The Trump foreign policy moves in the Middle East have been amateurish and so far?
And a failure….
What comes from the American strike against the Iranian military general?
We are all waiting for the other shoe to drop over there…
Around the time that an overnight airstrike killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani in Baghdad, a Special Operations unit based in the United States boarded transport aircraft bound for the Middle East, one Defense Department official said.
The deployment of the elite Army Rangers was the latest group of troops sent to the region. This week, the Pentagon readied 4,000 troops based at Fort Bragg, N.C., for a similar security mission to Kuwait. They are to depart in the coming days, joining 750 troops already deployed, officials said.
“The brigade will deploy to Kuwait as an appropriate and precautionary action in response to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities,” a Department of Defense spokesperson said.
General Suleimani, a powerful strategist who represented Iran’s influence across the region, was killed by an American drone at Baghdad’s airport, in an attack that had been authorized by President Trump and that ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Iran’s leaders quickly promised retaliation for the general’s killing. Iraq’s Parliament planned to hold an emergency session over the weekend to address the airstrike, which Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi called “a brazen violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and a blatant attack on the nation’s dignity.”
The strike, regarded by analysts as perhaps the riskiest American move in the Middle East since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, threatened to tip hostilities with the United States and its partners across the region into a new war.
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrumpGeneral Qassem Soleimani has killed or badly wounded thousands of Americans over an extended period of time, and was plotting to kill many more…but got caught! He was directly and indirectly responsible for the death of millions of people, including the recent large number….
General Suleimani was the head of the powerful Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the architect of nearly every significant operation by Iranian intelligence and military forces over the past two decades.
The general’s prominent role meant that his death could have a ripple effect in any number of countries across the Middle East where Iran and the United States compete for influence….
Note…
JOE BIDEN: “No American will mourn Qassem Soleimani’s passing. He deserved to be brought to justice for his crimes against American troops and thousands of innocents throughout the region. He supported terror and sowed chaos. None of that negates the fact that this is a highly escalatory move in an already dangerous region. … President Trump just tossed a stick of dynamite into a tinderbox.” Full statement
I have given my serious (and complex) views on another thread.
During the raid though, it is being reported that Trump ate Meatloaf and vanilla ice cream.
He then got confused about what job he had and “fired” Meat Loaf and Vanilla Ice.
Trump today said that Soleimani should have been taken out “years ago”
He has been President for three years and waits until he is in the midst of impeachment and in an election year to do so.
Hmmm
yeah, Trump should basically shut up. No argument on that.
I don’t think there is any real dispute though that Soleimani was up to no good and was planning something, whether Trump was impeached or not.
I don’t disagree with that.
Trump though has been so disparaging of intelligence agencies that those who believe such will ask the question, why does he believe them now?
Perhaps it’s foolish to hope, but maybe he will learn to trust people smarter and more experienced than him for once. I doubt he is really capable of that though.
Well I guess the Republican Party is no longer the party of isolationism.
Tell that to Rand Paul.
Rand will capitulate to the new Trump Doctrine as will all Republicans.
His statement today says otherwise.
Gee, I would love a “new” Trump Doctrine.
I doubt he could even spell the word though.
Again, what would a Democrat have done differently on this? We know that Elizabeth Warren has said there should be no troops, anywhere in the Middle East. Does that mean we would have also closed the Embasssy in Baghdad or just have no troops there to protect it?
Joe Biden gave a thoughtful and reasoned response. As did Pete Buttigieg.
I haven’t heard what Warren said on the matter.
the only response to the specific event I saw was Biden. He basically said “we did the right thing, but Trump, eh”
Kind of a mixed message. I think as President he probably would have done the same thing. Certainly Hilary would have.
If there was a intelligence that an attack on Americans was imminent, then a response such as this is justified.
Unfortunately ,we are not in a good position for a wider war with Iran.We are unlikely to have the support of our allies in such and our military strength at least on the ground there is limited.
The sending of a few thousand troops will help little.
Of course ,we still have the ability to launch air attacks but ,if this rapidly escalates as is possible , (General McCaffrey thinks we are looking at the renewal of the Gulf War of thirty years ago) our strategic position is not good.
Trump seems to believe that this attack will insure negotiations, at least by the sound of his latest tweet.
However, what exactly would we be negotiating and who is going to be doing the negotiating?Him?
Thank you for a measured and thoughtful post.
