all speculation none of this has been confirmed and thats why people are watching very carefully to try and determine whether or not the u. S. President would be making some sort of address because we know historically not just this administration but previous administrations in these types of moments we often see the president speak to the nation now we are of as youve confirmed and we have as well that it seems unlikely that is going to happen that doesnt mean the president may or may not act were still trying to read those tea leaves if you will but the president was very clear well again he says he does not telegraph his next move he essentially did just that just a few hours ago in the oval office saying that he would retaliate and it would be proportional very briefly can believe me that you are on. The inside track on pentagon military planning but broadly speaking what will mr trump be ruminating over here when it comes to possible options because the iranians was signaling it very clearly they would they would saying again and again look 3 days of mourning then we will do something and it looks like theyve done it. Well the timing is significant the fact that we know that the United States will often strike in the dark of night so we have to think about the timing. You know its the dark of night here but its very early in the evening often these things if there is going to be some sort of response would come in the Early Morning hours local time in the region so thats one thing to watch for the other thing thats being watched very carefully and the reports that the president would be considering is any sort of response always needs to be somewhat proportional and so there is the question becomes what kind of casualties are we seeing as a result of these attacks on these bases was it americans that were included potentially in these casualties if there are sort of a lengthening list is it iraq east is there consultation with those in theater all of that is taking place so well the u. S. President s often accused of very rash decisions and certainly hes shown evidence of that on social media in recent years there is a highly qualified team of those who make sort of sober 2nd thought careful calculations surrounding him at this moment because i think again there is the recognition in the gravity this is a president that is not that adept when it comes to Foreign Policy this is not his forte he needs to draw on the experience of those advisors which we know are surrounding him in the situation room at this hour campbell he will come back to you soon as there are any more developments in the meantime thank you very much well that missile attack attacks plural indeed they come just hours after the iranian general consumption of money was laid to rest in his hometown come on it signaled an end as weve been hearing to 3 days of mourning but a huge crowds crammed into the funeral procession the city a stampede broke out killing more than 50 people earlier said big census this report from tehran. District of news of family and friends people queue outside the hospital in the city of kind of money inside. The injured feeling hospital beds and being treated in its current course what had begun as a day with large numbers of people turning out to pay their respects to an assassinated commander ending with more death in the streets of his hometown several hours after the funeral of custom so the money began on Tuesday Morning there was a stampede among the crowds the procession turning into a crush and desperate efforts to save the lives of people where they felt. The small city unable to deal with the vast numbers that have converged on it rains from across the country had made their way to come on for what was supposed to be so the moneys final procession. I come here because i love gen so the money im going to be undone mom who i am a sunni from bandon a bass and we want to show that we are also here for him check he had a very Good Management this is something small i can do for gendered celeb money just to come here and even though hes not with us his philosophy continues so the money had requested to be buried in his home city alongside those that had died fighting in the iran iraq war during the 1980 s. He was killed in a u. S. Airstrike in iraq last friday and people are still calling for revenge. The head of irans revolutionary guard made this promise more jam im saying the final word 1st we will avenge harshly be certain be calm we are telling the enemy we will avenge if you respond we will burn that place you love and they themselves know where it is. Politicians gathered in parliament declaring death to america no compromise no surrender and revenge. And voting to designate the pentagon and u. S. Forces terrorist organizations only here. All those who ordered as well as the perpetrators of this crime who are with the pentagon and their military accounted as terrorists for 4 days crowds have taken to the streets to honor and pay their respects to cost and so the money and the tragic events of choosing kind of man have added even more grief before iran decides to take its next move i said big al jazeera to her. We have 4 correspondents covering this story for you john hendren there to the left of your screen in washington big in tehran kimberly health is our White House Correspondent and a summer binge of aid is in baghdad as we get you right up to speed with the latest developments as were getting the information in real time were separating out what we know from what we dont know osama there are developments for us out of baghdad what do you know. Well so far in the last hour or so there has been intense Movement Aerial movement over the green zone here in baghdad low flying. Helicopters as well as some military aircraft can be heard i dont know if you can hear them now at the moment the year there is a lot of movement happening over baghdad it appears to show that there is some events taking place but we cant tell you exactly what it is because theres been no confirmation from the combined joint task force or the Iraqi Government or the Iraqi Air Force what we know so far is that more than a dozen missiles hit the base at least 2 missiles hit or been there are a number of installations that the United States has been according to the Security Forces in the kurdish. Kurdish region of iraq and been there is 2 of these missiles landed in agricultural areas weve seen some pictures of these missiles landing just outside of the airport in a in a village called sea done and another in a close by a village as well so heres this is what we know so far as to volley the missiles fired from iran according to irans i. R. G. C. This is the wave of intense revenge as they call it which has begun over iraqi soil something that the iraqis had been fearing at the 1st one to hit the and then i said to base we have some Iraqi Security officials telling us that there have been iraqi casualties at ein elicit base not declaring whether their injuries are dead or how many there has been but indication that theres been some casualties in a base and the other location which was hit by these missiles was further north in erbil in the Northern Region of kurdistan that is where number of missiles had. Its not yet clear d what was the target or the location of these missiles hitting them but sources in the the kurdish Security Forces have been telling us that there are some Missile Defense capabilities that are present in the care so this is what has been happening in the last 40 minutes and again to reiterate there is. There is another wave of activity in the air over baghdad something which had stopped since the killing of customs in the money in the last week or so this tremendous amount of aerial activity has been seen in baghdad especially after the embassy attacks. Of the u. S. Embassy there was almost constant patrolling in the air by coalition and u. S. Forces after the attack on customs in the money on friday that activity ended until about 24 hours ago and thats when the infamous letter came out and that is when we heard helicopters flying over baghdad again and it is happening again tonight we are also hearing from that any news agency in iran they have been might be some. Movement from out of iran as ben but this is in iraq so far that is what we know shouldnt we or should we have heard osama from the Iraqi Government by now. Well that is the big question although it is just nearly about 5 in the morning here in baghdad there seems to be a crisis mode but it is complete radio silence from the Iraqi Government weve been speaking to our own security for sources our own political sources who have been telling us from what they have what they have been hearing on the ground but they have not said anything about what the government or what the Iraqi Air Force or the iraqi army thinks about this there has been no reaction so far from iraq again iraq has had feared this because iraq has again found itself in the middle of this battle between a regional giant and a world power iraq has been the theater of war for a number of years for and for a number of countries and now yet again it is facing this iranian attack on american facilities after the United States target an iranian general at Baghdad International airport it is intriguing that so far we havent heard anything but a few hours ago we heard from the iraqi Prime Minister that of the met the saying that the only solution out of this crisis the only way to deescalate this is for foreign troops to leave and that is something that hes been reiterating on sunday he went to the cabinet sorry on sunday he went to the parliament. Just a few hours ago he went to his cabinet and repeated almost the same thing saying that the only solution is for u. S. Forces to leave is in the unity of iraq it is not in the favor of the rockies if anything happens and iraq is splintered into blocks and one goes to saudi the other goes to turkey and the end of the goes to iran these were the words of the iraqi Prime Minister saying that unity is of the essence because weve been hearing about such a tremendous believe of revenge that many of these groups which are. Backed and supported by iran many of them calling for about and saying that the blood of the mot is not going to go in vain and they have also been clashing with groups which are opposed to iranian influence in iraq so it is intended as a very tense situation in iraq to iraq find itself in the throes of the security situation where at least 2 bases belonging to the