Oh, the Trump administration’s letter informing Iraq of the U.S.’ withdrawal from the country was actually just “an honest mistake”? Too bad.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1283120
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1283120
Iraq to America: get your act together, man.
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Isn’t it rather odd for the military to send out draft letters before they send the real one in cases like this?
I always thought “draft letters” were the ones that did not get sent.
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Another ring added to the circus:
The Dispatch reports the Pentagon initially told lawmakers the letter was “active disinformation” and almost certainly faked.
Annie Dreazen, a staffer in the Pentagon policy office, reportedly responded to an inquiry from the House Armed Service Committee: “[Operation Inherent Resolve] has confirmed with us at the working level that this is active disinformation.”
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Another fine mess they’ve gotten us into.
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Dear FBI:
That letter I’m sending threatening to collect the 80 million for Trump’s head is just a draft. No, really!!
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Like my first boss told me
“You could screw up a two car funeral”
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No, those are the “draft dodging letters” you’re thinking of.
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Biden just finished a very important “presidential” speech on Iran and Trump, and the way forward. At the end, he directly addressed Trump. It was a very powerful moment.
In the past when I have asked TPM to put links to these kinds of important statements, I’ve been told, “We don’t do that.” But undaunted, I ask once again.
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Does Iraq not know that it’s not official until Trump tweets it?
And maybe not even then.
The Trump Administration - embarrassing and endangering America since November 2016.
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And seriously , I’ve been word processing for years and any professional organization places a watermark or stamp on a “Draft”
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IIRC, one of the officials yesterday, in emphasizing that the letter was a draft, said that it wasn’t signed. The copy shown in US media wasn’t. But Madhi said that the draft he got was signed and is binding.
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Iffn’ it was signed , that ain’t no draft, not even if you cross your fingers and say take it back
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I do hope the Iraqi gov’t continues using the legal standing it has to force the US to commit to a withdrawal.
From the perspective of the region’s stability, at this point the US presence is a hindrance to regional peace. I can’t honestly say that the region would be worse off with the US gone, but available to help from a distance if Iraq gets into more struggles with ISIS.
From the perspective of US politics, Iraq kicking out the US would be a clear message to US voters that Trump failed and did so recklessly.
From the perspective of global peace, I think Iran could be persuaded to avoid violent reprisals (which would risk the lives of Americans and non-Americans alike) if it could be certain that the US would leave.
The biggest problem I see is that the Iranian regime has a force and fury of populist public opinion behind it within the Muslim world. We cannot combat that without great damage being done, including loss of life. We Americans have to accept that we elected a miserably and hopelessly bad gov’t and need to take ownership of our actions. We must withdraw because we are not prepared to lead or be a source of stability.
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Also there were two copies -one in English the other in Arabic. Just when you think it could not get any worse, it does. ETTD is now at the highest level of our military.
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In Iran people are rioting in the streets, which led to a stampede killing 56 people 100 injured and the moron has this blood on his hands now.
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That’s odd because in the link I posted yesterday from Reuters, they authenticated the letter before they ran the story. I mean they checked with the appropriate officials first and they stated that in their story.
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For those without military experience a Brigadier general is not all that much. No way a 1 star general was entrusted with making policy this big. He was told to write that letter by someone with 3 stars or to the Sec. of Defense. This baby general is a fall guy. I agree with Josh Marshall. This is a sign of dysfunction at the highest levels of the military and probably the result of Trumpism’s impact on it.
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Its a rather meaningless point to argue.
Iraq’s PM and Parliament have demanded our withdrawal. THAT’S the issue.
The letter is just a minor subset symptomatic of the ineptness of this entire Administration, in their strategy to refuse that demand and act like an occupying force.
Which of course is just playing into Iran’s hands, but we’ve been doing that since the Bushies decided to invade Iraq.
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