“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” — Samuel Johnson
2
This is what Republicans do: 1) give tax breaks to corporations and the rich which they keep for themselves and their shareholders; 2) increase the US debt and say there's nothing left for anything else; 3) get us into trumped-up, un-winnable wars that make a mess of everything but gets us even more hated world-wide, more money for the military-industrial complex, and more troops dead and dismembered; 4) leave office with the economy, domestic policy, and foreign policy a mess; and 5) blame it all on Democrats who succeed them.
5
Most Americans don't want us to be in yet another war but most Americans want to see Trump's tax returns. Any Republicans with any spine out there demanding it? Bolton? Pompeo, Robio? But threatening with sending US troops in harms way ... well, that's no problem. Shame on Republicans.
6
So "President Bone Spurs" - who said wounded/Pow Commander John McCainn was not a hero - is showing his macho by putting our military and country in harms way while remaining safely in the White House. And, he will have the full support of Senator Lindsey Graham who had previously excoriated him as being unfit to be Commander-in-Chief. Some show these Republicans are putting on.
4
War is a way to get re-elected. During the Obama first term Trump declared that he was going to start a war as a way to win a 2nd term. Obama did not- although he continued several wars.
Republican presidents do use this technique (Nixon, Reagan, Bush I and II and now Trump who is an open advocate of this technique.)
5
Just the other day I overheard someone say they didn't vote for Hillary because they were sure she'd immediately get us into a new war.
6
Trump is trying to start a war because he's afraid of losing in 2020.
6
So why didn't your paper mention the fact that this strike force group deployed to sea clear back on April 1st to participate in exercise Mare Aperto, an Italian multilateral maritime warfare exercise in the Med, and that this was also part of the USS Abraham Lincoln's deployment that is to be homeport change from Norfolk to San Diego? Lincoln was scheduled to go around the world during the deployment - which would have included the Middle East. Hello? Anyone fact checking anywhere?
2
@Sir_Bittertruth
The military exercise it actually mentioned in the article.
2
Russia interfered with our election and probably was instrumental installing Trump. The United States overthrew the freely elected prime minister of Iran and installed a despot who imprisoned and tortured thousands. We now kowtow to Russia and threaten Iran. Does anyone wonder about this?
4
Times in a followup article: "The White House and Pentagon made the decision after seeing intelligence that showed new activity on the part of Iranian-aligned forces since Friday, said two senior officials who spoke on condition of anonymity."
Why is the government announcing "the decision", but being so coy about the specific nature of the "intelligence"?
The usual reason is to protect intelligence sources, and the usual procedure is to release a cover story that "explains" how the intelligence was received. That isn't being done here.
2
As the calls for an honest assessment of the Mueller report get louder, Trump ratchets up the distractions.
4
Wag the Dog and Charley Wilson's War were future documentaries - not fictional entertainment
4
One of the most concerning aspects of the continued aggressive rhetoric towards Iran is that, if true, the engine seems to be come from unelected persons. How Bolton etc seem to exert this amount of control over military endeavours should be asked and asked quickly.
Pompeo’s contribution to date appears to only have been a 12 point demand list which he and the administration know Iran cannot possibly satisfy them on - most of it being assumptions and accusations anyways. To state this as a necessary prerequisite before talks could even begin doesn’t seem a very good starting point for the US’s chief negotiator. High school debate teams can come up with better strategies than this approach.
6
We hear daily of increased pressure on Iran. The Iran Nuclear Deal, JCPOA, was excellent; it blocked every possible way for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Leaving the JCPOA was ill advised and definitely harmed the Iranian economy.
The USA has supported Saudi Arabia for decades; it's buying billions of dollars of arms for the war in Yemen that's the worst humanitarian disaster now. We supports this, and not just with arms and ammunition. Congress passed a bill to end our participation; Trump vetoed it.
Trump's first mission abroad began in Saudi Arabia; while there, he signed an agreement to sell $100 billion in arms to them.
Historically the USA and western Europe are closely related to the Ancient Persians, now Iranians. Their culture goes back millennia and is much closer to ours than Saudi Arabia's.
The Saudis are a semitic tribe, it's largely Wahhabi that's the most hard-lined version of Sunni Islam. It's a dictatorial monarchy, it treats women as inferiors, it routinely practices beheading, and it has the harshest form of Sharia law.
WE HAVE MUCH MORE IN COMMON WITH IRAN THAN SAUDI ARABIA.
Saudi Arabia has almost completed it's first reactor. It doesn't have nuclear weapons; however, it has agreements with Pakistan to acquire them at short notice. Saudi Arabia has paid for a large part of Pakistan's nuclear program and weapons arsenal.
Why is our foreign policy so entwined with Saudi Arabia and Israel.
7
This reminds me of another time when Bolton was an active voice in an administration (Bush) and there was fabricated excuse to go into Iraq. Bolton has been fixated with Iran for a long time - it appears he has the President's ear and we may again see another unnecessary intrusion in the Middle East.
3
Kim Jong Un fires missiles, breaking agreement with Trump,threatening our ally, Japan, with a new emperor, and Trump deploys a battle group to the Persian Gulf.
7
See the article published by Susan Rice today, asserting that Trump's foreign policy is driven by how it plays to his domestic base. This is another excellent example. Trump isn't listening to Bolton, he's listening to his pollsters.
7
"... the article published by Susan Rice today, asserting that Trump's foreign policy is driven by how it plays to his domestic base."
Trump has consistently taken a hard-line position on Iran, so Rice is creating a straw man. Rice should be *commending* Trump for his consistency.
"Trump isn't listening to Bolton, he's listening to his pollsters."
Trump gets intelligence briefings, and you don't, unless you are a mind-reader.
