Apparently, Iran warned the Iraqi government of the incoming Iranian ballistic missile attack at Al-Asad approximately 90 minutes prior to launching the first missile. On one hand, this could be seen as a means of limiting the loss of life but could equally have been motivated by Tehran’s desire to limit damage to its Baghdad relations. Further, as the Iranians likely knew, there was absolutely no guarantee the Iraqis would pass the information along to U.S. troops and officials. And, in fact, America’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance all came well before the warning from Iran to Baghdad.
One of the most troubling scenarios involves a missile attack; it can literally paralyze an airbase, rendering it virtually unusable to large aircraft for a week or more. The assault by Iran on Al-Asad shows Tehran has the capabilities necessary to handicap the effectiveness of U.S. forces in the area. The soldiers remaining above ground to protect against a potential ground attack were hit the hardest during the ballistic missile attack. The attack also damaged fiber optics that connected communication equipment to the pilot station, effectively severing the link to aircraft. The very fact that Iran risked killing U.S. military personnel means it believed the strike benefits outweighed blowback from the United States. Liabilty may very well come down to application of the United States Anti-Terrorism Act against Iran in this matter.