Johnny 'Joey' Jones on Iran missile launches: 'We are at war. We've struck them, they've struck us'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Iran fired 15 ballistic missiles into Iraq, targeting two airbases housing U.S. military and coalition forces Tuesday, Pentagon officials said, in a major retaliation by the rogue regime after the U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week.
IRAN LAUNCHES 'MORE THAN A DOZEN' MISSILES INTO IRAQ TARGETING US FORCES
The latest attack was the start of an all-out war between the U.S. and Iran, according to retired U.S. Marine Johnny “Joey” Jones.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's funny to hear everyone say 'if we go to war.' We are at war," Jones told "Tucker Carlson Tonight". "We've struck them, they've struck us. I don't know what else you could call war."
Initial assessments of the attack that targeted military bases in Al-Assad and Erbil showed "no U.S. casualties," a U.S. military official in Baghdad told Fox News, adding that the U.S. was continuing to look into possible damage.
Iran state TV claimed Tehran launched "tens" of surface-to-surface missiles at the Al Assad Air Base. The broadcaster described it as Tehran’s revenge operation over the killing of Soleimani.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"One of the bases hit, Al-Assad, I spent almost nine months there....it was brutal," said Jones, a double-amputee who was wounded in an explosion while fighting in Afghanistan.
"It's an important place in Iraq for the war that we spent there because it's the largest, most fortified base there. It's something that Iran would have a lot of intelligence on and they would know exactly where to hit on that base if they could get to it because it is so big."
JOHNNY 'JOEY' JONES: A WARFIGHTER'S VIEW TO SOLEIMANI STRIKE
Jones called for an "all or nothing response" from President Trump, urging the president to avoid "a 20-year war" that will result in the death of American troops.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We either pump the brakes and go to some sort of talks or some sort of de-escalation or we go to war," he said. "This back and forth like this isn't good for our troops, it isn't good for us and it kicks the can down the road like previous presidents have done."
"It turns it into a 20-year war. We could wipe Iran off the map probably ... I don't think that's what we should do, but I would prefer that over a 20-year war where we lose tens of thousands of troops and we do it anyway."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The attack came days after Soleimani was killed in a U.S. airstrike at Baghdad's airport. A senior Iraqi commander of an Iran-backed militia also was killed.
The U.S. blamed Soleimani for the killing of hundreds of American troops and said he was plotting new attacks just before his death.
Fox News' Frank Miles contributed to this report.