For the record:
The Real Trump Foreign Policy: Stoking the G.O.P. Base
By Susan E. Rice
May 5, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/05/opinion/trump-venezuela-cuba.html
If Rice is correct, then hostilities will not ensue. Trump's base does not want to see American boots slogging across the sands of Iranian deserts, any more than they want to see flag-draped coffins returning from Korea. One carrier group and a handful of B-52 bombers in the Persian Gulf or the Sea of Japan, without a full military mobilization to back them up, exposes Trump, Bolton, Pompeo, Rubio, et al., as posturing phonies, whose diplomatic ineptitude is isolating and thereby weakening our nation beyond comprehension.
3
@NKY Trump passes on intelligence briefings because otherwise he might prevent an attack instead of provoking one. Ignorance is bliss.
Trump is going to blockade Iran.
No tanker to tanker transfers of oil in the middle of the night.
2
@New World
Iran is not under UN sanctions nor embargo.
A blockade like the one you're dreaming about will lead to war.
2
@New World
... And who exactly has been harmed by that? For the record, it's the US that's in breach of the Accord, not Iran.
1
Student debt. Health care crisis. Trade War. Failing infrastructure. Boeing. We have so many domestic issues to focus on, why pick a fight and get into another billion-dollar blunder in the Middle East. How many failed wars do we need in the first quarter of the 21st century.
20
@Nancy BECAUSE, they are a threat to peace in the region. The nations that are being threatened are peaceful nations, and we, are the traffic cop
1
@Nancy You hit the nail on the head, but maybe you don't know it. Look a squirrel!
As much as I am not a supporter of this president, I do support his decision to show Iran and those that would do us harm that we are prepared.
On the other hand, anyone who has observed Trump’s methodology of creating distraction has to wonder if this sudden deployment is based on credible threat information or rather his desire to distract from Mueller’s coming testimony on capital hill.
3
@Wilmington Ed
Curiously his "showing ... those that would do us harm" is falling really short with Saudis who actually have done us harm. Double standards much?
1
“The Trump administration has taken a hard-line policy against Iran and has said it aims to force Iran to lessen or end its support for Shiite militias and other groups across the Middle East.”
Do they mean the Shiite militias that have fought back against the al Qaeda, a Sunni terrorist group, that the Saudis are the largest financiers of. On 9/11 15 of 19 hijackers were al Qaeda, yet Trump wants to fight the Shiite that have fought them and kept them from forming Wahhabi nations in places such as Syria and Iraq. This war with Iran is insane. Why is Trump helping al Qaeda and best friends with the Dictator of Saudi Arabia. We are providing air support to Saudi al Qaeda in Yemen causing genocide and the worst humanitarian distaster in the world.
Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil in the world. It is heavy crude oil and Trumps backers the Koch Brothers want this heavy oil for their Texas refinery which can only process heavy not light crude oil. It is also about controlling Venezuela oil for the upcoming Iran war, where the US is going to blockade shipments.
8
@steve Why ask why, when the answer is staring in your face?
Follow the money....why does Trump 'love' NK and hate Iran and Venezuela? What do they have that Kim doesn't?
As Susan Rice, an Obama National Security Adviser has pointed out in a concurrent commentary, Donald Trump's foreign policy appears totally directed towards his own reelection.
The news has presented no specific military activity that would necessitate mobilization of a carrier task force, a phenomenally expensive action. But we should spare no expense to throw up a diversion when honesty of the Trump Administration has managed to dominate the news. All the better if our aggression could lead to some actual combat. Maybe we could kill a few Americans and use that as a justification for starting a full scale war.
Trump would put American lives at risk to assure his own reelection.
8
"The news has presented no specific military activity that would necessitate mobilization of a carrier task force, ..."
The carrier group is not being "mobilized", it is being *transferred* from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. Read the article again.
"... a phenomenally expensive action."
The US constantly conducts naval operations around the world, so that is a specious complaint.
1
@dpaqcluck ... What!? A president is shaping his policies with an eye toward re - election!? I'm shocked I tell you, simply shocked.
Bolton has wanted regime change in Iran for a long time. Just what we need, another useless incursion into yet another Islamic state. One wonders how long the people of the United States that has a government that makes up crisis so we can do yet another failed regime change exercise. Iran is not Iraq.
And now, he wants to intervene militarily in yet another botched Trump diplomatic strategy in Venezuela. The man does not have a country he won't invade based on made up "intelligence" or wishful thinking-based strategies.
13
@Mike
Agreed. There is a footage of Bolton from a year ago or so speaking to some Iranians indicating a regime change in Iran.
@Mike C'mon, how else are they going to incite a Holy War before elections?
War is good for the Trump reelection campaign. Bolton and Pompeo like war and promote war, which is the reason they have their jobs. Iran has helped us fight ISIS and its reward is sanctions for past bad actions. At this point, Iran is being asked to grovel before the awesome might of the U.S. military and the ambitions of Trump, Pompeo, and Bolton. They might not. And the base cheers.
I weep and feel shame that I am an American.
10
This is nothing but an attempt to distract us from the real threat he feels from the investigation by Congress. Typical Trump: risk a war (military or trade) just to make people forget his own crimes.
12
Any article on US belligerence towards Iran that does not mention
Sheldon Adelson should not be taken seriously.
Adelson was Trump's largest contributor in 2016 and the largest Contributor to the Trump Inaugural Committee. He will probably be Trump's biggest donor in 2020.
Adelson is on record saying, in 2013, the way to deal with Iran
is "to send one over" to the desert in Iran and "tell them the next one is in downtown Iran." Adelson was speaking about nuclear weapons. Times Columnist Bret Stephens was sitting on the stage
with Adelson when he said it. Stephens was with the WSJ at the time.