Yes ,I imagine that will be a subject of much speculation .
CG do you trust Trump has a strategy?
I think Trump tends to listen to the last person who speaks to him. I think Pompeo probably understands the issue and the “generals” know what they are doing.
Trump said he knows more than the Generals
He and Obama should have both listened to the generals.
One still has the chance to do so.
Again we don’t know what Hillary would have done. If she acted rashly like this I would oppose that too.
Biden stated it’s good Sulmeini is gone but this kind of action could have drastic unintended consequences.
I guess I am just afraid this turns into another Iraq.
My guess is that’s not a concern for you.
Hillary on Quadafi:
“We came. We saw. He died!” She was pretty gleeful about it.
Far more hawkish than Obama.
Yes, of course all things must be considered and planned for. Joe’s not really going out on a limb here.
The bigger problem for Joe is that he denied he opposed the bin Laden raid, when in 2012, he is on record several times saying he advised Obama against it.
I don’t see us in a land war or an air war with Iran at this time based on this. Had an attack on America happened by Iran, then yes, we would be in that war pretty quick. As the saying goes, “there are no good options” and everyone would be rightfully savaging Trump for letting Americans get slaughtered when we knew it was coming.
I have no problem with people having “concerns.” We need a lot more concern in society.
You are concerned about Americans losing their lives in war in an escalated conflict. I would be too but also am concerned about Americans losing their lives (via various means) to escalated drug use and availability.
So marijuana has taken American lives on par with Middle Eastern wars?
Good God man!
There you go again with your anatomically correct straw man.
No. I am saying there is a drug problem in America. People are dying. Death is death. I have “concerns” (just like you have concerns about others things) about marijuana being a gateway drug, both physiologically and sociologically to more destructive behavior.
I have also talked about in a more micro-sense, the concerns I have about more immediate medical emergencies and automobile accidents because of increased marijuana use along with the possibility that at least some people will consume marijuana against their will.
Despite the media worries?
There will be NO DIRECT war between America and Iran….
But I CAN see more Iran and its proxies going after soft American targets….
Trump bent the rules in that countries do NOT generally go after military bosses….
Ha! You are the one that resurrected the dead horse of legalization from yesterday..
You could have brought up snowmobile accidents or skydiving deaths to be on par with those who are killed each year due to marijuana. But yes I am “concerned” for all of them. Excuse if I’m a little more worried about thousands upon thousands dying in another unplanned for war. Sue me.
I have said here many times the Bush II actually destabilised the region by getting rid of Iran’s natural enemy ardour proxy Iraq…
Donald Trump has NO foreign policy I keep repeating….
He just is interested in who would pay ‘protection’ money…
NATO suspended its training mission in Iraq, the alliance said Saturday after a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad.
NATO has been advising the Iraqi defense forces on how to keep ISIS from regaining strength. However, those “training activities are temporarily suspended,” NATO spokesman Dylan White said in an emailed statement….
More…
(This cuts down the number of soft targets as NATO does not want ‘inside job’ attack on it’s troops)
It appears that Trump ‘hinted’ about going after Soleimani, for a week….
The general was a known troublemaker to western intel people…
But was considered off limits…
Knowing how Trump works and knowing that the Pentagon would be looking to counter Trump’s effort to disengage from the region?
The guys days where numbered ….
I’ll say this again….
THERE WILL BE NO DIRECT ‘WAR’ with Iran….
Such action would hurt the US and Iran…
The worry I would think is Iran and it’s proxies going after soft targets of opportunity….
The Iranian General was NOT a ‘good’ guy in any respect…..
The information below is dated. I attended an insurance conference last year where medical marijuana was one of the major topics, and it was reported that 84 percent of doctors now support medical marijuana. It is not that marijuana is good for you, but that the alternative pain killer is opioids – and they are far more harmful and addictive than marijuana.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/survey-76-percent-of-doctors-approve-of-medical-marijuana-use/
So our friend has spent his entire work day making excuses for Trump’s wag the dog adventure and exhibiting a 1950s attitude toward marijuana.
I loved the “death is death” line, as if legally prohibiting the growth of grass will somehow stop people from using it and some hypothetical danger is an adequate reason to ban a substance. Please provide statistics of the accidents (auto and otherwise) that were caused through marijuana use?? This obsession is very similar to the ridiculous interest on the control of a woman’s vagina. Hint, you have to have some type of experience in these areas before you can speak authoritatively on the subject.
