What should the response be by the US if Iran begins to interfere with oil shipments, which may have already started, through the straits of Hormuz?
2
Spare some thought for the poor mothers and families who are about to lose more kids to this buffoon’s whims!
This time they have to bear the insult of being sent to die by a coward who dodged the Vietnam draft by making up “bone spurs.” A coward who’s never served the country in any way at all, only served his entitled silver spooned self, before being rewarded with the luxury of the highest office in the land.
Imagine such an insult!!!
12
Why Trump fights with Iran? I believe the answer is really very simple. The Iran Nuclear ban Agreement was negotiated by President Obama along with five other countries. Trump is insanely jealous of any thing Obama. That is all there is wreck & divide.
9
Fake news about world events is VERY dangerous. Another in the Gulf of Tonkin, WMD series?
4
War on Terror: October 07, 2001 to Today
7000+ U.S. soldiers killed
50,000+ U.S. soldiers wounded
8000+ U.S. contractor deaths
1500+ Allied troop deaths
500,000+ people killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan theatres alone
This is only a partial count of all the death and destruction waged to avenge the deaths of 2,996 people on September 11, 2001.
Rather an odd revenge. We’ve lost far more people in carrying out our revenge than we lost in the first place. The vast majority of people that we’ve hurt had nothing to do with 9/11. And we’ve destabilized the Middle East, making it as easier place for guerilla groups to thrive.
Back in 1989, a CIA-FBI Task Force estimated that Al Qaeda’s core group was about 75 people. In 2001, they estimated that the core group was 500-1000. I recall reading articles back in 2001 that said that the fighters holed up in Afghanistan were probably only around 200, so would be captured quickly.
And here we are today. Still fighting and fighting and fighting.
The whole thing could have been done as an international police raid to arrest Al Qaeda members—not as a war that has slaughtered countless innocent people along with the combatants.
11
If the Mueller Report had been less sympathetic to Trump Tehran would be a parking lot by now. A little bit of jingoism and war never hurts before an election or as a diversion
3
Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” is as relevant today as it was when it was released 56 years ago. Hey, John Bolton, “Let me ask you one question,
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness?
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find,
When your death takes its toll,
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul.”
8
No doubt we will cook up some "provocation" to start the stupidity all over again.
Dump Bolton!
Lockup Individual 1!
10
" ... Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika, who is also the deputy commander of the American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State ...
The Trump administration wants us to believe that Gen. Ghika doesn't have access to the intelligence upon which Mr. Bolton has based his judgment.
That, of course, is utter nonsense and destructive our relationship with our most trusted ally. The British, as our closest nuclear ally shares with us all of the secret intelligence information that they gather and, I would expect that as Deputy Commander of the US let coalition against ISIS he would have access to all relevant information.
This is a ploy by Trump to get himself elected as a "strong" president and Bolton to cause yet another un-winnable war costing another few $T.
Word on the street has it (The Hill) that US Rep. Senators are whining about not being informed about why we are being led into war by the clowns in the White House. Will they do anything? No, they'll whine a little and then vote for everything that Trump's narcissism requires.
Ah, yes. I also predict that this coalition it the last one that will ever exist between the US and the countries that used to be our allies. Trump and his minions will need to explain what they are up to. They can't and their credibility is utterly gone after backing out of the nuclear agreement even though, as our former European allies agree, Iran was in compliance with that agreement.
9
Apparently John Bolton is living in the dinosaur-sphere bubble by believing no one remembers, studies, nor talks about some of our biggest mistakes, as a nation. His names comes up wherever misguided US policy is rolled out and then executed.
The playbook and rules have changed since he worked for Reagan, Bush 41 & Bush 43. Our allies and our adversaries are capable of watching him lay the stepping stones to confrontation in real time.
He just cannot imagine how connected everything is now and that the rest of the world can easily compare notes and place their bets on what he is capable of doing next, if he goes unhindered by congress. Sending ships to the region is just asking for something to go wrong.
Cut those purse strings, now.
6
This is a hoked up effort to replicate Iraq and win a second term for the Maniac pictured as a petulant yet cagey child in the photo that led this online version. This was in the cards from BEFORE the election. He was already going for Iran with cheers from fellow haters Bannon and Pam Geller. You know it then if you were paying attention. Allow this and the media will again be complicit in making barely legitimate a crime against humanity and a further desecration of this country by the man we may not even have elected legally.
6
Funny, that’s what I wonder too! Was this in fact the plan all along?! I think it may have been. What’s interesting is that it’s barely getting attention it seems. Beyond the little mention here, it seems this time the media isn’t bothering to “sell” it. They’ll just do it quietly!! Change in war promotion strategy it seems.
1
Allies have become woke!
2
So the US Military wants another war to lose? Zero for two in the ongoing Iraq and Afghanistan quagmires. Might just as well go for three. Maybe they can create a replacement for Daish.
8
Among the many appalling things this President has done the worst is appointing Bolton, a known liar who played a major part leading us into the Iraq Invasion. His being allowed near anything involving Middle East foreign policy decision making is not only idiotic, it is further proof that there can be no “just” role for America as a mediator in anything in the region and is in direct contradiction of the rhetoric Trump himself was spewing out during his campaign for the presidency, I guess that puts him on the same level as Bolton and the elevator to the bottom of the barrel stops there.
3
Please don't let this madman start a war! Of course our allies are skeptical because we all know Trump lies every single day about almost anything. Bolton is not very good at his job either. Maybe Trump's new allies are Russia and N Korea?
11
In which case, we may well all end up in a boiling Nuclear Cauldron formerly known as Earth.
3
Who are you gonna believe -- a senior British military officer, or Jared Kushner?
11
And when the US cried fire, fire.
All they said was little liar.
7
Thank you for your service, but thanks even more if you put down your guns and sit this one out.
2
I believe the real reason for the ongoing US troop, bomber and ship movements is advance preparation for Israeli airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
7
It would be sad if the US starts another war based on lies. The world now knows how unwise the leaders in the Us are. And what a catastrophic outcome the collaboration between the world's stupidest leader and the most EVIL national security advisor ever.
5
I am not an expert on Iran, nor foreign affairs, but I have read numerous articles over the years that young people in Iran are tired of being stifled by the religious leaders that truly wield the power in Iran. Kids want to have mixed-sex parties, dancing, etc. without fear of reprisal.
I think Obama, and our allies, had it right with the Iran nuclear deal: Get Iran back into the international community and tomorrow's leaders (today's youths) will end up our friends. If we continually attack Iran economically after they apparently dealt in good faith then we give them no reasons to change and, certainly, no reason to be our friends.
13
Thank you. Well said.
2
shades of iraq, the mexican - american war, granada, vietnam. Not all the same but similar war mongering, baiting and bluster that inveigle amercans into too many military actions (most undeclared as wars by congress.)
let us not forget usa policy throughout history: a fabricated need to declare war with mexico geared to expansion, cheating indigenous tribes out of lands, covert cia work to topple regimes and create havoc in Latin America, working behind the scenes to destabilize other countries
/territories for its own business purposes.
Not to mention american efforts to oust the iranian shah (after the us supported him), an action that brought us the current regime, hostages, middle east mess, and irreversible power re-balance.
Now I hear the same Cheney - rumsfeld language - militarism, belligerance, disdain for world order, practicality and diplomacy.
we need to be aware, beware, and stop this before we end up in the past.
5
Wait, what? Could this administration be lying to the world? Our hard working men and women in the military and their families should never be considered for his political gain. We are talking about lives.
6
"The Trump administration is looking at plans to send as many as 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons, The New York Times reported."
That bit about "should Iran attack" is irrelevant. As with the Bushies back in the day, the Trumpers can just make it up. Iran does not have to do anything. A US administration lying the country into a war in the Middle East is entirely doable, as we all know, and should be expected -- both to satisfy Bolton and to help reelect Trump. And of course the war will be disastrous for all others -- along with being morally monstrous and illegal. Congressional Republicans will support Bolton-Trump.
7
the world needs to push back on Trump administration and not comply with new sanctions.
8
Bolton is the threat, not Iran. He never saw a country he wouldn't go to war against.
16
More con from the most corrupt US government in 40+ years.
Bibi,and Bolton have finally found a president they can control.
The EU should send as many aid-workers,inspection teams,military attaches,and anyone else they can to Iran.Staff the embassies to the max,and have thousands of Europeans meandering around Iran.
Maybe then it will stop Bolton from attacking.Just maybe.
8
Mr. trump disrespected our Allies. Now he seeks support from them against Iran. Forgettaboutit (New York idiom)
5
This is but one symptom of what happens when we have an Imperial Presidency. Trump does not have to answer for anything else. Why should starting a War be treated any differently?
In an ideal world, the REpublican enablers of Trump should be required to stay on the front lines until things are resolved.
4
On one hand, something like this should have been done before the 1983 Beirut Terrorist attack.
But on the other hand let us hope that Trump and the Republicans are not taking sides in the Sunni Muslim, Shia Muslim conflict that has been going on for something like 1,500 years, as a strategy to win re-election. Johnson did the same thing in 1964 and got us stuck in Vietnam, which we had to retreat in defeat. That was never supposed to happen again.
Remember when, after the Sunni terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Shia Iran extended an olive branch to the U.S. and offered support. Bush basically told them to go "expletive" themselves, needing Iran for his "Axis of Evil" speech. I guess the Republicans decided to take sides even back then. Supporting the Sunni's that attacked us, over the Shia whom are the Sunni's enemies. Obama and the Democrats reached out to Iran looking to be an impartial mediator in the Shia and Sunni conflict. It looks like American foreign policy depends on which party is in control. Not exactly a desirable trait for a country (the U.S.A.) that wants to be the world leader of justice and human rights.
The biggest weakness of a democracy is that it can be purchased. That is why we want democracy in the oil producing country of Syria. The human rights of women are better in Syria than almost every other country in the Middle East. A Muslim Brotherhood democracy in Syria would only extend to half the population, but the oil would be ours.
2
Great another war another terrorist group we can give birth to! When will this cycle end
7
it almost pains me to write this
but i keep asking myself:
"would an iran with nuclear arms
have bolton utter his ... threats?"
why is it OK for some nations to have a nuclear arsenal,
while others are prevented from protecting themselves?
so much global disparity, outrageously much unfairness,
too many yardsticks people measure their worlds 'n' ways by.
aren't the miseries in the congo, yemen, libyia, afghanistan
and in countless african refugee camps ENOUGH already?
