Discussion: All Systems Go For Retaliatory Strike Against Iran — Until Trump Abruptly Pulled Back

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Vlad to Iran’s rescue? GD I hope we don’t get another never ending conflict going from the Cheney idiots.

A lot of other happy folks

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Maybe doesn’t want the war to peak to early. Trump edging Iran…

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The election is still too far off. Don’t wag that dog tail yet, Dotard.

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The biggest victim of this has to be Sean Hannity who last night told Iran to stand down or it would 'feel pain like never before."

Poor Sean.

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so fucking depressing these fucking idiots who gamble our future because small d!ck syndrome.

pardon my language but these are small boys with small units who like playing with big toys.

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My entirely uninformed guess is that he senses that this is too early. He wants to hold this card until closer to the election, and perhaps in reserve in case things move closer to impeachment or there is a substantive hearing that he needs to bury.

Edit: I adjust my position since the idea that Putin ordered him to back off is far more plausible than the one that Trump did something even vaguely purposeful or clever.

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This whole situation… Trump pulled out of the Nuclear deal. This issue was CLOSED!!! We are back to where we were before the Nuclear deal. How can anyone opposed to the Nuclear Deal on capitol hill (read Republicans) sit there with a straight face and watch this situation with Iran unfold?

What freaking HYPOCRITES the GOP is… I remember before the Iran deal the GOP was ranting at Obama “what are you going to do about Iran getting nukes.” So Obama and all the big nations including Russia got on board with the Nuclear deal with Iran. Iran also got it’s frozen assets back. Meaning Iran still got a chip back that Trump cannot get back. The deal was working with Iran and now here we are… If I was a Democrat in the Senate I would just be in people’s faces like Graham right now just ranting “How does that Nuke deal look now?”

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“…an explosion of oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week that also raised American haunches.”

Raised our haunches??? Nah, don’t think so. Know what you mean, but pretty sure that “raised haunches,” in this context, is not a thing.

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SH now knows what it’s like to be SHS.

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Ready! Fire! Aim!

Well, well, well, now look who is leading from the rear.

What did Trump say about Obama being the laughing stock of the world? How no one respects us?

This is going to ramp up calls for impeachment, and that would be a mistake. How can you start an inquiry when you don’t know what questions to ask?

Let the investigations run their course.

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Not to be trusted. One decision one minute, a completely different one the next. We do not need this.

OK, got it.

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The decision to pull back in the face of what was likely hard pressure from Bolton (who has always wanted this war) and Pompeo (who lbelieves the end is near) prolly arose from Trump’s basic cowardice more than anything else.

Regardless, good on him, and good on whoever leaked the NYT story.

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I will just reiterate what I posted above. If you followed the whole narrative on that Iran Nuke deal. The years behind closed doors negotiating. Negotiating in public and getting everyone signed on and executing the deal. Something John Kerry busted his azz on. It is just freaking inconceivable where we are today with Iran. Remember Iran got it’s $450 million in frozen assets back. Trump just freaking pulled out of the deal due to his dumbazzedness goaded by azzholes like Bolton. It is imperative that whomever gets the DEM nomination is fully supported by the anti-Trump pro Democrat crowd.

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I have a hard time thinking that POTUS was the “adult” in the room. I think it more likely that he launched the attack, called Iran to tell them negotiate or else as the planes were in the air, Teheran called his bluff with a noncommittal “we’ll report your request to the Supreme Leader” , and POTUS called off the strike. I hope to God I am wrong, but I fear that these clowns and their protection- racket foreign policy would think playing chicken with the military is the way to go. They should read Fail Safe again. Mistakes happen and they are creating circumstances that make really bad mistakes very possible.

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Has anyone offered an explanation for why Iran would attack an oil tanker when its economy (such as it is) relies on the trade of oil? Perhaps it is just Republicans, projecting their own willingness to mindlessly cause harm even if some of it reflects back on them. On the other hand, I can fully understand why this administration would make up such claims, or even stage them for their own purposes.

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Last minute cold feet? A possibility: Our intelligence community and the DoD informed Trump there is evidence, not in our sole control, that Iran’s assertion is true, the drone was in fact violating Iranian air space or territory when it was shot down.

It would be pretty bad form to bomb a bunch of radar installations and weapons depots only to have such evidence trotted out before the UN in a protest of your military strikes.

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The reality is that America - and the world - relies an enormous amount on malign actors taking what we say seriously. Trump has now pulling out of the Iran Nuclear Deal, shattering the international consensus, and making war like noises and threats.

The Iranians called his bluff, placed limpet mines on the sides of tankers and now shot down a $40M+ US unmanned airplane in international airspace. These are the type of actions that even someone very resistant to getting involved in the world like Obama would have reacted too. Certainly he would have done something in conjunction with our allies.

Yet, there is no one supporting Trump, no one calling out the Iranians, we are isolated.

Yet, even isolated, Trump is just a fraud, he is actually a fraudulent chicken hawk. And deciding to launch a strike, then to pull it back, all with no response so far to a clear provocation, is really really dangerous. It looks, and is weak.

This is example 207 of why the world does not take Trump seriously, and it is really hurting our national interests. Started with Kim taking Trump for a ride by using his psychological vulnerabilities and then the Saudis taking him for a ride with his financial vulnerabilities. Now he has made threats against Muduro and China, but has been unwilling/unable to take other than twitter action, and they clearly (as do the Europeans) view his words are worthless.

The real danger is not that Trump has gotten us into a war, its that Trump has so undermined American deterrence, and shown himself to be such a coward and blowhard that he has so fundamentally undermined the stabilizing force that the US used to present. Because of this the risks of a major war have gone up, at the same time that malign actors have been emboldened to undermined our interests.

It is impossible to think of a worse combination of actions than what Trump has done.

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