Trump has delegated to Adelson staffing of the State Department and National Security Advisor...Bolton and Pompeo are Adelson people. Trump would lose Adelson's support if he tried to
discontinue our asinine policy towards Iran.
Adelson will get his war. Trump needs the money. He can't afford to lose in 2020....Leavenworth ain't Mar Lago.
11
@Tom Callaghan Kudos, you even made it rhyme on that last line. It's downright contagious.
One of those two countries needs a regime change. And no, I am not thinking of Iran.
5
The tactic that this administration is using is to keep pushing Iran hoping that the government of Iran will commit some transgression no matter how trivial that will serve as a causa belli and allow the US to strike Iran from the air.
This would please Israel and the Saudia Arabia but would lead to a tripling of oil and gasoline prices as tankers will fear transit the strait that Iran controls. And the stock market would collapse.
Trump does not have the basic knowledge or intellectual capacity to understand the certain bad consequences of his actions but only would see the transient glory of being a war president. We know how that turned out for W.
Bolton's jugement is faulty and Pompeo a sycophant. Neither would put brakes on Trump's actions against Iran.
10
@Edward B. Blau What rogue regime would want to possibly juice the price of oil?
Hint: It starts with R and it ends with A.
What threat exactly? WMD's? Yellow powder? Basmati rice with saffron (one of my favorite Iranian dishes)?
Americans love war and their leaders will always find a way to whip them into a frenzy over non-existant dangers and threats. I have long believed that, as the election nears, Trump will pick a fight with some country in order to galvanize his base and pump up the already-bloated Military Welfare Complex. Let me add that the last time I checked, Iran has not launched any military attacks against the U.S., ever.
16
@mrfreeze6 That's because we haven't invaded their country... yet. Just wait.
Blockading one (or more countries) from vital supplies is recognized as an ‘act of war’.
Emperor Trumpius’ gang of militarist and economic pirates just hit the trifecta of “war starting”:
“On Thursday, the Trump administration allowed oil purchase waivers for Iran to expire, in an effort to cut off all revenue that Iran gets from export of its oil. Last November, when it imposed major sanctions on Iran, the United States gave six-month waivers to eight nations to continue buying oil. American officials had signaled to the countries this spring they would continue the waivers, but made a surprise announcement last month that the waivers would end. China and Turkey, two of the customers, have said they oppose the American sanctions.
On Friday, American officials announced they would extend most waivers that allow some countries to work with Iran on a limited civil nuclear program, but said the waivers would be good only for 90 days.
Last month, Republican and Democratic senators asked Mr. Pompeo whether the administration would explicitly seek congressional approval before trying to enter a war with Iran. Mr. Pompeo demurred, saying lawyers should answer that question.
Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, insisted that the United States could not attack Iran as part of a war authorization allowing the use of military force against Al Qaeda and other extremist groups deemed responsible for the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”
7
@Alan MacDonald It's all part of the playbook perfected long ago. It's so old hat, it's ancient.
Tensions tend to escalate when you provoke a foreign country. Cause, meet effect.
However, I think we're experiencing something more like a Bush-Cheney moment. "What WMDs? What are you talking about?" Everyone in Iran is probably equally perplexed about this most recent show of force. "What did we do that necessitates the threat of war?" Apparently all violence in the Middle East is now attributable to Iran according to the Trump Administration.
The position makes a strange sort of sense. We're dealing with a President who has the attention span of a gnat. He can't even read a two page briefing without losing his train of thought. The war hawks in Congress and the Administration are obviously taking advantage of the President's inability to concentrate or reason. The official US policy is now "Just tell the President it's Iran's fault."
I'm sure Russia is loving this new development. Like everything else in Trump's foreign policy though, just wait till it lands on its face. Need I mention North Korea? We can only hope too many people don't die in the process.
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@Andy
"losing his train of thought", easy to do since it's microscopic.
Trump, Bolton, Pompeo ramping up the Iranian threat — dark echos of Bush-Cheney and the neocon push for the disastrous invasion of Iraq under the pretense of WMD and Saddam’s falsely alleged complicity in 911.
Steadily ratcheting up already present American provocation looks deeply suspicious and gravely disturbing.
Another manufactured military debacle in the Middle East might well be the only way to preserve Trump’s chances for a second term.
10
@G. Sears Ding, ding. We have a winner!
Just don't ask what the consolation prize is.
The US and Israel are the biggest state-sponsors of terror in the Middle East. Not only do we back the terrorist state that is Saudi Arabia but we also are backing the jihadists in Syria that are trying to overthrow Assad who is secular.
7
Having been thru the straight of Hormuz numerous times I wonder if the hard line mr Bolton has seen the armaments on the Iranian side of the straight? It’s sobering no matter how tough you think you are and a message may actually work against the wanna be tough guys of Bolton and trump
2
I suspect Saudi Arabia is getting quite a return for its loans to Trump & Kushner. Unfortunately, we haven't seen the tax returns or reports on security clearances to know if this is correct.
We are again fighting a war on behalf of the multi-billionaire sheiks in control of Saudi so they can spend their fortunes imprisoning their opposition, fomenting fundamentalist terrorism and killing American journalists.
10
@JT Do you really need proof of what you already know is true?
The most compelling reason to initiate impeachment is to get Trump and Bolton to heel before they ignite the Middle East in another multi-trillion dollar we break it we own it fiasco with tens of thousands of collateral casualties.
Trump totally lacks politically legitimacy -- let alone Constitutional authority -- to go throwing the US military into harms way for no reason but to juice up the price of oil by blocking all Iranian oil exports and benefiting Trump's good buddies in Texas and Saudi Arabia.