3
Trump may be a horrible person and terrible President, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. Iran was, is and will continue to be the singular bad actor in the region funding and arming violent proxies to wage destabilizing wars against Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, Jordan, Egypt and Israel. Like Pakistan in Afghanistan, Iran in Iraq and the region has an agenda based on hegemony and WMD acquisition and proliferation to sew the seeds for WWIII from which it intends to emerge as the winner. The problem is the IRG believes its own propaganda and is so brain washed, they will continue their march to folly unless the US Makes them stop and do a rethink. War is not comming, it has be waging for decades via proxy fights and attrition and terrorism - the difference now is the Iran believes it can attack it enemies through proxies and win wars without fighting them directly (Houthis against Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Shia Militias against Assad's secular and Sunni opponents, and the Muslim Brotherhood an Al Quaeda of the Sinai against Cairo and of course HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah against Israel. War is ongoing in the region and the only thing that can stop it from going hot and unrestrained in the open is the USA forcing Iran to "stand down". To do nothing is to stand by and wait for the inevitable war (WWW III) between Israel the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia and Iran. Yes Trump is troubled, but even bad men can do good.
2
@American Akita Team
That's a lot of countries there that you think need to fall into line with the way American believes the world should be.
How many of those nations are actually a threat to the US? I mean an existential threat - not a threat to American money and American 'interests'?
Don't you guys get ever sick of having to be the world's policeman, its umpire, its senior management? The human cost. The financial burden. The disapproval?
Would it be so bad if you guys just worked on your own country for a bit, rather than deciding what's best for everyone else?
It's beginning to feel like the early 70s here. I haven't felt such general anti-American sentiment since the Vietnam war. Which this is starting to feel like. But, why would you guys care? Anybody looks at you funny, declare war on them, eh?
3
@American Akita Team
How does breaking our own nuclear treaty, starving the Iranian people, and moving our troops into threatening attack positions “force the Iranians to ‘stand down’”?
We are backing them into a corner. Why should they stand down when we break our own word? How can they trust anything that we say or do?
We overthrew their democratically elected prime minister in 1953, we broke our own promise about dropping sanctions once our hostages (captured in response to our 1953 behavior) were released in 1981, and now we’ve broken our word regarding the nuclear deal.
Why would any human with half a brain trust the United States of America? We act like every single despicable Hollywood bad guy that ever gloated upon the silver screen.
I don’t trust our current president and his pack of idiots. Why should anyone else?
1
@nolongeradoc While the UK is a tremendously loyal ally of the US, the UK has changed quite a bit since Reagan had your backs in the Falklands. Sorry to hear your countrymen no longer care much for the Yanks. That said, Iran is a pernicious and malignant actor and ignoring it and appeasing it will not alter its guide path. If Iran does not alter is hostile actions, war which is ongoing will simply escalate and then there will be no oil for Japan, China, much of Europe and a world wide recession will ensue. For this reason, the vital interests of the US and our allies are at stake. We can wait for Iran to trigger WW III with Israel or we can put a stop to Iran's aggression by proxy now. The price now will much lower than later after the Jericho ICBMs and Rampage ICBMS are launched. Iran wants to destroy Israel and Israel will pre-empt their efforts. Iran needs to stop the aggression or WW III is inevitable - the failure to act now will only secure a dark future for the entire region and world. Appeasement never works.
1
Haven't you heard? They've become the pro-war crowd!
"Gulf of Tonkin all over again. Where, oh where, are the Democrats?"
Recently Trump pressed to remove all US troops from Syria, and to reduce drastically the number of US troops in Afghanistan. Democratic Party leaders, whom one would expect to be FOR both such US troop reductions, decided that it was more important to oppose Trump than to reduce US military presence in the Middle East, and so they did.
In other words, to answer your sensible question of "Where, oh where, are the Democrats?", they've become the war mongers.
1
Isn't this commenter asking the wrong person?
"Where's the proof that calls for war footing?"
I agree entirely that Trump is over-reacting here, and that the US should never have pulled out of the Iran agreement (which, by the way, remains in effect). But I also recall, very clearly, Trump's recent proposals to (1) end the US military involvement in Syria; and (2) drastically reduce the US military presence in Afghanistan.
Both ideas were roundly condemned by US generals, which I expected, and by Trump's critics, which I didn't. Former Middle East war opponents hated Trump so much that they opposed, very strongly, both proposals.
I'd have backed Trump's proposals. I DO fault him for keeping Bolton around. That clown should have been kept out of any decision-influencing position, and it's not too late for Trump to do that. I hope he does.
1
Iraq war cost America: almost 5000 lives and 1.7 trillion USD
(excluding Afghan war).
Honestly what we gained from this war other than our own weapon industry sold ourselves weapons.
We have now created most unstable region in the world, the new Middle east since the WWI.
Dick Cheney couldn't plunder the Iraq oil to pay 1.7 Trillion bill.
Now Mr. Bolton wants war with Iran. What would be the cost for us how many lives and tax payer money?
Really America do you want war with Iran. Single ethnic group (Persian) standing there last 4000 years as the same exact nation unlike artificially created IRAQ or Syria. Do you want war America?
Even mentioning this is an insult to adding our injuries.
5
Oh my god, here we go again. I guess the military stockpiles are too big, so they gotta get rid of some stuff. How else to keep the military-industrial complex so handsomely financed?
5
Commenter Shirley asks:
"Gulf of Tonkin all over again. Where, oh where, are the Democrats?"
Sensible questions, but you're ignoring history. I was strongly anti-war during the Vietnam War, but I remember clearly that the "Democrats" did nothing to end it. Nixon did. For all of his faults, Nixon ended the war that JFK had begun and LBJ had continued.
Same this time. The "Democrats" strongly opposed Trump's proposals to (1) end entirely the US military involvement in the Syrian war; and (2) reduce drastically the US military involvement in Afghanistan. The strong desire to oppose Trump led the "Democrats" to oppose even his sensible plans to reduce the US military involvement in Middle East wars.
1
@Commenter
My understanding is that Nixon lost the war that Henry Kissinger unnecessarily extended.
3
@Commenter
""Democrats" did nothing to end it. Nixon did."
The Democrats ended it by cutting off funding
"in June 1973 Congress passed legislation that included an amendment sponsored by Church and Case to prohibit the use of more funds in Southeast Asia after August 15. Sixty-four senators voted in favor. When the House assented, its vote marked the first time that chamber had agreed to cut off funds, too."
https://prospect.org/article/how-congress-got-us-out-vietnam
1
Mr. Bolton doesn't want war? Mr. Bolton wants our tax payer money spent on weapons.
War with Iran requires what?
last great victory US achieved is 1991 Kuwait invasion.
what we have then on the ground?
1- World best coalition force and diplomatic preparedness.
2- 500.000 troops.
3- overwhelming air, and naval superiority?
against who ?
crippled saddam invasion army.
so extrapolation from that success,
1-We need at least more than 1 million troop on the ground.
2-Same level of coalition forces and diplomacy.
3- extremely overwhelming air and naval superiority ( at least 3- 4 aircraft carrier and beefed up Qatar base.
Some body come up with 120.000 number , I really want to see that brilliant mind, who os following Cheney school doctrine which practically rendered Iraq invasion a botched effort.
1
Why would the greatest negotiator in the history of deal making ever need to resort to something as drastic as war?
C'mon, Trump. Show us how you can deal with other heads of state, you powerful manly man, you.
7
Don’t you know the difference between war and the threat of war?
Didn't Bolton get it all wrong on Venezuela?
5
@Rahul Bolton has got it all wrong on MANY issues. A safe course of action is: If Bolton favors it, you should oppose it; if Bolton opposes it, you should favor it. One can do the analysis for each issue, but the result will be the same, analysis or not, so you might as well let Bolton do that for you. Just oppose whatever position he takes.
7
We need to make US Politicians and Appointees more vulnerable to prosecution to War Crimes via the World Courts.
Obama made a mistake allowing Cheney, GWB, Ashcroft and others to slip the noose.
We can't allow this latest batch of chicken hawks to further denigrate the US image in the world, by encouraging WW III.
7
Problem: Bolton
Bigger Problem: Bolton-Trump
Solution: Tell Representatives- No More War
3
@D. Whit. We can't simply say "No More War," since there probably will be times when we indeed should attack (or defend). Judgment is inevitable. Whether Trump has good judgment or not -- who knows? I DO know he pressed for big troop reductions in Syria and Afghanistan, and was rebuffed by his critics here in the US, who ended up in the unfamiliar position of encouraging the US military to stay in Syria and Afghanistan.
Gulf of Tonkin all over again. Where, oh where, are the Democrats?
@Shirley
'where are the Democrats?"
https://www.msnbc.com/andrea-mitchell-reports/watch/sen-tim-kaine-reacts-to-white-house-weighing-military-plans-to-counter-iran-59673157694
(start at minute #2)
I am amused by those who claim Trump is "bullying" Iran?
POTUS JFK was quite the bully to Israel in 1963 when the French built reactor at Dimona was being used to found the Samson option. Subsequently POTUS JFK aggressively confronted the USSR in October 1963 over ICBMs in Cuba.
Wars to stop perceived WMD proliferation has been waging for 60 years -to present. Relatively recent examples include Israel's bombing raids on Syria's North Korean built reactor in Musalmiya on 6 September 2007 and before that the bombing of the Osiris Reactor in Iraq on 7 June 1981. Since 2012 Iran and Israel have been waging a war against one another as Iran attempts to proliferate WMD capable ICBMs to HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah. In fact, in order to avoid open warfare with Israel, Russia has green lighted Israeli attacks on Iran in Syria. Yet Iran continues to sew violence by arming Yemen's Houthis with ICBMs and now because the of the doe-eyed appeasement policies of John Kerry and Obama, the boiling pot is now a cauldron - and absent Trump taking a firm stand as JFK did again963, open unrestrained warfare is all but assured. Iran is the problem and with or without the USA, war is assured and it is underway. Only the USA can stop it from escalating into WW III.
1
@American Akita Team
"Yet Iran continues to sew violence by arming Yemen's Houthis with ICBMs "
I suppose ICBM is here a typo.
or You do not know what ICBM means.
and you are not aware of Yemen is in famine condition.
What they are going to do with ICBM , fire to Israel. seriously.
4
Here we go all over again: another unnecessary, avoidable war of choice being driven by ideological fanatics. Both the American and Iranian people do not want war, and the only people who benefit are the arms manufacturers and merchants who will profit handsomely by the bloodshed of strangers. Washington must come to its senses immediately before a lot of people are going to die for no reason. War pigs, indeed.
