Damages and injuries from Iran's missile attack on US troops suggest that luck played a major part in preventing war

John Davison/Reuters

• Luck played a big role in preventing a war between the US and Iran this month. 
• Initially, President Donald Trump claimed no Americans were hurt in an Iranian missile attack on US forces in Iraq, but the US military has since admitted there were US troops suffered minor injuries on top of extensive damage to the al-Asad air base.
• 11 US service members who reported symptoms of concussions at al-Asad have been evacuated to military hospitals. US officials have said the intent of the attack was to kill but no troops died as a result.
• Trump has said that any Iranian act that kills an American would trigger a massive retaliation. This makes it likely that if any Americans had been killed, the US-Iran confrontation could've spiraled into a bloody, disastrous war. 
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The US and Iran came dangerously close to going to war earlier this month, and as more details come out on Iran's missile attack on US forces it's becoming clear that luck in large part prevented a wider conflict from breaking out. 

President Donald Trump said that "no Americans were harmed" when Iran launched 16 ballistic missiles at US and coalition forces in Iraq on January 8, but it's since come to light that this was assessment isn't true. 

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