Total madness to have Little Rocket Man lobbing test rockets into the Pacific and escalating North Korea's nuclear weapons program while Trump fawns over the baby-faced tyrant "he's a little in love with." But despite Iran's verified suspension of its nuclear program, Bolton is eager to provoke Iran into a live fire confrontation with horrific consequences.
According to the New Yorker, when told by a general that military action would exact a very high price in human lives and physical destruction, Bolton replied "That's your problem. I don't do war. I only do policy."
Only Congress has war-powers. Not Trump, not Bolton, not whoever the current acting Defense Secretary is.
Trump needs to be handcuffed before he blows everything up. Impeachment is the next best thing.
15
@Yuri Asian You mean "Trump needs to be arrested"
Impeachment is unlikely (although I am FOR the proceedings) and do not force resignation by the way as I understand it.
1
@crispy 40
He needs to be restrained. Conviction by the Republican Senate is unlikely but impeachment -- essentially an indictment by the House -- would force Trump into a prolonged trial in the Senate that would likely prevent him from taking any significant action -- such as provoking a war with Iran -- before the 2020 election. It's a figurative handcuff to limit his actions, as much as he deserves real ones for his contempt of the Constitution he swore under oath to uphold.
Appreciate your reply to my comment. I should have been clearer but I dashed it off without properly editing it for clarity or sense.
Thanks, @crispy 40.
Do any of these power-drunk Trump hacks know anything about Iran? Or the Vietnam War?
One carrier is supposed to scare Iran, a country 5x larger than all of Vietnam, and with a population of over 80,000,000.
For years we had 3 carriers on Yankee Station off North Vietnam bombing it 24/7. We also had even more Air Force planes from Thailand bombing NVN.
In South Vietnam, we also had another 2 carriers off SVN, plus even more Air Force planes, plus hundreds of Army helicopter gunships, plus B-52's from Guam and Thailand.
I was in a Navy Attack Squadron, 1966-67, on Yankee Station. I was on an Army Advisory Team, 1968-69 in SVN.
Air power alone does not work. It ultimately leads to landing troops---and "quagmire". Diplomacy plus trade might work.
9
“It is absolutely the case that we’ve seen escalatory action from the Iranians, and it is equally the case that we will hold the Iranians accountable for attacks on American interests,” said Pompeo. Why do pots and kettles spring to mind?
2
Have you ever wondered what the real reason was that Trump trashed the Iranian nuclear deal when on site inspection showed they were in compliance? Ever wonder why Trump and Kushner have kissed up to Saudi Arabia, in spite of the Yemen war and the murder of Khashoggi? And why have they doubled down and threatened sanctions on countries that buy oil from Iran? And now he sends the navy to make sure there are no oil sales. What happens to the international price of oil when Iran can't participate in the market? Who benefits when the international price of oil is levered up? Right on, nothing else makes any sense.
7
@W.A. Spitzer and I wonder how much investment the Trump family recently made in oil stocks?
Th epresident is exempt from the laws on insider trading... How convenient!
We need the tax returns: they are over 1 month overdue. What is Richard lear doing? His staff says "he is consulting with his legal team" (I Called today.) Instead he should issue contempt of Congress notifications to the head of The IRS and the Treasury secretary, followed by arrest warrants within 24 hours!
Trump works by diversion -- by constantly distracting from his depredations and moral depravity. War is the ultimate diversion. It has always been the greatest danger of the Trump presidency that he would start a war to divert from his failings. Now it seems his plan is to start a war to improve his prospects for 2020. It's ominous that there is no ostensible reason for this diversion of an entire carrier strike force. And it is disturbing to remember the Iranian gun ships which in the past have attacked American war ships in the Persian Gulf. Remember the Gulf of Tonkin incident that was used as pretext to start our involvement in Vietnam? Put this next to Trump's sparking a profound constitutional crisis by stonewalling Congressional subpoenas. Things are getting scary. What's next? A state of emergency? Suspension of habeas corpus? The problem is that Trump is capable of anything.
6
@Barry Schreibman Are you just now realizing all this? You could've seen this coming before election night 2016. Heck, Nostradamus saw this coming.
Do we not lose sight of the damage caused by an Iraqi fired Exocet Missile to an American warship in the Persian Gulf? This show of force these days could be more akin to a duck hunter putting out decoys. Are Bolton and his ilk hoping to draw an Iranian reaction; aka Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? A Carrier Group is an awfully expensive decoy.
1
@John Warnock of course if the Iranians take the bait we wouldn’t have to retire a newer carrier in the Truman since it’s entirely possible that the Lincoln is damaged beyond repair. The confined area of the Persian gulf always made me nervous even on a ddg
As part of China's plan of global hegemony, they are probably planning "re-education" camps for all of the [surviving] people in the Middle East. I would have thought that the example of the Uyghurs would be enough incentive for those countries to search for ways to get along.
Sound silly? Three million Uyghurs can't be wrong.
1
What better way to to generate nationalism and win an election than to fabricate a reason to start a war! Pundits have said for months that this is part of Trump’s reelection strategy as a means to deter attention to all his failures and psychotic behavior.
This must be part of the Republican Party’s play book, just like the Iraq war was part of Dick Cheney’s play book - and look where that got us: ISIS, Al Qaeda, PTSD in soldiers, billions spent on military hardware, etc.
4
The Republican Deception/War machine is active again. The same group of War happy neo-cons that gave us a worthless and costly war in Iraq under a jinned up false pretensence of WMD, now give us non-specific intelligence of impending Iranian threats to Americans as an excuse to send a carrier group into the region in hopes provoking a war justifying incident.
When is the American public going to stop living in the false fear that the Republicans use to get themselves elected and line the pockets of their military-industrial complex cronies?
2
I feel like I have seen this movie before— more than once. It never goes very well.
