A massive Iranian missile attack on a US base offered a glimpse of the long-lasting injuries US troops will face in a war with Russia or China

Mon, 08/28/2023 - 18:07

Aerial file photo taken from a helicopter shows Ain al-Asad air base in the western Anbar desert, Iraq — Al Asad Airbase in Iraq's western Anbar desert.
AP Photo/Nasser Nasser

In January 2020, Iran fired nearly a dozen ballistic missiles at an Iraqi base housing US troops.
No US personnel were killed, but more than 100 were later diagnosed with traumatic brain injuries.
Those injuries were a likely preview of US casualties in a future war, medical researchers say.

An unprecedented Iranian ballistic-missile attack in Iraq in January 2020 offered a worrying glimpse of the less visible but long-lasting injuries US troops will likely sustain in future wars.

Five days after the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a US drone attack in Baghdad, Iran made good on its threats to retaliate by launching 11 ballistic missiles at Al Asad air base on January 8, 2020.