7
The administration says one thing and some guy at some school with a fancy title says another. Hmmm, I wonder who the American people are going believe. If Donald Trump can shoot someone on 5th Ave and get away with it, then this administration will have no problem murdering thousands in some far off Muslim country. They’ll control the narrative, FoxNews will amplify it, the Twitter-sphere will fill in the gaps, and any facts that run counter to the narrative will be dismissed as fake news.
4
What we see now in the Mid-East is worrying – its reasoning is ridiculous.
Heavy warships hurry to a certain place – what does that mean? - A battle is at hand, or a whole war. Have we seen such scenarios before? Yes, the Scharnhorst in Danzig (1939). the Maine in Cuba (1898)
So, why should this be different?
What else is not new? - The United States want to do something – but as its not really kosher, not alone
Have we seen that before? Yes: in Afghanistan, the same place (MidEast: twice), Libya, all with NATO
What is not halal now? Pres. Trump calls US allies to battle – but those allies want to keep Iran’s Treaty
Treaty - “I can see no treaties”, said Adm. Nelson/Pres. Trump – he is suffering blindness on that ear.
Which is why his allies can shout as they like that “pacta sunt servanda” - P. Trump doesn’t read Latin.
So, what is to be done? - The NATO member Spain was wise enough already to call their frigate home.
So should all other NATO members who want to keep the repute of being always faithful to their word.
“A man’s word is his bond” - not James B007: a bond, a chain that holds you whether you like it or not.
Pres. Trump’s word was that there would be no Unjust Wars nor Violent Regime Changes –did I dream?
I hope not. He must not be like Obama!
1
I hope that the Iranian people are able to access and read the NYT. We are with you in the fight against injustice. It will take time to put the Trumps, and the likes of Bolton, Netanyahu and Kushner out of the picture. Please have patience. Please please please, no knee-jerk reactions to American provocations.
4
U.S. can't afford another middle east war. It cost us over trillions of dollars which we were bogged down of conflicts. Even though we suppose to have broken up al Qaeda, we just help create a new terrorist organization called ISIS.
3
Exactly how is Iran threatening the United States? Who will benefit from this war
3
Time for Europe to join Russia and China to stick with Iran. Dont. give in to a bully - he will want more.
The threat to cut business with companies + countries who do business with Iran only works if enough are intimidated.
The US NEEDS the business as well. If all these countries stop business with the US, our economy will collapse. Stick together and the threat becomes empty or a boomerang. (Add Cuba to the list of inhuman sanctions).
3
All the participants in the nuclear arms pact except America have adhered to it. Having withdrawn from it and moreover violated its conditions, the Trump administration should be called by the other participants before the U.N. Security Council for war provocations against a fellow UN nation and told to desist or face sanctions itself. Would the U.S. refuse to recuse themselves? Even American citizens see through the present deceitful attempts to foment preemptive war. It's time to call this rogue nation to order. As with Germany and Japan in the 1930, in a few years it will be too late to stand against the bully without terrible results to all sides.
4
Trump has trampled on US allies without any objections from the Republican Party....they definitely should not become involved in any military action regarding Iran or any other country that he and Bolton may deem necessary. Trump wants to 'go it alone' and in this he should.
2
Bolton has used this script before, in the drumbeat that led to the war in Iraq. And for all his bluster, Trump is even more malleable than W was. We're on the path to a new war, but this time the "coalition of the willing" is limited to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel. Who is going to derail this runaway train?
5
Trump is incompetent: what is wrong with most of the media saying: are you in or not media? Don't be a problem!!!!!!!!!!!!
3
Bolton breaths fire
Pompeo gate-crashes EU meetings
Trump shouts fake news.
This truly is a three-ringed circus.
Destruction. Diversion. Distraction.
4
Trump is the threat to humanity.
7
Donny in college:
"Wah, mommy, you know that kindergartner who I hurt badly because he wouldn't do what I demanded and I wanted some things he had?"
"He went and replaced his wheelchair with crutches."
"He's such a threat now."
"Mommy, I have to do something. Big. Help me. Tell your friends to believe me. Not what they see for themselves. Please don't think. Just do what I say."
"Remember what dad always says, facts never got in the way of sneaky tricks to get what you want. Do you want me to get Roy after you?"
2
Will Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika now be "suicided" for exposing the hawks' narrative for the fiction it is as was done to Dr David Kelly in the UK when he stated that he could not find any evidence of WMD in Iraq?
Just curious.
4
We need to get rid of John Bolton, Stephen Miller, Mr. Pompeo, and a few others, plus Trump/Pence, of course. VOTE!
6
Add Mitch McConnell to that list !
4
WAG THE DOG! Where's the proof that calls for war footing? Where!! Were there no lessons learned from 911? Does Trump think he can bully Iran and any other country on a whim for political gain? Iran has nuclear material and you can bet if they are attacked because of Trump, John Bolton and Netanyahu's personal desire to bomb them, Iran will retaliate and they do not need a ballistic delivery system. Our allies are rebuking Trump's ghostly claims. Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal with Iran which makes Trump the provocateur. This is serious business that could end in hundreds of thousands of deaths and possibly WWIII instigated by a con man. And for what? Congress better wake up and stop this madness.
7
It's all happening just the way Bolton and the hawks drew it up. Expect the pace of their war-mongering to speed up, as the election is a mere year and half away and they must work quickly to manipulate the public into an us v them mentality in time for the election. Time is of the essence when creating false narratives, lest the people catch on and hold the liars accountable.
6
Your article conveniently omits the fact that Iran has claimed responsibility for this week's attacks on four Saudi and UAE tankers and ports in both nations as retaliation for providing their oil instead of Iranian oil. Iran has also stated that US Naval forces are no longer viewed as a threat, but rather as a "target." It seems fairly obvious that Iran is not the blameless victim in this situation.
1
@Bob Johnston
Please provide sources. I have not seen this clair elsewhere.
7
Small stuff it seems.. hardly grounds for an all out major war effort. How about some smart diplomacy - if it's possible under Trump administration
3
@Bob Johnston
That is an outright lie. Infact Iran has denied it is responsible in anyway and has called for UN investigation.
6
if john bolton, with the help of the press, effectively lied us into the invasion of iraq, killing thousands, the press now needs to be even louder in reminding everyone of that fact. is bolton to be considered a war criminal? we need to hear more of what our "allies" in europe and canada are saying about iran. and about bolton.
6
"The official also said the ultimate goal of the yearlong economic sanctions campaign by the Trump administration was to draw Iran into an armed conflict with the United States. . . . “Bolton did the same with President George W. Bush and Iraq,”"
That is the lede. It is buried.
Somebody will have to stop this man. The US is about to do great harm to itself and the world.
12
Anyone remember the movie "Wag the Dog"? It's about a president using distraction to divert attention from a scandal. That's exactly what Trump is doing with a steady stream of crises that he manufactures: China tariffs, caravans of terrorists on our border, Iranian threats, etc. I thought perhaps he was created a crisis so he could portray himself as a savior (maybe that, too), but I think it's an attempt to distract from his biggest concern: his finances. What better than a war to tell people we must unite and stop looking at who he's borrowing money from and what illegal dealings he's done.
7
Based upon this article, Trump and his side kick Bolton, who is a remnant from the W and Cheney alleged WMD era, which killed and injured thousands of our military, owe Congress and the American people an explanation before they commit the same error again.
If they do so, will Trump have his two oldest sons, who are the big game hunters in Africa, volunteer to lead their father's the charge, and put some of their skin in the game?
If this was warranted, why are they not providing the American people with the logic for doing so, instead of keeping it a secret?
From this article, this appears to be all about Trump and his 2020 election, and it is dead wrong.
6
Iraq 2003 redux. WMD’s everywhere! #1 false pretense for for an invasion of a nation not threatening us.
Iran 2019. This nation is preparing to attack us. We must insert 120,000 troops somewhere to fight this threat. #2 false pretense for another quagmire in the ME costing thousands of lives and wounded in addition to draining billions from our Treasury. It is the GOP way. A true example of our military-industrial complex in action. This perfidy must be stopped.
4
For such a rich and powerful nation, the United States is not looking well. Poison has infected your culture, fed by the steady drip of Trump tweets and comments and actions by his bizarre band of supporters, within the corridors of government and out there in Everytown, USA.
Bolton, Navarro, Judlow, Miller, et al corrode American values from within government. Offensive mouthpieces like Gorka, Hannity, Limbaugh, Coulter and Carlson do their part to inflict damage to America's standing in the world order.
Pity to see what has become of the U.S.A. in such a relatively short period of time.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It is Amateur Hour at the White House, but decent folks across the States are being played for fools by a man who has no business being President - of anything.
9
@Your Canadian Neighbour
Dear YCN - My only question is what has kept your Government from suggesting having the US build a wall on your southern border?
Not only am i sure you could get us to pay for it (we tend to be stupid on the matter since 2017) but We (the US) are clearly a danger to Society and a threat to the peace and security of Canada.
4
Pete, we don't want to discourage our American neighbours from visiting Canada. We value the economic boost tourism provides, and virtually every visiting American I have talked with is happy to be in Canada and very complimentary about our country. That's what roils me - Trump and his enablers have so completely twisted the perception of the USA from abroad that it takes street level conversations with regular folks from the States to remember Trump isn't America, and America isn't Trump. Just some localized pockets and invalid white privilege whiners are what prop up this pathetic excuse for a man and POTUS.
2
Isn't external saber rattling always the recourse tyrants use when things aren't going well at home? That Trump and Bolton are manufacturing a crisis with Iran should come as no surprise as they hope the public will be distracted and rally around the flag. so to speak. It worked for Hitler and sundry other dictators. Thank goodness our allies see through this charade. (BTW, would someone please explain why Bolton is such a chronic knee-jerk warmonger. Was it something that happened in his childhood during recess, like being bullied? Just asking.)
3
The person in the White House is using this saber rattling for political gain and to keep the news off his incredibly inept administration.
If we end up going to war, I hope everyone (including his supporters) sees this for what is it. And we should all protest.
He is a pathetic little man.
3
Americans, stop praying for your sons an daughters in the military and start telling them to get out of that horrific war machine. Countless lives world wide have been massacred thanks to the US military. Your young military people are not heroes but murderers.
6
POTUS seems to want war with Iran as a distraction from ongoing revelations of his criminal illegitimate presidency and his losing trade war with China. It’s a power grab for ‘wartime presidential powers.’ He doesn’t care if he takes down the US in this culmination of his failed lifelong desperation for wealth. His presidency is the deathspiral of the white evangelical Christians and the GOP.