2
Hamas was dragged into this round of fighting by Islamic Jihad firing off dozens of rounds of rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Islamic Jihad is directly funded and commanded by the Iranian regime. Notice that Bolton and others were careful to state that this wasn’t a reaction to Hamas. No, but it is likely a reaction to Iran’s proxy war in Gaza and southern Israel. Hamas, by the way, usually turns a blind eye to what IJ does, though it could stop them in most instances.
Iran is the octopus wrapping its tentacles around all of the Middle East (Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Gaza, Iraq, all controlled or heavily influenced by proxy organizations of Iran; did I miss any?). The US is right to support its ally Israel by threatening and deterring the head of the octopus instead of leaving Israel in another pointless round of confrontation, destruction, and stale mate/cease fire with one of those Iranian proxies.
In what universe does the Trump team have the credibility to take this nation to war? This administration lies and bullies to distract and divide us. Now it sends a fleet of warships off the coast of Iran with a vague reference to Iranian hostilities. I believe nothing these authoritarian thugs say, and every move they make I assume is to rile up their fanatical right wing base. Two years ago that sentence would have described the Iranian regime. But now it describes the Trump regime.
6
@Steve Did you miss out on American History in HS? 44/45 presidents have been war presidents.
This saber rattling by the Trump administration began the day Donald Trump took office and has been methodically and purposefully escalated, over time, with the intention of establishing a basis for attacking Iran. This could just be WMD’s in Iraq by another name, with John Bolton playing the part of Dick Chaney.
Without strong congressional action to place limits on the war powers of the Executive branch and the egomaniac currently occupying the White House, there could easily be US attacks on Iran by early-2020.
Another, even more frightening possibility, is that Donald Trump is manipulating the tensions with Iran for strictly political purposes, to paint himself as the tough guy in the neighborhood going into the 2020 elections.
2
So, even if Congress doesn't vote to support a war with Iran the Trump administration will just go ahead and declare War over some Trumped-up incident and start an attack on another sovereign country, much as Bush did in Iraq. If military brass refuse to be led into war again, he will just fire generals until he has a bunch of lackeys who are willing to carry out his orders. Who would have thought that electing Trump could be so disastrous?
2
Once again, U.S. Armed Forces are deployed in the MIddle East and Southwest Asia for reasons that are obscure or entirely false, with the intent or effect of provoking a reaction from Iran that will justify further military and/or naval action. It is simply stupefying that men like Mr. Bolton and Mr. Pompeo celebrated for their smarts if nothing else would deliberately participate in a reckless charade like this. This has Trumpian and Israeli politics stamped all over it. Not a shred of it is evidence of patriotism or anything else. It is a cheap, sensationally dangerous game, which will cost a lot and gain little or nothing for the American people, except more strife, wrath and blood.
3
I just can't wait until Iran sends a clear and unmistakable message to the United States that it is holding the United States, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel responsible for an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.
And rather than wasting taxpayer money like the US is want to do, a simple little letter from the Ayatollah to Trump, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Mohammad Bin Salman Al Saud and Netanyahu should suffice (and would be a lot cheaper, too.)
2
I pray that the leaders of wars will be the first casualties.
2
@Rupert
An excellent call. I join you there.
Does anyone else sense a coming "Tonkin Gulf" incident in the Persian Gulf in the summer of 2020? Bolton, Pompeo and Trump might be working on that right now.
5
Trump is trying to create a pretext to attack Iran.
He doesn't care about the lives of America's soldiers and sailors. HIS children are safe at home.
Sooner or later he WILL attack Iran. He needs to attack Iran to avoid impeachment and get reelected (he thinks).
He must be stopped. Only Congress can stop him.
Republicans say nothing, do nothing about Trump.
Republicans don't care about America's soldiers and sailors, either.
6
@S Butler wrote: "Trump is trying to create a pretext to attack Iran."
I can think of 444 pretexts for attacking Iran.
@NorthernVirginia
How many of them came back alive? ... oh wait. All of them. Whereas we helped Iraq with intelligence and weapons again Iran causing the death of millions of Iranians ... and Iraqis.
2
@Lagrange
Will @NorthernVirginia volunteer to be the first boots on the ground when Trump & Company sends in everyone but their own? How high will the KIA/MIA/POW count be?
More results from trump’s recent phone call with Putin. Vlad wants higher crude oil prices to offset sanctions.
6
A major and dangerous distraction by 45 and his supporters.
Stay focused, America !
4
When we talk about aggression and capability of attack, it's worth remembering that the US has 11 aircraft carriers in service to Iran's 0.
1
This far we’ve been exceedingly lucky with this inept and Sabre rattling administration. John Bolton is a well known hawk in the mood of. Dick Cheney.
I’m afraid our luck may be running out. This administration seems to be on a war path with Iran at the behest of Israel - with Bibi Netanyahu cheering. Yet this administration seems to have no fears about the far more dangerous situation in North Korea who are developing advanced nuclear weapons and missiles which ARE a threat to peace.
4
@Brett b That's not a bug, but a feature. Everything is working as designed.
Bonus points for guessing who designed it.
And this has nothing to do with the fact that there's a US Presidential election 18 months away. Sure.
3
Iran is not suicidal. They are not going to attack us, the world's mightiest super power. But Trump is listening to his National Security Advisor John Bolton with his aggressive neocon, extend American influence by force philosophy.
1
Is this the start of a war Trump needs to force his re-election? Is this more about his unfavorable polls?
1
Is an Iran War Trump's solution to the Mueller report? Much like G.W. Bush's Iraq War? Distract! Stonewall! Do whatever you have to do to Change the subject! Will more Americans and others die over phony arguments for an Iran War, just like Bush's WMD's which led to his disastrous Iraq War?
