Wag the dog.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/iraq-3-katyusha-rockets-fired-baghdad-airport-200102232817666.html

Trump is doing his level best to provoke war with Iran. He may well succeed. Imagine if Iran had targeted and assassinated the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We would not forebear and there is no reason to expect Iran to just take it. It is now likely that a lot of people are going to die to divert the news cycle from Trump’s crimes and impeachment.

And, in case anyone has forgotten, a war against Iran is one that we cannot win. If it breaks out it will be a global disaster. We need to remove Trump immediately and once again seek some sort of reconciliation with Iran. If Saudi Arabia or Israel want to go to war with Iran they should not expect us to do it for them. What is both terribly sad and ironic is how directly Trump’s actions against Iran run counter to his stated policies of disengagement from the conflicts of other.

Published by Paul Murphy

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39 thoughts on “Wag the dog.”

    1. Has Congress EVER approved of the assassination of a world leader? I don’t think even they’re THAT stupid.

      Well, the GOOD news is that it will be a mercifully short war because one of the leaders has proven himself a total idiot.

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        1. Man, oh man, if you want to see a pissed-off Republican just suggest that the government make documents and applications available in Spanish. Wonder how they’ll take to Farsi?

          The good news for them is that all they will need to do is add “Guard” to the end of their party.

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  2. If you were to poll the Iranians and the Americans on the professions of “reverence”, I’d bet a dollar to a dime that “engineer and scientist” would rank far higher in Iran than in the US.

    Iran is packed with MIT-trained engineers and scientists. Before the fall of the Shah, MIT’s largest foreign student population came from Iran, and they went back and passed it on. A few donated weapons, think Ollie North, and few captured drones, and they’ve caught up nicely.

    Remember, at great human loss, they battled a top-five military, that was backed by the #1 military, to a draw. They have carried the battle to us on at least two fronts (Iraq and Syria) for 16 years while continuing an asymmetric war on Israel and the Saudis at the same time. Determination is not a short suit of Iran.

    If the Idiot-in-Chief has any notion that this will be a quick and dirty, then he’s a whole lot dumber than I’ve given him credit for being.

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    2. “ Not necessarily wise, but legal.” Perhaps.

      However, I would feel a lot better if there was, you know, a PLAN.

      If you think there is one, my opinion of your cognitive abilities will drop precipitously…

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  3. Personally, I would rather we get out of Iraq and Afghanistan entirely, and not get involved in the Suni/Shia conflict at all, other than to take care neither side runs out of flamethrowers.

    And, if we had to take sides, we probably should have sided with Iran 60 years ago, but that ship sailed long ago.

    That said, taking out Soleimani was legal and well within Trump’s authority. Not necessarily wise, but legal.

    Keep in mind that Iranian militants are laying siege to the US Embassy in Baghdad. The Embassy is US soil. We have a defense pact with Iraq.(again, not saying that is wise.) Iran is attacking us.

    Soleimani was not killed at the Tehran airport, he was killed at the Baghdad airport where he was effectively an enemy combatant on Iraqi soil. He was definitely there to make war on US forces in Iraq.

    So, a pox on both their houses, we should get out and leave a note telling both Shia and Suni that if they screw with us after we leave, we will DIS-proportionately punish them from afar, but if they leave us alone, we will do the same.

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    1. @Tabor

      “He was definitely there to make war on US forces in Iraq.”

      Was he? How do you know that? It seems just as likely he was there to tell the Shia militias to cool it. Just because Trump or one of his lying liars says that the people protesting at the U.S. embassy were acting on instructions from Iran does not make it so. In fact, if that is what Trump is saying, a rational person could take that as evidence that they were not since Trump lies about EVERYTHING.

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      1. Right, the guy who supplies the Shia militias with shaped charged mines designed to defeat our armored vehicles was there on a mission of peace.

        Did he have a valid Visa issued by Iraq?

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        2. Did he have a valid visa from Iraq? Maybe, I don’t know. But since he openly flew into Baghdad’s International Airport he may well have. He had to have been expected to arrive that way. At any rate, the government of Iraq has condemned in no uncertain terms this assassination on their territory.

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        3. Why did he supply Shia militias with shaped charges?

          Because we invaded their country on a mission fro God. Well, not really. A mission from our own gods, the neo-cons.

          What would you do if we were invaded by someone? Would you accept help from the outside to win the insurrection?

          Trump did it to win office, never mind a guerrilla war.

          Sometimes it is hard to pick the villains.

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          1. We did not invade Iran.

            Soleimani was designated as a Global Terrorist and a legitimate target in 2011 by the Obama administration, he just didn’t act on it.

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          2. @ Don.

            We did invade Iraq, that is where the Shia militias were operating.

            According to the 2018 CIA Factbook, Iraq is 95% Muslim: 64–69% Shia and 29-34% Sunni.

            The point is that our administrations creates our villains, then kills them. We did in in Iran, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan (by hanging around decades after the job was done) and God knows how many other skirmishes. And Trump is doing this now. The stable genius is no better than the rest at resolving this mess. He wants votes too.

            Why? Because we haven’t a clue as to what we are doing. The new Afghanistan reports showed that in spades.

            And that comes from our Military/Industrial/Political complex of Wild West mentality that might makes right and voters believe that crap. More bombs mean jobs. Jobs mean election victories.

            Simple as that.