4
Americas escalation being caused by iminent and planned threats from Iran sound almost exactly how the Nazis started World War 2 by the invasion of Poland which was caused by Nazi staging false attacks on Germany by "Polish Military Forces" which were Germans dressing up and creating the so called incidents.
I wouldn't be surprised at all that the U.S is going to create an incident that either they themselves orchestrate or something else that only in the fullness of time we will learn never happened ...but of course by then it would have been too late to stop what it seems , America will make happen and today is so clearly being seen to want to make happen.
The irony is that like Iraq before and at other times in the past ...the Only Weapon of Mass Destruction that has ever been revealed is the United States of America by either its desire to make war or its forces to start one.
So here we go again, whether we want to or not...whether we like it or not...the Weapon of Mass Destruction is back in play.
5
@Loomy Don't recall the Poles providing weapons of mass destruction to groups aligned against Germany or the Poles trying to develop WMD and handing it out like candy to those opposed to the German Government. Frankly your analogy belies a vapid comprehension of history and the facts on the ground wherein Iran is. was and continues to be the singularly bad actor intent on fomenting violence and providing the means and money to do so.
@American Akita Team
In what way has Iran breached the terms of the nuclear treaty it signed? The treaty that President Trump ripped up. Do you have evidence that Iran was enriching uranium in breach of its undertakings? Only, nobody - including Trump, it appears, actually believes that it has/was.
What WMDs has Iran been 'handing out like candy'? Neutron bombs, anthrax, sarin...? I suspect you're confused about WMDs. It doesn't mean 'weapons'?
Oh, and for the avoidance of doubt - the leader, for all humanity, for all time, at handing out weapons of any sort 'like candy' is the USA.
2
And the boy cries WOLF again! Remember Iraq and the WMD!
3
Iran, the next quagmire. Step by step we have been moving in this direction since Trump removed us from the bilateral agreement with Iran which had been working and had the blessing of our allies.
Well, I also want "regime change." I want the trumpistas gone and never again hear the name John Bolton.
6
This skepticism by our Allies should be one big red blinking light with a siren. Ten or 20 years from now our troops will still be fighting and dying wherever we send them this time--just as they are still fighting and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq for no purpose. More lives and resources will be wasted to distract or fulfill some war monger's deepest desire. Donald Trump, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo--I am talking about you. Do we never learn? Will Congress let this happen? Will they even be consulted before the first shots are fired and the first bombs are dropped? God help our troops because our president, national security leaders, military leaders and Congress will not.
7
Our allies should be skeptical. Trump is ramping up the propaganda in order to start a war specifically to insure that he gains a second term, regardless of the outcomes of all the investigations and evidence against him. Why? no president has ever been removed from office by any means during wartime. so the gropenfuerher, our poor excuse for a commander in chief is apparently willing to sacrifice the lives of our service people, not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on another needless war.
5
The predictable battle lines have been drawn, but at least the focus is on a substantive issue and not on the usual nonsense over Russian collusion and tax returns.
1
I have always been of the opinion that the Trump administration will end in a terrible way.
American could not beat Iraq, a country a country with 40,000,000 people and barely any natural barriers.
Iran has 83,000,000 people and terrain very similar to that of Afghanistan. Iranians hate America, and for good reasons.
A war in Iran will be yet another disaster for a Republican president, all of whom need their signature war.
5
As a foreign observer I wonder why the US does not see the obvious dichotomy between being rightly outraged at Russian interference in US elections, while brazenly interfering in the the politics of other countries including Venezuela and Iran.
6
The main thrust of Donald Trumps policies is to raise his stature with his base to increase his electability while subverting policies of an established world order. The reluctance of other countries to stand up to him due to fear of economic consequences from loss of trade has allowed him to get away with this, as have many Republican legislators who are concerned about their own careers were they to oppose him. Perhaps it's time for the United States to be identified by our allies as an international pariah and dealt with accordingly via sanctions.
3
Which allies? Do you mean Russia? The Philippines? N. Korea?
I get so confused these days...
6
@Sandy Maschan
Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia, Winston.
Trump is out of control: liberals buy your guns. And know who your neighbors are.
1
@parsifal - How on earth would buying a gun help anything?
2
It's the Bush syndrome all over again.
3
I'm not sure why no one is pointing the finger at one of the, if not the main, reason for this belligerence: Israel. Trump knows that he can capture Jewish votes, fracture the Democratic party, and play to his base with this irrational Iran hysteria. Israel (particularly Netenyahu) has undermined our interests at every turn, while spying on our citizens and influencing our internal politics to their benefit. This warmongering achieves many things for Trump. Shame on him for using our military as a ploy and for giving in to the holy war rhetoric of our so called "allies".
3
Intelligence the President chooses to disbelieve
- Russia interfered with our elections
- The Saudi prince ordered the murder of a journalist who resided in the US
- Iran was complying with all terms of the multi-nation nuclear agreement.
After crying wolf too often, is it a surprise we don't believe you know that you pretend to believe your intelligence agencies?
3
This is Trumps backward plan to force us all to solar and wind. An Iran war will push oil to 200 dollars a barrel. Just what oil only economies need and want. This is what Putin wants. Russia wheat and soy bean farmers say "Hey" thanks for the huge bump for them.....
Warning!!!!.....
When it all hits the fan Trump will try to emerge as a woke centrist just to try to save face.
1
I would add that in my opinion a war and Iran which could easily spin out of control as a proxy war with Russia and China, combined with the other lack of statesmanship demonstrated in the China trade war negotiation process, together have the potential to destabilize the interest sensitive quadrillion dollar derivatives markets, sending the entire global economy into a massive meltdown. perhaps the too-big-to-fail banks that Biden represents will benefit by going short in the process but I have that
@Tom Paine
That was always the fear during the Cold War. That a relatively trivial incident - a collision between two boats, an overzealous local commander, a stray bullet, a navigation error, would rapidly spiral beyond human control and end life on our planet.
Us cold warriors dealt with it by being very, very careful not to do anything to upset the other side, smiling a lot and generally moving about on tippy toe whilst wearing kid gloves.
Those skills appear to have been lost.
1
How pathetic. How scary.
I can still remember our government selling us into another war based on false claims. Who are these people in the congress and senate that stand by blindly and do nothing.
By any standard to lie to the public about the need for war, and then to invade is just wrong. It war wrong nearly 20 years ago, and it is wrong today.
4
John Bolton is another incompetent buffoon that should have ended up in jail.
But Trump likes cowards who lie. John Bolton purposely avoided military service in Vietnam, even though he was drafted - juts like Trump!
On top of that he lied and lied and lied about Iraq and its "biological weapons" because he really wanted to get a war on there and he pushed to reduce funding for any program to halt the proliferation of nuclear materials.
He's a self-described "American Nationalist" who is as nuclear war crazy as Kim Jong-Un is.
Both Trump and Bolton are incompetent raving lunatics.
Do either Trump or Bolton realize that Dr. Strangelove was intended as a comedy and not a Playbook?
5
Donald is trying to wag the dog. Americans and the world have already seen the movie. This is a hogwash designed to distract from the crush of investigations closing in on Trump but ignoramus Donald thinks, "Hey, it worked for a movie president!" If he goes ahead with this and a single soul (American or otherwise) dies as a result, Trump should be tried for murder.
2
Does anyone other than those who bow to great leader believe anything he says??? With over 10,000 lies and counting who takes anything this mad man says seriously?
4
I wonder when Trump will claim Iran has weapons of mass destruction and they were left there by Saddam Hussain some years ago.
2
We have an intellectually and emotionally unsophisticated and limited President with bone spurs, a blatant chickhawk war whisperer, and a Secretary of State who's idea of diplomacy is war. What could possibly go wrong?
Trump is incapable of solving a (perceived) problem by means other than chaos and destruction. Look at his life. He's a bully that now has huge stick and a big shiny buttons at his disposal. I'm afraid somebody will truly hurt his ego, and many will die on all sides.
Do you still want this virtual toddler determining your fate, or your service-eligible children's fate?
5
So Bolton and Trump are OK with teaming up with MEK, designated by the US as a terrorist organization in the late 1990s and the right hand of Saddam Hussein. Wow.
Remember the Maine!
1
The Trump administration seems to be filled with Far Right hawks who see enemies whether they exist or not. Bolton really needs anti-anxiety meds. Otherwise disaster for America is dead ahead.
1
Armed conflict against an external 'enemy' is very helpful to establish fascism domestically. It's almost a pre-condition. Then comes the press restrictions, the martial law, the suspension of habeas corpus, the dissolution of the legislature. Very few Americans who lived through WWII are still alive to recognize the startling similarities and dangers to this republic.
The good news is that it never works out well for the fascists in the end. Just ask Mussolini's followers.
2
This is a Venn diagram of foreign policy disasters--where corruption, ineptitude, poor judgement and unchecked power all intersect.
3
They are wagging the dog.
Sheesh!
trump reneges on the US's participation in the Iran nuclear deal. He then goads Iran into not simply rolling over and playing dead.
Now, with objectively scant evidence, he is treating Iran as the agressor.
Some minor transgression or human error could easily start a war. One has to wonder if it is part of trump's re-election strategy.
trump's war. The mustache's war. Should it occur, let it be so known.
2
My current Commander-in-Chief leaves much to be desired. His only military experience is playing with G.I. Joe. Although I doubt he played with Joe as much as he did with Barbie.
He is a draft dodger like his grandfather who was deported from Bavaria for tax evasion and draft dodging.
But most frightening is that the current CIC cannot do as many pushups as our last First Lady. Sad, so sad.
3
It is just a matter of time until Trump got us into a war.
If there's anything worse than "wag the dog," it's ginning up the rationale for said dog-wagging incompetently. As far as I can see, no one but Trump and Bolton profess these Iranian "provocations" to be other than fantasy.
At this point, why would we accept ANYTHING Trump told us at face-value?
1
This is SHOCKING!
It's almost as if our allies don't believe us.
What a terrible surprise.
2
Pray this backfires and even Trump supporters don't fall for it. Remember Bush and Cheney? The man in charge has no clue and is manipulated by a warmonger.
At least George W. Bush had some familiarity with that part of the world from the family oil business. But there are no casinos in Iran and not many beauty contests either.