2
I would imagine that conflict with Iran would be part of our dear leaders' re-election campaign. Let's hope that the bellicose John Bolton has more sense than to use a nuclear weapon; I wouldn't count on it. This is high on the list of reasons to impeach the president ASAP. It is too easy to forget that we have put a lying sociopath in charge of enough weaponry to destroy civilization. Believe nothing that he says.
6
He is gearing-up for the re-election Campaign.
Seriously.
2
When ever a GOP corrupt President is in trouble they will find a war to get us in. Putin is friends with NK so Trump is afraid of Putin. I expect a GOP military commander to start a war and then he will be there hero and future President. Very sad to share a country with these bad people.
3
"Mr. Pompeo has said Iran bears more responsibility for ongoing violence in the Middle East than any other actor". Hahaha. Truly, Republicans have zero self-awareness.
3
As any English teacher worth their weight would say about the word escalatory, "Great use of adjective! You need more specifics for the reader to understand, though." It seems to me that officials should hearken back to their middle school days and wonder to themselves whether they should revise their rough-draft report about Iran to include concrete details before sending women and men of the U.S. Service into danger, and opening up more hatred against us by foreign terrorists.
2
Iran is not nor ever has been a threat to the US or to Israel. But both the US and Israel Governments use Iran as a "threat" in order to promote Israeli illegal actions in the Middle East and to justify the enormous amounts for foreign aid we give Israel. Iran has the atom bomb but the Israel, using stolen American plans (stolen by American jews, by the way), had it first.
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Do they really think, with their established track record of shameless mendacity, that the world will buy this transparently hypocritical bellicosity? Perhaps, as there is seemingly no shortage of fools willing to sacrifice our treasure and our people on the altar of American self-righteousness.
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I swear John Bolton will not be happy until he starts WWIII. This is a man who has been out of control for as long as he's been in government. This is a man who makes Dick Chaney look like a peacemaker. Somebody needs to take the man outside and send him on his way.
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So, is it now OK for Iran to send their boats and bombers to the Mexican gulf? Or is this aggression only allowed by one side?
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Wow. I'll bet Iran had no idea we had aircraft carriers.
Watch them bend to our will, at once!!
Such a strong president; such a bold leader!
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Iran is not threatening anything right now.
Also, thsi carrier group's departure was announced a month ago.
US sabre rattling and interference.
Don't your journalists investigate this stuff. I thought you were all so critical of the republican govt ?
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Do military personnel even care that their lives are meaningless tools for arrogant power hungry morons? There probably was a time when the military was a sacred institution; to be respected for its intrinsic purpose of protecting our country. Since Vietnam, the military has been nothing more than a tool to affect geopolitical outcomes to keep terrible people in powerful positions.
Of course the republican orthodoxy of keeping a decent portion of the electorate as uneducated illiterate idiots serves to create mmmerica-loving feedstock for its bogus military forays. This country is a disgusting shame.
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Mr. Trump just offered Iran to Putin on a silver platter. He finally figured a way to reward Putin for Russia's unique "contribution" to his 2016 election, without Congress involvement.
If attacked by the US, the mullahs in Tehran will be under immense pressure from their highly nationalistic population to respond. But a country with an economy at the verge of collapse cannot afford entering into a war that could last weeks, if not months. So, their only logical option is to go to Russians, giving Putin all kinds of incentives to back them in any confrontation with the US.
Rest assured, Putin will try immediately to turn Iran into another Syria. He will demand military bases and naval ports on Persian Gulf, realizing the dream of every Russian Tsar since Catherine the Great.
Knowing Trump can be easily manipulated by Bolton and Pompeo, the Iranians have been careful not give the US any pretext for military confrontation. Clearly frustrated, Pompeo finally took a page from Trump's book, and entered into the realm of fiction. A week ago, he told Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that there is a "connection" between Iran and Al Qaeda. That being impossible on religious grounds, it is an indication of how badly Pompeo wants to see a military confrontation.
And today Pompeo is telling us of Iranian proxies "getting ready" to attack US forces. Given that Abraham Lincoln set out for Persian Gulf months ago, no doubt he possesses vast powers of prognostication.
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@Eddie B. At least, someone gets it.
I think this article should read a little differently:
Due to continuing threats to his presidency brought on by his own behavior and the actions of his cabinet members, trump is putting members of our volunteer armed services into harm’s way.
Even in peacetime, the chance for mishaps with men, women, and billions of dollars worth of taxpayer funded equipment always hangs over military operations. This time is no different except that the potential threat probably doesn’t warrant deploying a naval battle group plus Air Force bombers.
This provocative action makes little sense. The sanctions are having an impact on Iran, but mostly on its citizens, many of whom don’t support the government anyway. With advisors like Pompeo and Bolton, nothing good can happen from this decision.
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A little something to take our minds off our “collusion delusion”.
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The threat of meaningful force against Iran effectively ended with the invasion of Iraq, which vastly improved Iran's position and influence in the region and showed that achieving regime change through military force is a folly.
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@Sami in Paris oh that's pretty much what the Vietnam war showed
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Leave Iran alone! The war merchants have enough money
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@Vicki Scott! Putin needs to juice the price of oil. It's either Venezuela or Iran, or even better, let's do both!
Bolton's Bomb Bomb ANYWHERE dream will become a nightmare for the world. If puppet Trump declares a war without Congress approval..Good. One more illicit act to add to his impeachment.
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Trump has operated like Putin's puppet in Europe, it's not surprising to see him act like Bibi's and Saudis' agent in the middle east. US national interests don't mean a thing to him.
