Do you think there's going to be a WW3?

[mmabear]

Trump scares the hell out of me. Is there going to be WWIII?

Something will probably happen that can't immediately be traced to Iran.

One of the theories about Lockerbie was that it was carried out by Iran in revenge for the shooting down of a Iranian airliner by the US

I don't think there would be WW3 but I think there will be a massive escalation in revenge attacks by extremists in lots of countries with affiliations with the US.

Ww3? No, not with iran, america can take out all of Iranians air asset's and navy within a few days

Then what?

You can have a massive army and Air Force - but that does not help you win wars. Will there be boots on the ground? And body bags coming home?

Yes the US could probably pulverise Iran. But Syria is a close ally of Iran. Syria is backed by Russia and I think also China to a lesser extent. Iran and Russia are also allies. So it’s how much of a ripple effect there is which is the question.

Scary thought is that Putin is probably the one with the most sense out of those countries leaders.

I don't know how it'll end, but believe it was an act of terrorism by Trump. I feel the west's meddling in the Middle East, just makes things worse.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do retaliate. World War 3 I hope not. Don't imagine the ordinary person at the time thought the assassination of Franz Ferdinnand in Sarajevo was the start to WW1. Who knows.

And I do think there will be a massive attack on American soil/target as revenge for this. Maybe not for a few years but it’ll come.

You can have a massive army and Air Force - but that does not help you win wars. Will there be boots on the ground? And body bags coming home?

Exactly my thought! America had a massive army during Vietnam.. anyone who remembers history at school remind me how that one ended? This will not be good for either side.

We all also know how the devastation of the Iraq War only resulted in more instability in the region that we're still dealing with the consequences of, like the rise of ISIS.

Nope

He killed the General while he was on Iraqi soil - allegedly attempting to broker some kind of solution to the problems with the Saudis. I will take that with a pinch of a salt, but if true, then it makes the problem worse.
Coalition troops have sovereign bases in Iraq to help fight ISIS and also beef up Iraqi military capability. This “permission” to allow foreign forces onto their land has been abused by the killing of a visiting Iranian General and left the Iraqis in a horrible position with the Iranians baying for revenge. They had no choice but to kick out the coalition troops or risk the wrath of Iran. With the US troops gone, the door is open for the Russians and Chinese who during New Year, demonstrated joint military exercises with the Iranians. There is going to be a massive power shift in the Middle East, and retribution for the US and its Allies.

It's all well and good thinking USA will win the war easy peasy but there is life after that. There are extremists carrying out terrorist attacks for previous wars, this will lead to a lot more. No one ever wins, its depressing. The rise in terrorist attacks and Islamophobia is nothing to admire.

Just seen that al-shabab have killed 3 Americans in Kenya today.

Trump scares me. I think he has no common sense or any sense of judgement.

So yes, I am worried.

@Butterfluruns American troops were attacked yesterday in Kenya by a group who has pledged allegiance to ISIL. You know the group whose leader was killed in October by Trump's orders.....Trump has screwed us severely and anywhere US military is stationed has a mark on their back including your country

It's a measure of the tension of our times that we're thinking like this. Either that, or we're bored, or people are aware of the reality of our situation given Brexit whether they'll admit it or no. Why else do you think Middle Eastern reprisal for a US assassination need involve us?

This is not our fight. It need not become our fight. It wouldn't if we didn't have a leader who was not almost as untrustworthy and gung-ho as that American twit himself.

France and Germany are scrambling to try and reduce tensions. That is what we should be doing.

One interesting thing that might happen is that Iraq and Iran might form common cause. That would be interesting in the Near East. If only they would ditch the fundamentalist religion.

No. It's about keeping certain areas of the middle East destabilized. For good/bad, no one cares about Iraq/Iran, just about the oil and making sure they behave.

I think Trump needs to think about what victory looks like.

It's very very easy to start a conflict.

@Pinkyyy What was Osama Bin Laden then? I'm not saying that was the right/wrong thing to do, but it's ridiculous how Trump supporters literally rewrite history to suit them.

Trump has started this to help himself get re-elected and to avoid his impeachment/trial. He predicted it with his tweets in 2012 about Obama. www.businessinsider.com/old-trump-tweets-emerge-claim-obama-wanted-war-iran-2020-1?r=US&IR=T

I think whether there is a war or not will depend on what Iran do next. The Straight of Hormuz gives them a good place to attack shipping, if they really want to provoke something serious. Otherwise they might retaliate via state sponsored terrorism or cyber attacks. It depends what sort of reaction they would want to provoke.

A boots on the ground invasion would cripple Iran, but it also has the potential to hurt the US a lot- this wouldn't be as simple as Iraq. Iran's army is much larger and more well equipped. They've recently bought anti-aircraft missiles from Russia.

I do think there's potential for an Iran/US war- and that would be really messy and drawn out. But it wouldn't be on the scale of WW1/2. I think people anticipating "WW3" are being a bit over dramatic. However, equally, if I were in the middle east right now, I would be leaving as soon as I could.

considering it was your citizens throwing rocks at american school children in 2003 at RAF Lakenheath,Feltwell and Mildenhall do you blame us? My 24 yo still carries the scar from that as he serves at Lakenheath today

@Leaannb. That sounds horrifying. I've just done a quick search and failed to find it. What on earth happened? I mean, what kind of person throws rocks at children

A boots on the ground invasion would cripple Iran

I am not even sure how they would do that so easily. With the previous Gulf Wars, they have come through Saudi Arabia.

Iran's geography makes it much harder.

worldview.stratfor.com/article/geopolitics-iran-holding-center-mountain-fortress

Under the current circumstances, it might be useful to benchmark Iran against Iraq or Afghanistan. Iraq is 433,000 square kilometers, with about 25 million people, so Iran is roughly four times as large and three times as populous. Afghanistan is about 652,000 square kilometers, with a population of about 30 million. One way to look at it is that Iran is 68 percent larger than Iraq and Afghanistan combined, with 40 percent more population.

More important are its topographical barriers. Iran is defined, above all, by its mountains, which form its frontiers, enfold its cities and describe its historical heartland. To understand Iran, you must understand not only how large it is but also how mountainous it is.

And we all know how the US have fared in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We have RN ships currently in the Straits of Hormuz, at huge risk of a retribution attack as they are allies of the USA. I would not want to be aboard either HMS Montrose or HMS Defender right now. Hope they keep safe.

Does anyone remember the old WW3 gag from Not the Nine O Clock News ? It had Mel Smith as a newsreader reading a report which said that America wanted to make up for being late for the first two world wars by making sure that they were being bang on time for the third one.

I have a lot of admiration for Mr Trump and I think we could do with someone like him over here. He has managed to do something that his two predecessors didn't even attempt. He has killed two terrorist leaders.

Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of all this, he hasn't killed anyone, he just got someone else to do it. He didn't turn into Jack Bauer, dress in black, shimmy down a rope and do it himself. He's safe. He's got the best security in the world and no doubt a nuclear bunker at his disposal. Trump is a pampered, narcissistic man baby, the sort of man who I could easily imagine jumping behind a small child to protect himself from harm. I find it mind boggling that anyone could find him admirable.

To understand Iran, you must understand not only how large it is but also how mountainous it is.

Also, doesn't it have an incredibly young population overall? That's surely a factor too. Millions of young healthy men of fighting age.

Trump is a fanny, Boris is also a fanny and between them they'll probably cause the end of the world

Don't think there'll be world war 3 but I have a feeling there'll be a bit of carnage before trump is gotten rid of and I mean off the planet lol