Mortars. Iran is claiming tens of mill isles have been launched. Well go to Mark Meredith in washington, d. C. Who versus further information. Reporter we are trying to find out exactly where the attacks have been taking place. Where the bases are in iraq and what the damage will be. President trump has been briefed on whats been going on. The white house put out a statement 15er 20 minutes ago saying the white house is aware of attacks on u. S. Facilities in iraq. The president is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his National Security team. We have not heard exactly how the u. S. Will decide to respond to an attack. The americans that are based at these different facilities all across iraq, and what the damage will look like. We have seen the images starting to pop up on social media from groups trying to show these were the missile launches and rocket attacks. Attacks. We have heard from some lawmakers including chris murphy saying hes praying for all the troops stationed in iraq. We are trying to find out if congressional leaders were notified about whats going on. There was a report that speaker me lowsy ma mat speaker peloy have had a chance to be briefed on what was going on. What will this mean for u. S. Infrastructure over there. And what will it mean for the American Service members based there in iraq. They didnt expect any more news to happen this evening at the white house. We saw some reporters making their way back. Its snowing in washington. A number of the government offices closed early today to make sure people could get home to beat the storm. Its unclear whether that would have impacted anybody at the pentagon or anybody needing to be on hand to be abreast of whats happening in iraq. We have not heard the official update, but we are waiting to to find out whether some congressional leaders knew what iran was doing as it was unfolding. We are waiting to see as it unfolds in the next couple minutes. Lou mark, thank you very much. Mark meredith reporting from washington. Mark talked about the number of government offices, including the pentagon, where people have been sent home. It seems markedly trivial against the backdrop of the actions taken by the iranians, the dimensions we do not know at this hour. We know as many as six missiles have been and have hit the alasad base 100 miles west of baghdad. And we have no reports of damage or casualties as a result. Joining us now, the former state Department OfficialChristian Whiton serving in the bush and trump administrations. And christian, good to see you tonight. This very troubling development, missiles hitting a very important iraqi base, a significant air force base as well as hub for transportation, supply and of course the movement of iraqi and u. S. Forces. Its a particularly vicious thing to do. We dont know the extent of the damage. Hopefully no one was hurt. But u. S. Forces are in this base and have been for some time. In iraq we were helping the iraqis to rid their country of isis. Thats the reason we are there. Isis had taken over half the country if we had not gone in and helped them get rid of it. It puts in context the evil viciousness of the Iranian Regime. I think they miscalculated badly. I expected a retaliation from a proxy of iran. I assume the president is going to want to wait to judge the damage and understand whats coming next and whats behind the iranian motivation. But this is fundamentally stupid and reckless. This regime that has torn up the middle east for decades is a functioning in a vicious manner. Lou their calculations, they were overt. The ayatollah ordering a direct retaliation by iran rather than use proxies, which is their customary response whether attack innocents or other forces, including those in the United States. Some people forget. Most of us will never forget. Iran was responsible for as many as a third of our casualties in iraq and were never held to account. That may be about to change. This president , christian, said there will be 52 targets that have been decided upon, selected by the president in response to any attack on american interests or an attack on americans of any kind. This certainly teams to fall within that framework. This is a recurring feature in history and the history of the United States. Despots around the world who would do us harm always underestimate the will of the American People and of our leaders time and again going back to the war of 1812, going back to the revolutionary war. People look at us and they think democracies are weak. They see our political debates and mistake democratic debates for weakness. Iran has been conditioned by previous president s to expect no big reaction. If you look when they took our diplomats hostage when this regime came to power 40 years ago, jimmy carter attempted a rescue with the military than was no followup. They killed people at the khobar tower barracks. I think the retaliation will be at a time and lace of our choosing. Lou the time and place seems to be within iran. The up reply cases here, nato, standing solidly with President Trump and the United States on iran. The possibilities here for iran it seems on its face seems to be utterly i will logical and selfdestructive. They will have a lot of help in that with the United States responding as the president has made clear well. What do you see in terms of the alliance, their roles and the coalition. The allies i am more concerned with are saudi arabia and the United Arab Emirates who have spent a lot of money purchasing weapons from the United States. Nato has a limited role to play. They will be with us in some respect, but youer in know. Britain, france and germany have been trying to help the iranian government get out of secondary sanctions. Nato hasnt played a strong role. The germans have said some strong things and the brits i believe sent forces to the gulf. But the more fundamentally important ally are the partners in the middle east, and i bet they will be behind us. They have been impressed with President Trumps resolve, doing the iran deal that frankly went the wrong way encouraging iran to do this type of thing against us. I think well have the partnerships in place. And hopefully there have been a number of options. If the president does order a target of Irans Nuclear facilities. Thats the key game changer in the middle east we dont want to happen. Lou nato, to me its interesting whether they will continue what had been unity with the United States. Now that the iranians have taken this hostile action. There is no question about israel and the emirates in egypt as well as saudi arabia, kuwait. Because we are their only their only resource should iran turn their retaliation toward them. Thats right. We have a partnership thats longstanding. The saudis have highly sophisticated weapons systems. This is something President Trump has led very strongly on in approving arms sales and sucking members of the u. S. Congress who wanted to digs represent the sale of arms over human rights issues. This will pay off now. The military President Trump has built, restored to the budget, got out of the obama era sequester which had deprived our military of the resources it needed. And thats very important because we cant assemble a military overnight. John rumsfeld got in trouble for saying you go to war with the military you have. Thought its a blunt statement of fact. The extent of the damage in what the president will do. Thank god he has the options at his fingertips to do what is necessary to defend us against this islamist regime that has seen itself at war with us the