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@Sha as someone else pointed out Putin won’t mind sticking his nose in here either as it will give him access to the Persian gulf and the mullah might just open some ports to the Russians restricting our ability to operate in the region
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The Shia Muslim majorities in Iraq and Iran were given a huge, probably unintentional, boost by George W's irrational war. I would see an impending war, as I did the Iraq war, as politically motivated, except for 2 things: unlike the Iraq war, it will be very risky in terms of US political effect, and this guy, Bolton, is a loon who wants to overthrow the governments of Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea no matter how many lives are lost and no matter what the political consequences.
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@Emory It's easy to fight a war when you're always 'in the rear with the gear.'
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Can someone help here? Can anyone explain why we are involved in a conflict between two factions of the Muslim religion which began in 632 AD? Most Americans would probably guess that Sunni and Shia were sushi dishes and not one in ten thousand would know which side we are supporting, not to speak of any reason why. Not only that but most have no idea how much this is costing them. The trillion dollar figure has easily gone into double digits. And that is taxes you pay that goes to the other side of the world instead of working at home.
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@Frankster "Can someone help here? Can anyone explain why we are involved in a conflict between two factions of the Muslim religion which began in 632 AD?"
The answer is Israel. Like so many questions about American policy everywhere on earth. But don't expect to read that here -- in articles, or comments.
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This has already been exposed as fraudulent. The carrier group was deployed more than a month ago, and this criminal republican administration decided to gin up a press release to prop up Trump's sagging numbers. Shameless.
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Is this what a war drum sounds like for election year 2020? Asking for a friend
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@Sebastian Good times are coming early. Mueller is about to testify.
Once again the Israeli/Saudi Arabia tail wags the American foreign policy dog. With formally discredited and criminal neocons Bolton and Abrams dictating adversarial actions against Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, China, et al, the war crazed American bull is doing everything it can to destroy the world china shop. There is an old Chinese curse that goes, "May you live in interesting times." Those times have arrived.
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@Rodney 'There is an old Chinese curse that goes, "May you live in interesting times." Those times have arrived.'
Nonsense. First, it's not a curse. Second, there's nothing "interesting" about these times. In fact, there is no word to describe what the world is going through now, none. (And boy oh boy doesn't the NYT play a leading and smelly role).
@spade piccolo It's called a 'figure of speech.' You aren't supposed to take it literally.
Personally, I’d move this up the page. Donald Trump is going to get us killed. Arguably, he already has.
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Another pointless Mideast war brought to us by an amateur and guided by a toxic ideologue? We will soon know.
I have expected Bolton to goad Trump into starting a war and losing it. Then we will be rid of the pest and his circus.
China and Russia will enjoy it all.
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@Peak Oiler Why else do you think that Bolton was hired? He was foreshadowing a war before he was born.
Any chance that John Bolton, who ducked into the Maryland Guard to avoid Vietnam, has any children who will be sent to fight the wars he's itching to fight in Iran, Venezuela and North Korea?
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@George.... none
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Completely expected that the inept trump would wag the dog with a war. No doubt at all.
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“We will not distinguish between attacks from Shia militias in #Iraq and the #IRGC that controls them,” Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican of Florida and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Monday morning on Twitter. “Any attack by these groups against U.S. forces will be considered an attack by #Iran & responded to accordingly.”
“We will not distinguish between attacks from SUNNI militias in #Iraq or Syria or anywhere else and the SAUDI MONARCHY that controls them,” Senator Moral Person, said Monday morning on Twitter. “Any attack by these groups against U.S. forces or any murder and dismembering of journalists will be considered an attack by SAUDI ARABIA & responded to accordingly.”
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Good, it is long past time to end the iranian fake, terrorist regime, whichis why most sane americans are hoping the US wipes it off the map forever.
The regressives in the US (they misname themselves "progressives") who are reflexively anti-Trump and led by this "publication", might screech against it, but if there is ever to be peace in the mideast, it simply cannot happen while the current iranian regime exists.
This weekend's Israel/gaza conflict with hamas firing almost 1,000 rockets into Israel leading to dozens of people killed, and the Yemen war with another iran-driven terrorist group firing missiles into Saudi cities, would not be occurring if the cancerous iranian regime did not exist.
Add to it the lunatic iran nuclear deal, signed by an appallingly inept former president who enabled iran's horrific meddling and violent expansionist wars and terrorism, and it is clear that the regime needs to be put down.
The regressives might call it whatever they want, "election politics", etc but the truth is the world will be a far better place without the iran regime in it, and the rational amongst us don't want to wait to see iran complete its nuclear-tipped missile program before finally doing what should have been 10 or 20 years earlier.
As for internal regime change - we saw in syria and iran itself in 2009 what the regime would do to those trying peacefully, which is slaughter any who try.
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@bob jones Propagamda
Some digests some for breakfast lunch and dinner... do you also have some for your night snack?
Wowsers!
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No more “for profit” wars! What has Iran done to earn a war? No more death and no more enriching the war machine!
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An attempt by the president and his men to create some fake news?
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Is Donnie John just a hired hand for Saudi Arabia and Isreal?
Does anyone remember before 9-11 when it felt like Bush was prepping for a war with Saddam?
This feels similar.
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Bolton and Steven Miller dtermine US foerign policy now. They want war. Venezuela, Iran... and Kushner’s deep in with the Saudis.
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@Lev
Given that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is flaring up, many would like to ask Mr. Kushner what happened to his promised Peace Plan. May be this is just a maneuver to make sure that question is lost in the fog of a potential major war.
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This is Bolton's fantasy and Trump's folly. Trump is, as always, being led by his nose by those who see how easily he can be manipulated. The Saudi's are surely pleased with this outcome, and laugh at this man who reviles Muslims while kowtowing to the people responsible for 9/11.