4
The fact is that Trump is deceiving himself by exaggerating risks that support what he wants and ignoring risks that don’t. He is a reckless man who simply refuses to deal with reality except by manipulating other people to do as he wants. No consequences beyond his immediate objectives are treated as possibilities by him and so he’s never prepared for what comes next. People who must deal with reality just don’t trust him.
2
Are they resisting because...it's all been made up, like the Gulf of Tonkin incident?
Put Don Jr, Eric, and Ivanka in uniform and on the front line and then let’s see how quick Trump is to go to war. It’s just fine when it’s other people’s children and husbands and wives who will do the dying.
3
Bolton showed what a loser he is with his push to invade Iraq based on a fabricated story. Why is he now in a position to do the same thing with Iran? This is insane.
1
Greedy, lazy, and incompetent advised by malevolent, and disingenuous. Both are proven liars, and are acting to benefit Israel and Saudi Arabia.
4
One way to stop this continuing series of wars would be to require that children and grandchildren who are of military age in the families of the President, the Cabinet, the House, and the Senate, serve in the military *within the theater of active conflict*. There would be a lot more thinking about starting wars, declared or undeclared, by those making the decisions.
11
As a Vietnam war era U.S. Army officer, I fully agree with your plan, Dave.
W. Bush fought the Vietnam war in southeast Houston at Ellington Field. "Bone Spurs" Trump has said he served by chasing and bedding women in Manhattan. Let's stop this lunacy NOW!
4
The day after Donald Trump was elected, I announced that he'd start a war somewhere before the next election.
Trump has a simple playbook that he follows. He even wrote a book on it, people! He's playing everyone. It's about distraction, obfuscation and suing when you're crossed.
He'll use the military, if they let him, to now distract from the ongoing efforts by Congress to hold his feet to the fire. My prayers are that the men and women we elected, those appointed, and career military officials will resist where it seems so many other efforts to stop him have failed.
Time to start protesting.
8
Trump and Bolton are doing their level best to manufacture a reason to go to war with Iran. They even tried to sell the idea that Iran was involved in Venezuela. I predict that Trump’s cadre will mention Iran in relation to every global problem over the next few months. Chinese trade tariffs: Iran is responsible. Drug cartels: Iran.
Bolton has wanted to bomb Iran for a long time, but Trump wants to be a ‘war president’ to distract from ongoing investigations into his many criminal enterprises.
At least Bush Jr. tried to wrap his reasons for invading Iraq into false intelligence reports. I don’t think Trump will even bother. Fox News and Alex Jones will provide all the “reasons” he needs.
The Iraq debacle cost over half a million Iraqi lives and the lives of thousands of U.S. service men and women. Is this where America and the rest of the world wants to go again for no good reason?
Obama’s agreement with Iran made reasonable steps toward a safer world. Trump, at Putin’s direction, is poised to destroy that safety.
8
For those of us who’ve watched this president systemically seek ways to divert the public’s attention away from the looming threats of impeachment, congressional investigations, corruption and potential criminal charges on leaving office, the most profound concern of his abuse is to take us to war either against Iran or against North Korea. That concern may be justified.
6
I have zero confidence that the Trump Administration's warnings are valid, zero trust in the President's ability to keep our country out of a senseless war, and zero appetite for war with Iran. I believe that a strong majority of my fellow Americans feel the same way.
7
Classic saber rattling which is manipulative and calculated as war time Presidents don't get removed from office. M.E.K. and it's leader look and act cultish an so does Bolton and GOP neo-con followers.
Beware the military industrial complex speech...
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist." ~ Eisenhower
4
A lucid observation and wise warning. After decades of spilt blood in the region that was begun under a cloud of lies and propaganda and even worse tactics, the last thing Americans want or need is another war. Congress as the sole branch of government authorized to declare war needs to prove that their allegiance sworn before the People and God to defend the Constitution of The U.S.A. are more than a formality of a cushy job with great lobbyist benefits but an opportunity to live in nobility to a higher honor and to which true public servants remain by choice actual patriots of the principles of truth, justice, liberty and the honor and privilege of service to our fellow citizens.
1
The Trumpish Republicans live in a time-warp, so much of their world vision is straight out of a horrendously error ridden playbook from the past that caused and is still causing suffering on a massive scale. Entitlement and exceptionalism as leverage was thrown out long ago, but they don't appear to understand.
4
Trump has done everything possible to alienate allies and partners, including the worst possible - losing their trust and respect. Unfortunately this is long lasting, because another trump-like creature may be elected down the line. At present the US president has way too much power with only protocol and understandings (easily flouted and ignored as Trump has shown) to prevent or limit damage.
I am sure that no country wants to sacrifice their own citizens and future well-being for a lie—again. c.f. Iraq invasion. Plus, it appears that the objectives and aspirations of the US under Trump no longer align with other developed and democratic countries.
5
In my opinion, Trump's "objectives" are driven by those who have compromised him in the region and Bolton and Pomeo are driven by the ideology and financial interests of those, who like Cheney and by extension, Biden, his "admirer", which are driven by the Nexus of the interest of the neocons and their largest supporters, the secret initiatives if the militant branch of the Roman Catholic Church,the sovereign nation The Knights of Malta and their sister organizations, and hegemonic ambition's of regional oligarchs. Iran's radicals are not our friends but with time, statesmanship and wisdom and the anti nuclear proliferation agreement, we had stability and a chance of an eventual organic evolution away from religious fanatics. Instead, religious fanatics from the West are violating God's commandments in their pursuit of fear and hate and their plans to engage in the greatest sins as defined in the commandments transmitted through Moses, Jesus, Allah, Buddah and Krishna. Thow shall not kill. Shalom.
1
Iran is four times the area of Iraq, making it almost three times the size of Texas. Its population is more than twice that of Iraq and is heavily fanatical with Shia Muslims. Trump's memory must be short since he cannot remember the fanaticism of 1979 and the Iranian Revolution.
There is no way the Bush Doctrine should be used here. Iran cannot be subjugated in anyway like Iraq and we will lose. It is so easy for Bolton, Pompeo, and Trump to consider an invasion since none know being in harm's way. Bolton purposefully avoided combat duty in Vietnam and Trump's faked bone spurs keep the draft at bay. The 2003 unwarranted invasion of Iraq marked the end of the Pax Americana. Any unprovoked attack/invasion of Iran will see us lose our moral dignity.
6
@The Perspective I do not support democrats but this is so well said. You're right on the money.
The only regime change needed is the Trump Administration and Republican control of the Senate.
12
The very sad state of affairs in American Middle East Policy continues and for anyone that knows a little history about the region they would know that Bolton's ludicrous attempt to unseat the regime in Iran would not be the first time it happened. Since his policies concerning the oil reserves in Iran were at odds with American interests, The duly democratically elected President(with the aid of the CIA) was deposed in the 1950's and in his place was the despot Shah who was ultimately deposed by Iran's people themselves only to be replaced by the Ayatollah and the rest, as they say is history AND the government in Iran that exists today. How did all that work out!
Just another potential long-term war, many American lives needlessly terminated because a considerable number of very despicable people at the top of the American government have decided that they will continually test the definition of "insanity".
4
So after Bush lied to allies to start the Iraq war, after Trump alienated all of our allies, favoring authoritarian adversaries, after Trump has made a policy of lying and demeaning actual facts, our allies no longer trust us?
Not very surprising.
7
Once burned, twice shy. America fell for this line once before when the subject was Iraq, and the Republican Party still had credibility and a degree of competence.
Now, with a clearly incompetent and substantively challenged President, and a cast of National Security characters that really does look like the Bush Administration B-Team, can anyone be blamed for doubting that the Iran crisis is real?
No one is falling for this scam: not our allies, not our adversaries, nobody. All Trump, Bolton, et al are doing is to isolate the U.S. further. 538 days and counting until the 2020 election.
6
Bolton wants regime change in Iran. He’s always wanted it. This was all forecast months ago when he was given the keys to our national defense. Facts mean little to him or his boss. Scary times we live in.
17
Why should our Allies believe us, when Trump has gone back on almost every agreement we have signed with our Allies. He is hardly a reliable source.
Moreover why should the citizens believe anything from the Military or John Bolton, when we have been lied to over and over about the justifications for us going into other countries and forcing Regime change.
It is ironic that Trump decides now that our Intelligence reports are accurate, when he is constantly denigrating our Intelligence forces. He and Barr are investigating the investigators who worked on the Mueller Report and yet he now believes in Intelligence reports.
This is just an excuse by Trump to distract us from his possible Impeachment. And Bolton, like the rest in the Trump Administration, is aiding and abetting his fantasy.
19
You demonstrate excellent critical thinking skills and write well. Keep it up and please write your comments earlier in the article release cycle so that more if your fellow citizens can find inspiration in your mind and command of the English language. Like to me once, shame on you if I choose to believe you, lie to me again, and choosing to believe you us the act of fools. Keep writing please!
1
@Tom Paine
Wow Tom,
I have never been complimented like this in my life.
Thank you for your comments
Jean
In an otherwise insightful and important article, it's a mistake to give any credence at all to the idea that "Trump has made no secret of his reluctance to engage in another military conflict in the Middle East." After over two years of observing the Trump modus operandi, we should be wary that he repeatedly sets up his next ill-informed, impulsive, and chaotic moves by lying or suggesting that he is not considering such things. In a senseless wag-the-dog war with Iran, Trump and Bolton could bring a whole new meaning to Republican strategist Rick Wilson's mea culpa, "Everything Trump Touches Dies."
11
Has the Apocalyptic Wilsonian pattern really deviated at all since World War I? The endless overseas interventions all in the name of Calvinist American exceptionalism? I think not. It has become a core mythical construction of "American" power and identity.
7
Old men should not have the right to wage war at their discretion. Especially when it appears to be a re-election strategy. FDR had the support of the country when he declared war. That is not the case today.
13
They should be skeptical, no one should be dumb enough to fall head first for any chance of war.
And you pick and choose your data to fill headlines:
‘Intelligence and military officials in Europe as well as in the United States …’ but did not say WHO. Is Estonia saying this? Albania? Or MI6? It changes things you know. Stating generalities just murkies things a lot worse.
‘One American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential internal planning …’ you mean some one leaking our military plans to the press? That used to be called treason.
So you get your info from traitors leaking our military plans to the press, and obscure intel agencies who might or might not have a clue.
Brilliant reporting. Just make people scared and confused.
Bet you’ll get a Pulitzer for this.
4
@AutumnLeaf If you read the article, the leak concerned the attitude in the discussions, not any plans whatsoever. And you need to read the definition of treason before you use it so blithely.
