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Trump approves military strikes on Iran then quickly pulls back

OscarLevant

OscarLevant

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We almost went to war with Iran. We were that close.
The implications of such a strike, just think of the chaos in the region, and what it could lead to.
This would be disastrous, and if the Straight Of Hormuz is not passable, what then? $10 per gallon gas? Needless deaths of Americans and collateral damage to the other countries in the region?

What I find ominous is we have a NSA who wants regime change and a president who does not read his daily intel briefings and often sides with enemies instead of intel staff, not to mention running the government by chaos and whim, who lies by the truck load, and the state department staff has literally been gutted.

I invite your thoughts.

Trump approves military strikes on Iran, then pulls back

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalate, President Donald Trump approved military strikes on several Iranian targets — but abruptly pulled back from launching them on Thursday night, according to three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security decisions. And, on top of all this, we have a NSA who wants regime change in Iran, and a president who doesn't read the intel daily briefs, who runs the government by whim?

The attacks were approved in retaliation to to Iran shooting down an unmanned American spy drone, and officials were still expecting the operation to go ahead as late as 7 p.m. ET. It was not clear why the strikes were called off.
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It's an interesting position this administration finds itself in since it's a battle between the hawks who are itching for a confrontation and everyone else who doesn't. What's particularly tricky is Trump and his camp have to deal with staying true to the 2016 campaign promise of not getting involved in another war. Now a retaliatory strike might not exactly lead to that, they have to be looking at the long game; which is if Iran does something else then what? Bombing missions would take things to an entirely new engagement level which includes the potential loss of US lives. I suspect Iran is going to milk this for all its worth, but they have to be careful because this is only going to get them so far and they run the risk of an unpredictable president choosing to side with the hawks.
 
ElChupacabra said:
It's an interesting position this administration finds itself in since it's a battle between the hawks who are itching for a confrontation and everyone else who doesn't. What's particularly tricky is Trump and his camp have to deal with staying true to the 2016 campaign promise of not getting involved in another war. Now a retaliatory strike might not exactly lead to that, they have to be looking at the long game; which is if Iran does something else then what? Bombing missions would take things to an entirely new engagement level which includes the potential loss of US lives. I suspect Iran is going to milk this for all its worth, but they have to be careful because this is only going to get them so far and they run the risk of an unpredictable president choosing to side with the hawks.
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A strike against Iran has far reaching implications, most of which are disastrous. Trump has no vision, no long range plan, and is running the gov by the seat of his pants. On top of it, we have a NSA who wants regime change in Iran.


This is not good, folks.
 
OscarLevant said:
A strike against Iran has far reaching implications, most of which are disastrous. Trump has no vision, no long range plan, and is running the gov by the seat of his pants. On top of it, we have a NSA who wants regime change in Iran.


This is not good, folks.
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A strike could set things off, but I don't think so only because I'm not convinced Iran is interested in this kind of conflict given their economic situation and the implications it would have for their business dealings. They're pushing the limits of US resolve because they're aware of the implications it has for this administration's interest in not engaging. I don't disagree with your assessment about Trump's lack of a long term plan though; I just think Iran is more strategic in this regard. Also, remember that Bolton has been itching for the chance to engage Iran. While Trump may not be the long term strategist, he has others who are and will influence his final decision on the course of action. Trump's unpredictability is more in his social media responses and statements; military action will be a more thought out process. Well, at least I hope so because there are others involved including Congress.
 
The story was confirmed by the President on Twitter:

Donald Trump - "President Obama made a desperate and terrible deal with Iran - Gave them 150 Billion Dollars plus I.8 Billion Dollars in CASH! Iran was in big trouble and he bailed them out. Gave them a free path to Nuclear Weapons, and SOON. Instead of saying thank you, Iran yelled Death to America. I terminated deal, which was not even ratified by Congress, and imposed strong sanctions. They are a much weakened nation today than at the beginning of my Presidency, when they were causing major problems throughout the Middle East. Now they are Bust! On Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International Waters. We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!"
 
I'm actually pleasantly surprised Trump pulled back the airstrikes and showed restraint. Bolton and Pompeo were undoubtedly pushing for the strikes but it seems Trump thought it thru and did the wise thing. and weighed the loss of human life and escalation of war against the downing of an unarmed drone.


I hope this will wake up Iran and end this foolishness before hundreds, thousands or more are killed. There has to be a solution. Even if the other side is begging to die so they get their 40 virgins(Good grief).
 
OscarLevant said:
A strike against Iran has far reaching implications, most of which are disastrous. Trump has no vision, no long range plan, and is running the gov by the seat of his pants. On top of it, we have a NSA who wants regime change in Iran.


This is not good, folks.
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Just to clarify then, you wouldn't authorize any strikes on Iran under any circumstance, is that your dovish position?
 