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    2. My thoughts exactly. Soleimani was not, by coincidence, in Baghdad on vacation when Irani backed militants attacked the US embassy, he was there on a mission. And for the liberals in this thread to claim otherwise is an eye roller. The liberals seem to forget so easily that Obama carried out drone and tomahawk missile strikes all the time without Congress and Clinton conducted missile strikes without Congress during impeachment too. Somehow those will be different according to the libs…wait fooooor itttt….ha ha ha

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      1. For all we know, Soleimani was there to rein in the Shia militias. SOMEBODY called them off and they left the Embassy en masse.

        Obama did fight terrorists with hellfire missiles. And, like Trump, he used some Tomahawk missiles to send a message to foreign despots. But, Obama never used drone or missile strikes to assassinate a leader of a legitimate government of a country that we are not at war with. That is a difference that is not hard to understand if you try.

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        1. Lmao, 1 hour and 23 minutes to concoct a but, but, but it’s different left wing extremist excuse. Not your best time so try harder next time. In the other words, horse feathers!!!

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          1. Have a good laugh. Maybe you have kids or grandkids who would make good cannon fodder to divert attention from Trump’s crimes and impeachment. Clearest case of “wag the dog” ever.

            If all we know about Iran’s activities comes from Trump and his running dogs, then we do not know anything. SOMEBODY with a great deal of influence was able to instantly stop the threats to our Teheran embassy. It very well could have been Soleimani. But go ahead, have a good laugh while American service people are facing death as a result of Trump’s crass stupidity.

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  4. …”taking out Soleimani was legal”…

    According to the UN Reporteur on Human Rights, that may not be entirely accurate. She did say that an imminent threat would have been justifiable, but future attacks, as stated by Pompeo, are not.

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  5. Once again, Trump didn’t notify Congressional leadership about the attack. It has been the practice do that in these cases. Not for permission, but basically as a courtesy. Calling Lindsay Graham and saying, “Hey, Linds. Got this bad guy in our sights and we’re gonna take him out.” is NOT the normal protocol. Nor is it akin to notifying Congressional leadership. Heck, if he’d done that, he might have gotten some serious bipartisan support for the strike. Trump first, Trump alone.

    And he also said that Obama would start a war with Iran to win an election. Things that make you go “hmm”.

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        1. Considering the lust on the part of Democrats to see Trump fail. notifying them in advance is too great a security risk for any military action.

          Notifying them promptly after-the-fact is the proper choice.

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          7. That is, in the simplest of terms, bullshit. Questioning the ability of Dems to keep secrets when Trump GIVES away info to Russia on a semi-regular basis is just plain stupid.

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  6. In a way, this is beginning to grow on me.

    I still want us out of this conflict, but if we’re going to be there, maybe drone-a-grams is the way to go.

    The Iranian people are not our enemies. their nutcase death-cult leaders are. So, instead of sending our young people to kill, and be killed by, their young people, it’s time to address the leadership.

    Of course, I’d rather see the Iranian people do it themselves, but then Iran doesn’t have a 2nd Amendment.

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    1. @Tabor

      This is beginning to grow on you?

      You have many stupid and ugly opinions but this one is a corker. You really think we can choose to kill their leaders with Drones and nothing bad will happen? You really think this assassination is separating the people of Iran from their leaders? You got some spare grandchildren you are willing to sacrifice on this wag-the-dog altar of failure? If not, keep your stupid musings to yourself and join decent people in speaking against another war provoked by the United States.

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      1. Well, it certainly separated one of their leaders from the people.

        For too long, these clerics have sat in safety and sent others to be martyrs killing our young people.

        It’s time for the front lines to be wherever the guy giving the orders is standing.

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        1. Completely idiotic. Sure, one guy is dead. But the grip of the regime we do not like has been immeasurable tightened. And, if we really do get into a war as Trump hopes, how do we “win?” You think Iran is going to be cowed? If so, think again. They are tough, creative and remorseless. They will make our time meddling in Iraq seem like a Sunday School picnic by comparison.

          “It’s time for the front lines to be wherever the guy giving the orders is standing.”

          Why should Iran not have the same attitude? If you think we are immune, think again.

          https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/white-house-picture-id97765250?s=612×612

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    2. “ The United States is sending approximately 3,000 soldiers to the Middle East after thousands of people stormed the compound of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, three U.S. defense officials and one U.S. military official confirmed to NBC News on Friday.”

      This is in addition to the bunch sent a few weeks ago to Saudi Arabia and the 650 already sent to Iraq.

      Trump is doing exactly the opposite of what he said was a big foreign policy turn around from the past.

      The problem this time is that all this military activity, including the assassination, is being run by a very green and stripped down, revolving door DOD leadership and an emasculated State Department. The best captain on earth couldn’t run an aircraft carrier by himself. Nor can a president go it almost alone.

      Trump has not had to deal with too many crises. This might be his first test.

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  7. …”maybe drone-a-grams is the way to go.” Perhaps, but if you believe that drone strikes are going to deter Iran from retaliating in other ways, including reaching out to touch us where we live, you better not start stocking the compound’s shelves with ramen and canned veggies. Make sure you have plenty of petrol for the generator and room for the grand kids long term. At least you switched to LED lighting which will decrease the load. (A former co-worker did that in preparation for Y2K. He’s probably still got that stuff on his shelves 20 years later.)

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