past four years. And we have just begun to recognize and begun to push back. This is a regime that wanted to set off a bomb in washington, d. C. In the last administration and wanted to assassinate an ambassador in the United States. This isnt just a middle east problem. Lou and it hasnt been for a very lock time. Christian whiton. If we could ask you to stay with us through the hour for your insight as we gain more information about the attack on the alasad air base. Approximately 5 30 p. M. According to the pentagon statement eastern time, iran launched more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles against u. S. Military and Coalition Forces in iraq. It is clear these missiles were launched from iran and targeted at least two Iraqi Military bases mosing u. S. Military and Coalition Personnel at alasad and and i are. Billatal alasad and irbil. Unless they were launched without warheads, its hard to imagine there wouldnt be considerable damage if indeed they truck their targets. Right. This does answer some of the initial questions we have as the fog of war starts to recede. A Ballistic Missile gets lobbed. It cruises like an airplane just above the ground. Its very easy to track a ballistic path. The fact that there are two targets involved means this wasnt just meant as a limited gesture of retaliation. But it was an attempt to degrade our military capabilities in this region. It increases the chances of damage. We hope and pray no mayor cabs or iraqis were killed in this, but it would be unlikely if that were the case. This is a very, very bad miscalculation from a regime that, you know, seems not to understand basic facts of whats likely to happen as a result of this. Lou this is video that we just brought in during the attack as you see there in what appears to be an aircraft as best i can determine not a missile, but this is at least the video we are getting in. And there is to this point no sign of an impact of any kind. So im not quite sure what to make of it. Christian, your thoughts . Its very hard to tell. That could be an aircraft scrambled in response. If it were a missile it would be a cruise missile. Lou we know they are Ballistic Missiles. That might be a response by u. S. Forces in the region to put up a bit of a shield based on early information. Lou as we get more information, well take a quick break. Well be on the story. Joining Christian Whiton will be sebastian gorka. Two air bases in iraq carrying each of them with u. S. 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Reporter reports indicate more than 30 surfacetosurface missiles have been fired toward the Al Asad Air Base in iraq. Missiles are coming from iranian territory. At this point we do not know. All we have are the statements from the iranians this week saying they were going to strike back as a result of president making the decision to take out the iranian it in leader qassem soleimani. What started out and looked like it was going to be taken ongoing proxy war. Something we have seen often in the region has turned to using missiles fired from iran into iraqi territory. We saw a number of statements from President Trump and the iranians. It seems like a pingpong, if you strike us, well strike. But what we have seen is missiles being fired toward an iraqi base with u. S. Troops. President trump this week a number of times indicating he would strike back at iran and would be willing to hit some of their cultural sites. The president confirming much of that information today with john roberts saying he would be willing to strike iran within its own territory. This is a major step forward in this larger conflicts of what we have seen unfold in the region. They were targeting westernlinked oil infrastructure. We saw the iranians shooting down a u. S. Drone. The president saying he was watching but wasnt going to respond. Even striking at the largest oilfield in the world in saudi arabia. It took killing an American Contractor and injuring four American Service members for President Trump to respond. He struck hezbollah, and that led to the embassy being stormed in baghdad. And after all that unfolding, the drone strike outside of Baghdad International airport killing a militia leader and a member of the Iranian Military. Iraq is caught in the middle of what is an escalating conflicts between the u. S. And iran. 30 missiles have been fired toward an iraqi base that contains u. S. Forces. Lou there in baghdad, any sign of street demonstrations . Any kind of civil unrest there . Its been very quiet in baghdad today. Most of the people we were talking about earlier in our report. They said they hope things remain calm. So many people in baghdad have lived through so many conflicts. Right now in baghdad things are calm and the the two bases are in Northern Iraq in irbil, this is kurdistan in kurdish territory and the Al Asad Air Base. They are iraqi bases housing american troops. Then camp hajii close to baghdad. We have not been able to confirm those reports. But in the past baghdad has seen a number of parts of this conflict hitting the city. Just a few days ago there were five rockets fired into the green zone. U. S. Forces have been on high alert out of concern. We have seen american apache helicopters throughout the Late Afternoon and the early evening firing flares to make sure the american personnel in baghdad remain safe. Lou those Service Members dispatched to baghdad to protect the embassy a u. S. Personnel there, they are in the helicopter protection overhead, is it almost constant now . In the laid afternoon it is. Right as the sun is about to go down, we have seen helicopter activity. And right when it gets dark you can see when they are firing the flares to avoid getting shot down. The concern is the iranianbacked shiia militias, there are a number of them operating would ultimately try to target American Forces. The president did dispatch American Marines after the siege last week. The bigger concern from civilians on the ground, there are concerns that if you are not supporting the Iranian Regime or the iranian backed militias that you could be a target. As an american citizen in baghdad, you are a target. All americans have been urged to leave iraq. Many airlines in the region have stopped flights to baghdad. Jordannian air stopped flights to get here. So not only will we see airlines and other personnel limiting the times and places you can get into iraq. The Canadian Military announced they are removing all troops assisting u. S. Forces. They are moving those troops to kuwait where President Trump dispatched 8,000 troops from north carolina. The concern for the United States and allies in the region. An attack like this could happen. More than 30 missiles, surfacetosurface missiles toward a base that houses u. S. Troops. This was the nightmare scenario everyone was talk about. This is a pages today laying. There are a number of iranian proxies in the region and in syria. Many are iranianbacked militia groups. Lou trey, stay safe. Well be hoping for the very best for everyone there in iraq. Attacks on two bases, irbil and al asad base. We are learning iran fired more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles at those bases. The pentagon telling us they are making early battle assessments with very Little Information obviously. They have a great deal more than we do at this point. But we do know there have been at least 6 iranian missiles strike the base in which 500 of our troops are stationed at al asad about 100 miles west of baghdad. Christian whiton is still with us. A state Department Senior