Beware. If they have troops there for "in case," there will certainly be a war. Even if they don't have them there, the fact that they're preparing very likely points to a war. They've probably had this on the agenda right from the beginning, two or three years ago.
He was probably claiming he was against "stupid" wars precisely to cover up his true plans for this war!! It's been many years since a war was started, some people may be itching for one!
Trump and his people are almost certainly going to start a war with Iran!! These stories of "preparations" are probably "trial balloons."
If these stories "don't work," beware, something is going to be cooked up. They'll cook up a Lusitania style event, or Hitler-style "the Poles attacked our border post," in order to start something.
This probably explains why they've been unwilling to go into Venezuela so far - they want to go into Iran. Adding Venezuela, they think, might be too many wars. Or, perhaps, they don't mind starting wars in both places, maybe, even simultaneously.
But, this sounds very much like Trump is cooking something up. These reports are "trial balloons!" Or, he may even think he can go for it without any trial balloons or discussion because he and his supporters can, as usual, give the "i am (or he is) crazy" defense.
4
Sadly these war mongers for hire position themselves right where they need to be. Think obstructionist AG Barr for hire. Be it power, greed or abuse. There is no mistake here. They no longer hope we've forgotten about the misinfo leading up the the Iraq invasion. (Bolton) They just don't care. Anything but hearings on treasonous behavior right before our eyes. yep it's Iran....has to be. Make it happen.
9
Where is Tony Blair when you really need him?
4
Isn't this yet another gift for Sheldon Adelson and Bibi Netanyahu? Who says the Russians can have all the fun directing American foreign policy?
14
Ask yourself - do you believe Britain or Trump? Ask yourself - are you willing to send your son or daughter, husband or wife to be killed in a battle fought so Trump can rouse his base and get re-elected?
10
Quite the diversion. International turmoil to drown out the mess at home. Congress will be seen as unpatriotic if they don’t give up this investigation thing and mount up for another idiotic adventure in the Middle East. Every day brings more misery for us. How much does it cost to become a citizen of New Zealand?
8
Again? It wasn't enough we went to war over Cheney/Bolton's specious WMDs claims. Rancid old warmongers, who have never been in the military, should be assigned to the front lines.
12
More grounds for impeachment:
"The official also said the ultimate goal of the yearlong economic sanctions campaign by the Trump administration was to draw Iran into an armed conflict with the United States."
10
Look into the nexus between right-wing pro-Israel groups, their billionaire funders (e.g. from Sheldon Adelson), and various DC think tanks with Orwellian names churning out "research" to impact policy, to understand how we got here.
It is hypocritical of the American left and its media to criticize Trump's war mongering without pointing out the road that got us here.
6
To me as an outsider, this warmongering all but proves that the current US government has lost it’s mind entirely. It’s clear who benefits from a war with Iran - it’s all the wrong players. Having to rely on one of Trumps notoriously fickle sentiments - a current distaste for further military engagement in the Middle East - for preventing another forlorn military conflict, is sickening. How did we get into a situation like this? How is it possible that little more than 100.000 votes, cast in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, determine the fate of the earth? We, the other inhabitants of this planet, do not want the US to start another superfluous and idiotic war. You have no right! Haven’t you caused enough harm by now? Will you never learn?
14
"Intelligence and military officials in Europe as well as in the United States said that over the past year, most aggressive moves have originated not in Tehran, but in Washington" - gee, I wonder if the administration is despirately looking for some sort of distraction.
10
This is insane.
The Iranian people haven't done a thing to justify this aggression by the US.
American people have never experienced the results of modern day warfare on American soil. With an incompetent president, SOS, republican party and Bolton running the asylum, that may change.
Is there no one who will stand up and say to both the American people and the world, NO. Former presidents, military, other nation's leaders? Anybody?
10
@Deb Suggest we revisit Bob Dylan's "Walking in World War III Blues."
The Europeans are not blind. This is an effort by the Saudi/Israeli/Trump nexus to get rid of the Iranian regime. If Trump doesn't know the implications of the USs activities against Iran that wouldn't surprise me. Trump just wants to get the "credit" after the war is over. Human lives don't matter to him nor the vast expenditure of tax payer money. The Europeans are being asked to continue Trump's economic war against Iran which apparently they are going to do. They seem ok with the continued advance of NATO into the former Soviet Union. Trump seems to think he is on the brink of major foreign policy success acquired by an illegal aggression against Iran. He's not impressed with the Europeans.
5
This Iran talk is Netanyahu speaking through Bolton.
People that want to wait for impeachment proceedings against Trump, must balance the fact that Trump will keep causing problems for this whole planet, until he is impeached and removed from office.
Trump has caused one problem after another. If he starts a war with Iran, he will turn to Russia for help with the war in Iran, after causing problems with NATO.
This is what Pompeo's trip to Russia was about.
Trump must be impeached, the sooner the better.
6
@Walt Sisikin Don't hold your breath my good man. The wait could cause premature death.
This is 'Wag the Dog' on steroids. Insist that the Iranians are threatening American interests (which are Allies deny). Provoke them with a show of force and hope for an incident. All under the direction of one of the main people who brought us the unjustified Iraq War (Bolton). All this just to escape the inevitable public attention as the House peels back the covers of the Mueller Report. The irony is that it is coming from a man whose family has NEVER had any member serve in the U.S. Armed Forces.
5
Once again this administration is wrong. As mentioned by another reader, two wars Aphganastan and Iraq. They need to end. No win. Twenty years. There is no evidence Iran is up to anything. Just what we need is a third war in the Middle East. Trump and his puppet Boltan need to go. Not good for the country or the world. 2020 can’t come soon enough.
5
Out of curiosity, I looked up Bolton's background. Like George W Bush, he served in the National Guard rather than go to Vietnam.
He and other minions serving The Donald certainly do not represent my views as an American. Enough lethal and useless conflicts; it's time for Congress to get a backbone and time for all thinking adults to vote.
8
If we had an active draft for all men and woman in the US Bolton and Trump would get shouted down in no time at all. This kind of nonsensical behavior is only possible with an all volunteer military.
Say extra prayers for our volunteers. They’ll need them until Trump and company are run off the stage or put in jail.
8
Bolton, Pompeo and Trump the three blind mice ? or the blind leading the blind ? When will these people
ever learn that violence is never the answer. Perhaps, a hand shake and a smile and an invite to Iran to participate in the world of economic capitalism with the US would do us all a lot more good.
5
It would be appropriate to remove Bolton from the administration. He is a war monger, more interested in assisting Israel than the United States.
17
Donald Trumps tweet from 11/29/11 12:48 PM “In order to get re-elected, @BarackObama will start a war with Iran”
Of course President Obama didn’t start another war! I’m not so certain that Mr Trump will do as President Obama did!
7
Trump is trying to distract you!!! Bread and circuses. This is misdirection; it is high stakes; it could cost lives; and Trump does not care.
By the way, all you Republicans in the Senate, who are complicit with Trump's lies and distractions, need to think long and hard about what it means to be an American.
10
Here we go again. "Remember the Maine!" Let's create an international incident. I just wonder how many suckers in our own country are going to fall for it.
6
There is a temptation here to compare this obviously false rally to war to Bush's colossal Iraq blunder ("Mission Accomplished" in just six weeks!) But there is a huge distinction. The Bush family had allies. Trump has done nothing if not ruin our relations with everyone he has come in contact with, not the least due to the fact that outside of Trump country our president is understood as a complete idiot and no one respects him, or the US for that matter, on the international stage. If he drags us to ear we'll be doing it alone.
So when you read that the US Central Command has fallen in line with Bolton despite the fact that the British General and Commander of the operation OIR (Operation Inherent Resolve) publicly stated his doubt over Bolton's claim and the hazy evidence of four 'sabotaged' Saudi tankers (pronounced ISIL), then we should be very worried. Because that means that Trump has our military in his pocket, which is why he tapped the warmonger Bolton in the first place.
This also means that Eric Prince, who has been sitting as quietly in the shadows as Pence, will suddenly reemerge to save the day. Get ready for the Facebook flag waving and prayers over the bodies of dead young soldiers. Get ready to spent your children's inheritance in another war.
7
This administration is pursuing a war with Iran. You must—you MUST—come out in favor of impeachment. War with Iran, in the *best* case scenario, means four more years of DJT and the deaths of tens of thousands of people, many of whom will be Americans and innocent men, women, and children.
The administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear agreement and imposed sanctions to force the government of Iran to restart its nuclear programs by denying it any alternatives. Then, the administration designated the Republican Guard a terrorist organization, making the legal case for non-Congressional action more secure. They just re-framed a routine redeployment of forces as a pre-emptive deployment by making up lies about Iran. Saboteurs of unknown origin are working in the Persian Gulf to escalate tensions and provoke a war. What makes this so insane is that they are combining the tactics of two illegal wars (Vietnam's Gulf of Tonkin "incident" and Iraq's "WMDs") in plain sight and you are falling into the same trap as before.
If impeachment starts before he has a chance to start a war, we have a chance to stop him. If we wait and see or rely on the chelonian pace of the courts, they can start this war and end all hope of impeachment while virtually guaranteeing Trump a second term.
I am down on my knees, begging, pleading, URGING you to be part of the solution and not just an observer of atrocity. If the Times comes out in favor of impeachment, we're that much closer to safety.
5
@Andrew Roberts
I disagree with nothing you have written, but please remember it is not just American lives that will be lost, but Iranian ones, too. Surely they have the same hopes and dreams for their sons and daughters that we all do.
4
@Barbara
I said, “...the deaths of tens of thousands of people, many of whom will be Americans and innocent men, women, and children.”
Please read my comment before accusing me of whatever it is you’re accusing me of.
Trump campaigned on getting us out of foreign wars. He's now ginning up a new one using his usual tactic of lying. He's counting on a war as election insurance in case his tariff war with the Chinese sinks the economy, which is looking increasingly likely. Stating the obvious, but these are the acts of a king or an emperor, not a President of the United States.
8
As we approach our own dark ages, the ignorant among us will gloat about winning. In reality we will all lose. War in itself is a failure, a failure of diplomacy.
9
In this case, diplomacy isn’t even on the table. Trump and Bolton lust for war. I can hear Trump saying “Diplomacy is for losers.”
1
It can not be that “blood lust” of a few will unleash another war in the exactlyvthe same area the USA has failed to achieve anything but more instability. I would suggest that congress should immidiately start a mandatory draft to make sure that EVERYONE would be at risk to serve this country and not only those brave women and men who signed up to the military services believing that the leadership and the commander in Chief are rational people that do not gamble with their lives and health for domestic political gain. Let’s see how many senators will vote for yet another military adventure and would be willing to put the lives of their children and grandchildren on the line!