It’s been years since I smoked grass, but I know people can smoke grass and drive responsibly, just as a glass of wine doesn’t impair cognitive response. There is something weirdly hysterical about the opposition to marijuana use, just as there is a strange sanctimony to the idea that a man can tell a woman what to do with their own body.
I haven’t smoked weed since college. Part of the reason is that insurance companies sometimes provide random drug tests (although I am not aware of my current company doing so). Part of the reason is that pot seriously irritated my throat, so that my experiences with it weren’t that great, and third because I think it is not the best habit to get into.
Do you think it should be illegal Zreebs?
No
Neither do I, but I strongly suspect that those here who do think it should be illegal have never tried it.
Making their near hysterical opposition even more baffling.
In very conservative SC an interesting bureaucratic snafu has resulted in the de facto “ decriminalization “ of simple possession .
For years local law enforcement could have someone “ certified” by the State to conduct tests to determine that seized material was indeed marijuana( the legal predicate to any conviction).
Due to State legislative action legalizing industrial hemp,The State Law Enforcement Division abruptly cancelled local certification,thus requiring all seized marijuana to be sent to them for testing.
Unsurprisingly ,they have been overwhelmed and testing has backed up for months.Accordingly, many local prosecutors have simply either Dismissed simple possession cases or taken pleas to non criminal offenses in lieu thereof.
In short, very few people are being prosecuted presently for simple possession. And few seem to care.
Oddly local news media haven’t made much of an issue over it.
We have ALL pointed to things like this against CG’s efforts counter the fact that simple marijuana possession charges are passe’
The Atlantic
@theatlantic
In much of the Arab world, and even in Iran, Qassem Soleimani was feared, and his death has been greeted with elation, @KimGhattas writes.
(Again…The Iranian General was NOT a good guy…Things are complex)
Tell that to Colin Kaepernick, whom hopefully will finally fade into the obscurity he deserves:
“There is nothing new about American terrorist attacks against Black and Brown people for the expansion of American imperialism. America has always sanctioned and besieged Black and Brown bodies both at home and abroad. America militarism is the weapon wielded by American imperialism, to enforce its policing and plundering of the non white world.”
the ex-football player is now about making money as a marketing icon….
Attention IS ATTENTION….
Money….
$$$$$$….
Whew!
Kap ain’t doing to good on social media with his tweet….
Really, do you think he cares? But a bigger question, why does anyone care other than Mr. Whatabout?
It doesn’t matter….
This IS off topic of course…
So why did you comment then James?? If you knew it was just another what about?
What does this have to do with Trump wagging the dog?
Jake Tapper CNN is talking with Pompeo
Obama is in the conversation….
Pompeo IS talking tough….
Iraq lawmakers voted to have US soldiers leave….
We’ll see….
Tapper IS selling a fear of fight with Iran..
Pompeo is selling a America that pushing back against Iran…
Tapper follows up with Buttigieg…..
The Mayor and Vet gives the Iranian General no points…
He thoughtfully goes about the what comes after because of the action…
I am interested how the polls are gonna read on Trump’s taking out the Iranian….
I would NOT be surprised if Trump gets backing…..
Remember Bush I?
Good numbers up front ….
BUT afterwards?
Iran said Sunday it would no longer abide by any of the limits of its unraveling 2015 nuclear deal with world powers after a U.S. airstrike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, ending an accord that blocked Tehran from having enough material to build an atomic weapon.
Iran’s state TV cited a statement by President Hassan Rouhani’s administration saying the country will not observe limitations on its enrichment, the amount of stockpiled enriched uranium as well as research and development in its nuclear activities.
Read the full story at BostonGlobe.com.
Just what we need, the other shoe dropping. (After one of Mike Pompeo’s most pompous, smug tours around the Sunday talk shows.)
Don’t you feel so very much safer and more comfortable than under the terrible Obama JCPOA ??
From all accounts, the Iranian theocracy (like Saddam Hussein 18 years ago) was keeping its side of the bargain.
But that wasn’t enough for the neo-conservatives here nor the Israeli right. Their implicit alternative seems to be a hot, bloody and of course futile war with the aim of somehow overthrowing the Ayatollahs; a strategy of régime change that worked so well in Iraq [now much more closely under Iranian influence than before 2003].