OscarLevant said:
We almost went to war with Iran. We were that close.
The implications of such a strike, just think of the chaos in the region, and what it could lead to.
This would be disastrous, and if the Straight Of Hormuz is not passable, what then? $10 per gallon gas? Needless deaths of Americans and collateral damage to the other countries in the region?

What I find ominous is we have a NSA who wants regime change and a president who does not read his daily intel briefings and often sides with enemies instead of intel staff, not to mention running the government by chaos and whim, who lies by the truck load, and the state department staff has literally been gutted.

I invite your thoughts.
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The US Government is being run by a Confederacy of Dunces.
 
This sounds suspiciously like Trump taking orders from Putin rather than congress. Trump should know by now that he’s supposed to let Nadler and Schiff make these decisions or else he’s thwarting their Constitutional requirement to provide oversight of the Executive.
 
"Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran"--Former Senator
 
Herkamer63 said:
We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General.
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He ordered a strike on a country with no idea of the casualties that would take place. Who in their right mind would approve a strike and then hours later, 10 minutes before the strike, think to ask "hey, how many people am I about to kill?"... This man has to be the dumbest person to ever work in the white house. Not just dumbest president, but possibly the dumbest to ever step foot in the white house. It's absolutely astonishing.
 
dobieg said:
I'm actually pleasantly surprised Trump pulled back the airstrikes and showed restraint. Bolton and Pompeo were undoubtedly pushing for the strikes but it seems Trump thought it thru and did the wise thing. and weighed the loss of human life and escalation of war against the downing of an unarmed drone.


I hope this will wake up Iran and end this foolishness before hundreds, thousands or more are killed. There has to be a solution. Even if the other side is begging to die so they get their 40 virgins(Good grief).
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40 virgins now? There must be inflation in the martyr reward market. Didn't the reward start out at like 12 virgins, a camel, and a cantaloup?
 
Trump clearly has put his tit in a wringer. Will be interesting to see how he handles his first major foreign policy dilemma.
 
Bucky said:
Just to clarify then, you wouldn't authorize any strikes on Iran under any circumstance, is that your dovish position?
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He said nothing of the sort. What an absolutely stupid question.
 
I always thought our Infinity War was bound to spill over into Iran at some point.
 
roughdraft274 said:
He ordered a strike on a country with no idea of the casualties that would take place. Who in their right mind would approve a strike and then hours later, 10 minutes before the strike, think to ask "hey, how many people am I about to kill?"... This man has to be the dumbest person to ever work in the white house. Not just dumbest president, but possibly the dumbest to ever step foot in the white house. It's absolutely astonishing.
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Apparently he's got us cocked and loaded. But loaded with what?
 
It is really unclear to anyone why the strike was called back.

But this may very well work for Trump. Jumping into another mess without an exit plan is not the thing to do. We have done that so many times before.

It does show Iran that they were that close to getting bombed. How Iran reacts will be a mystery. I only know what I read in the newspaper so how do we really know how things are there?
 
I always heard “lock & load!” That always sounded cart before the horseish. Load and lock just doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.
 
Logician Man said:
Trump clearly has put his tit in a wringer. Will be interesting to see how he handles his first major foreign policy dilemma.
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And sadly, just like almost all of his dilemmas so far, almost entirely one that was created by his own actions.
 
roughdraft274 said:
He ordered a strike on a country with no idea of the casualties that would take place. Who in their right mind would approve a strike and then hours later, 10 minutes before the strike, think to ask "hey, how many people am I about to kill?"... This man has to be the dumbest person to ever work in the white house. Not just dumbest president, but possibly the dumbest to ever step foot in the white house. It's absolutely astonishing.
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How quaint. You actually take Trump’s word for what happened at face value.

When will we learn? The guy is running a reality show, not the White House.
 
Airyaman said:
And sadly, just like almost all of his dilemmas so far, almost entirely one that was created by his own actions.
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No doubt. It appears when he walked away from the table because he was trying to erase another Obama decision to satisfy his personal ego, it has clearly backfired and he has now put himself in a lose/lose situation, as he is on record as stating he is going to pull almost all troops from the ME, and now, with Iran clearly testing his limits, he's in a very tough spot. But most knew the man was totally unqualified to be the C-I-C, and we are now seeing just how valid that observation was.
 
Lutherf said:
This sounds suspiciously like Trump taking orders from Putin rather than congress. Trump should know by now that he’s supposed to let Nadler and Schiff make these decisions or else he’s thwarting their Constitutional requirement to provide oversight of the Executive.
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Someone could have reminded him of that. Or a calmer voice could have warned him against launching into conflict too soon.

...Or he still thinks it's The Apprentice and he has to give the audience some suspense.
 
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