1
Let’s not forget that Netanyahu, Trump’s smarter Israeli twin, has called openly for war with Iran. And has tried to enlist allies in that effort. This story should have mentioned that. Why else would the US go to war with Iran? They’re not a threat to US interests except in relation to Israel.
7
So mr Bolton has found a useful foolin in mr. trump.
John bolton is a textbook example of why someone who has not put his life on the line for our country should not be advising the president on things military. And perhaps we should require presidential candidates to have at least 2 yrs military service.
17
This is very reminiscent of Bush Jnr.'s tenure, with Cheney and his dark side hawks running the show, but even more out of control.
Draw back the curtain. The real show looks to be behind the scenes with attention-seeking Trump choosing to play showman in this circus, allowing the Republicans to push their own personal agendas as long as he remains in the spotlight.
13
Donald Trump should not be allowed to use the military and all the patriotic men and women who serve and protect this country for his own reelection motives And that’s what this saber rattling is all about, Trump trying to show how strong and powerful America is and appeal to his followers. But leaders of other countries are not fooled, they can see where the threats are coming from, and I’m hoping there will be some pressure the world community can exercise to keep this from going any further. It’s pointless and it’s a disaster.
179
@Ron McCrary - All true, but a similar re-election-through-war campaign by one George W. Bush worked in 2004. If we know nothing else about DJT, it's that he's exceedingly simplistic and unoriginal in his political thinking. He's resurrected, entirely without meaningful context, some of the key slogans of both Nixon and Reagan, and now he's repurposing the foreign policies (and even some of the easily discredited actual key players) of the second Bush administration.
Sadly, this bit of idiotic chest-puffing will resonate deeply with his believers, though if it comes to actual war with Iran, that conflict will make the fiascos in Afghanistan and Iraq look like like minor engagements. See: Iran's size, population and military strength.
7
@Ron McCrary
Since trump is a serious draft dodger, he should have to send his two sons as the first two in...they love guns and claim to love America, so why not? How can they protest with all the gifts they have been given, to sacrifice for others just ONCE? Hahahaha...they think that they belong to a gilded-rich class that do not have to play by the same rules...protected in their crystal glass house.
Agreed, trump has no right to send our American men and women into war as a dishonest broker and with dubious ties to many foreign (esp Middle Eastern) countries. Trump would feed our poor, young kids to MBS as a snack. He already gave them a journalist...what is next? Let's hope we get rid of trump before any war can even be asserted...
11
All that you have said is true and yet in my opinion his motives go beyond just merely popolitical expediency but are also based on the agendas of those to whom he is indebted and that's compromised in the region.
on the other hand, in my opinion, Bolton and Pompeo are merely instruments of the oligarchs behind the neo-conservatives for whom Cheney served so loyally. in my opinion the depths of depravity and corruption goes far beyond what the mainstream media is allowed to print due to the censorship overlaid by the big money interests that have you served our democracy to multiple coupes in this country starting with the assassination of JFK, RFK, MLK, and then the events of 2001 involving George Bush Junior and Al Gore, followed by events surrounding 9/11.
the above words and associated thoughts represent my opinions based on considerable analysis of the facts In Time series and proximity and of data and sources which the mainstream media does not have the courage or desire to bring forward because they too have become tools of the oligarchs in my view.
4
The title of video at the top of the article begins: "John Bolton Wants Regime Change in Iran"
The title for the rest of us is "We Sure Need Regime Change in USA". Vote 2020. Make America Sane Again.
12
America doesn't need a regime change in Tehran, it needs one in Washington.
13
Trump in last December in Iraq, soon after he addressed American soldiers:
“The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world,”
Whatever happened since?
8
We have a president and administration that we can't trust. They are proven liars. It's up to the GOP Senate to stop this. They are the only ones who have any influence and even that is tenuous.
12
"The U.S. military will be used as an arm of Trump's reelection campaign."
The prevalent belief seems to be that Trump wants the US military to fight in the endless Middle East wars. Maybe, but I've seen no real evidence of that.
And let's not forget the alternative: Hillary Clinton -- often touted as the 2016 "peace candidate." In real life, HRC voted unequivocally to support George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. (True, she later said she'd changed her mind, and that she'd thought Bush was going to ask for permission a second time, but neither of those "excuses" holds water -- what does hold water is her pro-war vote).
As best I can tell, we Americans are supposed to conclude that Hillary Clinton is anti-war because, 50 years ago or so, she opposed the Vietnam War. We're expected to forget that, at every opportunity since then, she's voted IN FAVOR of sending the US military to fight wars in the Middle East.
Maybe you favor that. What bothers me, though, is that Hillary Clinton is wrongly portrayed as the "peace candidate" and Trump is routinely pilloried as the pro-war guy. That doesn't jibe with reality.
3
@Commenter - I agree.
1
@Commenter - false alternative here.
Here's the situation and the alternative.
- the President and his hand-picked, replacement staff of hardliners have been rattling sabers at Iran for quite some time and are escalating it.
Alternative:
- the current President stops this foolishness, rejoins the multination nuclear agreement with Iran, stops trying to push China as well as our allies to join his foolishness, and thus becomes a functioning leader again. If he wants to then pressure Iran on their export of trouble around the middle east he'd find more support.
Hillary isn't the President, she just won the election. So get over her.
2
@b fagan All fair points, except for the last one. I really don't care about HRC. She didn't win the 2016 election; she lost it. Maybe the Constitution should be amended to eliminate the Electoral College, but it existed in 2016 (and apparently will exist in 2020 too), as HRC well knew.
1
Bolton's saber rattling is all too familiar. Step 1) abrogate a treaty that provided verifiable evidence that Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons. Step 2) Draw up war plans and create fear by ginning up vague threats against American interests. Step 3) Use a real or manufactured incident to create an excuse for retaliation. Let's not be fooled again.
11
"There will be people in Washington who will push for limited kinetic action against the Iranian regime to cut it down to size" Frankly a policy of pre-emptive disruptive strikes is exactly what the Israelis are doing to Iran in Syria and what Israel did to the Syrian and Iraqi reactors. The only way to stop Iran from reaching the logical conclusion of their disruption policies or fomenting armed conflict via proxy wars is to raise the costs for them. Trump's foreign policy in this regard is exactly like that of JFK who forced the PM of Israel to resign over the nuclear option and forced Russia to back off of placing missiles in Cuba. The Issue of Iran is a modern day equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis. When Iran senses American is weak and withdrawing, it is emboldened. Appeasement and detente will not work with Iran. Trump and Bolton and Pompeo see the world as it is and not as other wish it to be.
2
I want regime change in the United States. And now, not in November of 2020, which may be too late.
11
I think Trump wants a war because:
1-it would help his popularity (or so he thinks, and he may be desperate enough for it, with the Russia millstone around him or his low poll numbers)
2-everybody he likes or spends a lot of time with would like it -Netanyahu, the Saudis, the hardline advisors, evangelicals etc etc.
And, he already tried to destroy the Iran agreement.
To say Trump isn't interested in a war with Iran, and that it is only his advisors, I think doesn't add up.
He hired those advisors in the first instance. And, he started sabotaging the Iran accord even before many of those advisors joined his team, before Bolton was an advisor, or Pompeo was Secretary.
So, Trump is probably the number one drummer for a war with Iran.
11
Is a unilateral war the better deal that the Trump Administration came up with after scrapping the multi-nation JCPOA? Honestly, the evidence of the Mueller Report was not impeachable - but this provocative behavior with Iran is.
2
"Iraqi officials said they were skeptical of the American intelligence".
Lets face it the entire world is skeptical of the intelligence of Americans at this point. We have the largest security force in the history of humanity and the opinion that's getting attention is John Bolton's? Really?
I'm a little skeptical myself, truth be told.
9
Forget Iraq, we've done regime change in Iran before! That didn't work out too well. Will we never learn?
5
Who ya gonna believe?
Haha, just kidding. I'll believe anyone before iDJT, his entire administration and the GOP. I've never been as afraid for our world as I am right now. We've got to stop these madmen NOW.
6
Trump mocked Gold Star mother Mrs Kahn and now wants to start another war? Trump is neither worthy nor smart enough to be CIC.
8
Get ready to see your children coming home in flag draped coffins. Trump is getting his war with Iran started.
7
His ego is leading him to start a major conflict which is clear to anyone with half a neuron, is pointless. He wants to play soldier with people's and families lives, when the coward created bone spurs to get himself out.
This starts up then he needs to tell all his followers to enlist. If they blindly follow him now, then they need to step and be a lemming and jump off the cliff. They won't they are all cowards.
2
@MHV - You would think that Eric and DJT, Jr. would be patriotic enough to join. Mayor Pete did. The Trump sons have lots and lots of big game hunting experience and should be ready to go.
5
They (Trump inc.) might yet ask Russia for help is shifting public opinion from fact to propaganda. It's only money to them.
4
In Bolton's Bio he says he had no desire to die in losing war in south East Asia, so he joind the National Guard at a time when they were not deployed. But today he's fine with Sending men and Woman to die for Nothing but braging rights. Bring back the Draft and we will see Americans in the Streets. Mothers of 15 years olds will know that in three years people like Mr. Bolton will gladly send their Child to fight and Die. Viet Nam. Middle East For what did these men and women die for? Guys like Bolton.Rumsfeld, MacNamara and Cheney will pull that triger all too fast!
4
Trump's moves are all being dictated by his Saudi buddies who are continuing to destabilize the region and send millions to their co-conspirators: Trump and family. Our allies (soon to be former allies) are not going to allow themselves to be dragged into a made-up conflict that benefits no one other than Trump and his despicable cronies.
5
All declining nations have one thing in common: they begin wars.
13
@Don Juan - And they are divided at home into two camps - "my side, your side, my side, your side".
1
Trump is making up lies to go into an expensive, futile and dangerous and misguided confrontation with Iran. Iran just fought to get rid of ISIS in Syria. Of course they play in a big role in the Middle East. It is their backyard. So does Saudi Arabia. Why is the US putting our head in the middle of a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia? What business is it of ours to meddle there? I hope somebody stops this madness before it gets out of hand!
4
I thought they wanted to contain China.
They should fire everyone in the state department and replace them with antropologists and historians. These people just do not understand they age and significance of what they are dealing with.
