The US nearly got into a war with Iran over a porta-potty

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War with Iran was narrowly averted in May 2017 when the Air Force refused to bomb a truck carrying a porta-potty that was headed toward Iranian-backed forces in Syria.

Foreign Policy’s Lara Seligman has the scoop about when the s**t came close to hitting the fan after the U.S.-led coalition in Syria ordered the toilet to be annihilated.

The incident happened near a U.S. military outpost in al-Tanf, Syria, where pro-regime forces believed to be affiliated with Iran or Hezbollah established their own base, according to Foreign Policy, which cited an unnamed defense official. The U.S-led coalition bombed the site and then told the Russians that the coalition would use military force to prevent the pro-regime forces from moving closer to al-Tanf or bringing in supplies.

On May 19, 2017, U.S. forces ordered an airstrike on a truck that was bringing a porta-potty to the pro-regime outpost, but the Air Force refused because it did not believe the strike was a lawful order and the notion that the porta-potty posed a threat was “ludicrous,” the defense official told Foreign Policy.

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command refused to comment on the matter when contacted by Task & Purpose. No further information about the great crapper caper was immediately available on Monday.

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Jeff Schogol

Senior Pentagon Reporter

Jeff Schogol is a senior staff writer for Task & Purpose. He reports on both the Defense Department as a whole as well as individual services, covering a variety of topics that include personnel, policy, military justice, deployments, and technology.