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@Suzanne Moniz
The US policy re Iran has much more to do with the Israel Lobby than Saudi Arabia. Kushner is treating SA as wedge issue to benefit Israel. Think Sheldon Edelson , Netanyahu`s promise to never allow a 2 state solution , his recent promise to annex the West Bank , his 20 yrs of predicting that Iran was about to have nukes twice in front of the US Congress. This is the Israel Lobby doing what it did to get the USA to invade & trash Iraq over non existent WMD`s.
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Neocons like John Bolton, Elliott Abrams, and far too many others who make a living as members of the permanent Beltway War Party, have never met a conflict they didn't really like. Perhaps that is because, with very few exceptions, they themselves never wore the uniform of their country. Ever. Much less in combat.
Had they seen war first-hand, they might be more humble, less triumphal, less eager to fight to the last U. S. Marine (so long, of course, that it is not their son or daughter doing the fighting).
I am a Baby Boomer and a Vietnam vet. (Not simply a "Vietnam Era" Vet like "Danang Dick" Blumenthal who never left CONUS and never broke radio contact with room service). I consider myself a patriot.
But as a result of wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, plus our adventurism in countless other places across the globe, I cannot recall a year during my lifetime when our young men and women in the military have not been in harms way somewhere.
Enough!
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@Frank McNamara
"Had they (the neocons) seen war first-hand, they might be more humble...".
Perhaps you're right; but I'm not really sure about that. I think these are deeply flawed and twisted people whose fantasies of endless conflict, raw power and world domination at any price might be the only things they have left in their otherwise empty souls.
@Frank McNamara, Thank you for your service and I agree with you. Unfortunately too many of our leaders have decided to use war as their first choice for solving conflicts.
@Frank McNamara 44/45 US presidents have started a war. Can you guess who didn't? Hint: His initials are JC.
John Bolton: perhaps our most dangerous man?
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Funny that the liberals find the NYT reports on Israel to be right-wing and that the conservatives find the NYT reports to be left-wing.
Can’t we all just get along by keeping our nose out of the Middle East?
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But “our” oil is over there
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You go, Cadet BoneSpurs! You, too, can be a "war pres-i-dent"! Chickenhawk George's "Preemptive Strike" on Iraq worked so well to save us from imminent, horrible death and destruction by Saddam's "nuk-u-lar" WMDs!
Neocon Chickenhawk John Bolton once again gets to enrich the MIC by sending Other Mother's Children to attack a smaller, weaker ME country! Meanwhile, the (R)egressive mouth-breathers get to wave the flag and chant "USA" while we further destabilized the entire Middle East. MAGA!
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Trump's likes to talk. He should directly address the Iranian people to encourage them to overthrow and replace their unelected, illegitimate, Twelver, religious-fanatic dictators in their little costumes and 6th century headgear so that Iran can re-join the slate of normal nations.
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No more war! The war merchants are very very wealthy! No more killing!
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Can we arrange to have this crazy man ride the first wave of bombs down on Iran DR. Strangelove style?
These guys think this is some grand adventure
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@Dudley Dooright better send the bomb somewhere it can't hurt anybody, but with the crazy rider still on. like alaska.
@Dudley Dooright I think the concept of overthrowing the leader might hit Trump a little too close to home, unless he's too dumb to make the connection.
I worry that with the 2020 election approaching and with Trump’s support continuing to erode that Trump will somehow engineer a situation to engage the USA in a war or warlike action. The underlying strategy of Trump being......the electorate will not dump a sitting president while military action is underway.
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@Michael Lindemann Trump, the stable genius, learned from Bush's Iraq War which gave "W" four more years to let Cheney and the Neo-Cons destabilize most of the Middle=East and Afghanistan.
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@Michael Lindemann Moving a carrier group to the Persian Gulf isn't abnormal. Obama did it in 2014.
I think his usual tactics of distracting us from his political foibles went overboard this time with his carrier delivery to scare Iran. Bolton’s such a continual mess.
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This is step one in a strategy designed to be at war when the election season hits full steam. With Bolton and Pompeo, the guy in the White House has two hawks willing to promote any war, regardless of it being a political tactic. And regardless of its necessary, or unnecessary, reasons.
This administration can't see past the end of their collective noses. Many of their actions achieve the exact opposite of the intended consequences. An example of their ineptness is on our southern border. The guy in the White House declares we are closing our border, and the tide of those wanting to get here before the border closed increased. Their actions with the children refugees speaks for itself.
The administration won't even commit to asking for Congressional approval prior to beginning a war with Iran. That alone is a tip-off of the coming war. The fact they have included a number of groups and countries in their warnings does not bode well
. It only makes it easier to start a war.
How the guy in the White House can run his re-election campaign on the backs of our military is beyond the pale. Human life, other than his, means nothing to him. We are expendable.
It has always intrigued me how, in the course of a political campaign, human life becomes meaningless. We report casualties like they are just numbers, not a breathing human being. All reports are that we are "winning", when in fact ,we all lose in the end.
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Sadly it won't be the first time, that's how George W Bush got reelected. War is a time proven strategy of dictators to hold on to the power.
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I am now wondering if this a real story because of Iran's behavior, or is that we were already going to that same area for military exercises, and now to change the media story this administration is using Iran as a diversion. trump's base believes everything that's put in front of them, thank goodness the majority of Americans have figured this tactic out by now. trump decided to cancel our part in the deal with Iran, and now he wants to use sanctions on the others who were also part of the nuclear deal. it seems to me that its because of the others involved in the agreement, Iran has continued the status quo.
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The truth is that the Iranians have been far less aggressive than the US. trump believes that he is in charge of the world and that everyone will bow to him. That usually leads to war which Bolton and Pompous Peo seem to want.
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Bill, where do you think all the rockets in Gaza came from?
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And where do all those bombs in Yemen come from?
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@Mike K. Home made. If you think anybody can smuggle rockets into Gaza, you haven't paid attention to the Israelis blockade of that area.
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