Iran hasn't gone anywhere for thousands of years....
2
Looks like Bolton has finally totally suppressed American intelligence (that taxpayers pay for, so he can do his job based on facts), so now the only push-back that he and we will hear is from knowledgeable experts NOT under his thumb, namely people paid by other governments. This was totally predictable. TIME magazine cited government sources last year when they wrote about Bolton's previous job in the G.W. Bush first term:
"that during President Bush’s first term, Bolton frequently tried to push the CIA to produce information to conform to—and confirm—his views. 'Whenever his staff sent testimony, speeches over for clearance, often it was full of stuff which was not based on anything we could find,' says a retired official familiar with the intelligence-clearance process. 'So the notes that would go back to him were fairly extensive, saying the intelligence just didn’t back up that line.'
4
Bolton was the criminal mastermind behind the terrible and wrong Iraq invasion. We lost thousands of our finest and much treasure - as Trump noted.
Is he now planning a repeat - in Iran? Bolton is a chicken hawk who has never served - as is Trump the draft dodger. We cannot allow another unnecessary war - at the very least we should not start one. We know the costs - and know there are no benefits - unless it leads to Trump's defeat in 2020. But that we can do sans another terrible war.
2
re-institute the draft. but only for the children of any family worth over $10 million.
7
We need the draft and a war tax. Maybe across the board 60 percent with no cap gains or other exemptions. And for the war duration a 10 percent wealth tax. Enact that and I will reenlist. If we want war we need to pay for it.
4
I think we need to have an immediate inspection, not of Iran, but in the kitchen of the White House as I suspect there must be an outbreak of mad cow disease.
I do not know how else to explain how these patterns of fabricating evidence to create fear to decimate yet another region, followed by unstable regimes and civil wars keep recurring. If you want other countries to 'play nice' with America, maybe we should start by setting an example rather than constantly foaming at the mouth.
7
Well somebody finally calls Trump out on his lies. Too bad Congress won't do this.
5
Bolton learned nothing from the last time he lied about needing to go to war.
8
John Bolton is a war criminal. What is amazing is that after the Iraqi debacle, he wants to try the same thing again.
he should be tried at the Hague.
11
Someone with whom I used to be close voted for Trump. As did her husband. I will always remember his comment "Well Trump may start a nuclear war, but at least we will get something done."
9
Any bombing of Iran would lead to the same costly debacle as Iraq. The circumstances to justify the bombing are just as, if not more so, specious as the US invasion of Iraq. The last several conflicts initiated by the US has been done so under Republican leadership. When is the US voting public going to wake up and realize our tax dollars and young adults are being sacrificed for vanity and bravado.
5
Déjà vu. Not to be forgotten the fiascos and deceptions of the Tonkin Gulf and WMD's in Iraq that lead to disastrous wars. Not that Trump either knows about the country's history or cares as long as he can show how "powerful" he is, how he has chosen the "best" advisers ( Bolton and Miller and Barr?), and how America is always "first." All at the same time to distract from the potential threats of the trade war with China, Donald Trump Jr's upcoming hearing in the Senate, chaos at the southern border, and ongoing Russian meddling in the election. Expect the declaration of war to
be announced on the day that Mueller testifies in the House.
The country and the world are at the mercy of Trump's
ego , and these are very dangerous times because he
will sacrifice the nation and the lives of others without compunction to get his way and protect himself.
4
We've seen this before. And now we have a president less competent than even George W. Bush. Much less competent.
But we have pushed our allies away and will be in it alone against a much more powerful foe than Iraq. We'll take millions of Iranians who do not support their own regime and turn them against us.
And Putin will win because the global oil supply will be curtailed, thereby pushing the price of oil up a lot and providing much needed revenue to Russia's terrible economy.
I wonder if Putin is winning so much these days that he's saying "Mr. President, I'm getting tired of winning!"
8
Maybe Trump thinks that having the US embroiled in a "boots on the ground" war in Iran will help him win re-election on the grounds that you don't change horses in midstream. But the American people would be well advised to think twice about supporting an invasion of Iran, much tougher than Iraq and we'd soon regret the overreach.
2
I don’t understand why the US is not preparing for war with Venezuela instead. Seems like an easier target, it’s in the Americas, and lots of Venezuelans are pushing for regime change.
1
And plenty of oil. How about making all Venezuelans full citizens of the US and annexing it?
Have they actually seen this information Bolton has. Our Congress has not. Our congress has no information on why Bolton is removing people from Baghdad. Doesn't Americans deserve this information. Is Bolton doing this to create an excuse for a military build up. No one knows anything. No one even know who is Telling Bolton this. On has to wonder if his source has its own agenda.
No one know anything except Bolton. This is a dangerous precedent. Americans need to know if the threat is credible, real but overblown or fabricated by people anxious to see the US conduct their proxy war against Iran.
No US boots on the ground unless Israel and the Saudi's send in their troops.
3
Interesting video. Is Bolton required to disclose how much MEK paid him for that speech? Is MEK?
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/giuliani-mek-terrorist-group-money-bolton-iran-214479
1
Mr. Bolton is a war nut, a personal coward who justifies his avoidance of war service by sneering disparagement of war critics. Mr. Pompeo is a conniver who makes the sneakiest Byzantine eunuch who ever held sway look like a forthright straight shooter.
Our Senate does nothing to restrain them. Thank God we still have some democratic allies in the world who are doing their best to save us from ourselves.
4
Thank You NYT!
BTW John Bolton, Iran has 80 Million Men, Women and Children your putting in harms way.
5
The 'Masters of War' are at it again! John Bolton probably has lots of Halliburton and Blackwater stock and sees an opportunity to make more money, just like when he help 'trump' up the 'weapons of mass destruction' lie leading to the disastrous invasion of Iraq. It may waste another $3 trillion of US tax dollars, driving the US further down the drain, while Johnny laughs all the way to the bank.
2
I hope all of our allies during normal presidencies will shun us on this one.
3
Bolton wants "regime change" in Iran. Isn't this just a more aggressive version of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney's "nation-building" in Iraq?
So how well did the Republicans' "nation-building" work out for the Middle East by 2019?
Republican foreign policy: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Making American Insane Again--one Republican administration at a time.
4
The Iranian military budget (Pentagon estimate) is somewhere between that of Slovenia and Norway.
And Bolton shakes in his plastic boots.
4
We all knew this would happen the minute Trump picked Bolton to be national security advisor. And where was Bolton before that? FOX! Heaven help us, because we won't help ourselves.
9
Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal Calling it a terrible deal. Now he needs to show positive outcome for his action. I can understand Trump got upset, because you can’t call a conman a conman in public. That is what the British major did. We are flexing our muscles shamelessly in front of a weak nation that hasn’t done anything wrong. The only thing they did wrong is that they signed the nuclear deal under Obama administration. Trump lost credibility if has any.
3
Have we already forgotten that the disastrous debacle in Iraq was also based on lies?
4
Perhaps if the leaders of the EU, joined by the governments of the rest of the industrialized nations, would just refuse to support the sanctions imposed upon Iran and make it very clear that none of their territories or bases could be used by the US in any military action, could we put the brakes on this foolish collision course?
Trump and his advisers would have to contemplate the likelihood that they would have to go it alone and simultaneously suffer the contempt of the rest of the world. Maybe a boycott of all American goods, especially Trump properties, would get their attention? How about a refusal by our military leaders to follow Trump's orders? What if America's youth refused to enlist or refused to deploy?
Trump has isolated America from the rest of the world. Only Russians and Israelis have favorable views of us. The rest of the world community can flex its economic muscle. Why not do it?
4
Wouldn't it be ironic if the EU leadership, understanding that these moves were political only, threatened to back and fight on the Iranian side of it came to conflict? It honestly wouldn't surprise me at this point considering what this administration has done to alienate our allies.
3
"In order to get elected, Barack Obama will start a war with Iran." Trump, 11/29/11
"Remember that I predicted a long time ago that President Obama will attack Iran because of his inability to negotiate properly-not skilled!" Trump, 11/11/13
5
Do these people NEVER learn ? 'Regime change' is what started this whole mess in Iran. The deposition of a freely elected Mossadegh and installation of the US friendly Shah showed the US for what it is. A hypocritical government that can't be trusted. Nothing good came of that. Nothing good will come of this.
3
I would support this bogus war only if Bolton and Pompo are in the first wave of America troops invading Iran. And, if president bone spur is right behind them. Those three casualties would end the nonsense immediately.
1
Nothing like a war (or threat of war) to rouse the rabble.
2
Funny, for all his war mongering I don't see a scratch on Mr. Bolton. I think Mr Dylan wrote a song about him long ago?
5
“We know where they [Iraq's WMD] are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south, and north somewhat...” -Donald Rumsfeld 2003.
Obviously, Iran is not Iraq. But this all seems much too familiar.
1
It's all about getting re-elected.
2
DT has always wanted to go to war. He has the mind of a child, so he is drawn to idiotic behavior like a military war and a military parade.
2
Two things are governing American Foreign Policy: Putin and the well-known Military Industrial Complex. Putin is advising Trump to put economic sanctions, ie. tariffs on $360 billion Chinese good which we import, in order to weaken both Chinese and American economies, for Russia’s advantage as global player. There should be no doubt whatsoever that Trump is a Russian agent. The call for imposing Tariffs against China came immediately after Trump-Putin call that lasted 90 minutes.
The second issue is that John Bolton (a Vietnam War no show) is an agent of Military Industrial Complex. He was instrumental in Iraq War (thousands of death and a loss of more than 3 trillion dollars from the American exchequer). He is back in power and the powers that be are rolling out the carpet for carpet bombing in Iran for the purpose of making Texan oil billionaires into trillionaries and MIC to sell out more merchandise of mass murder. War is basically the most profitable industrial commodity of a great spectacle that capitalism has produced for mass consumption.
1
Sounds like Sadam's WMD all over again.
2
The U. S. regime in the hands of a dictator and a Party that will not disavow him, is a danger to the entire world.
4
Iran is a totalitarian state which continues its pursuit of nuclear weapons, has supported terrorist for decades, and provided missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen. They oppress their own people and destabilize the entire region.
But weakly led Europe wants to continue to coddle and hug the regime and criticize the United States instead.
@d
Saudi Arabia is also a totalitarian state which buys weapons from the US, has supported Islamic Fundamentalist schools all over the region who then go on to join groups like ISIS, oppresses its own people even to the point of killing journalists and is also dropping missiles in Yemen. Yet, because Saudi Arabia 'plays nice' with America, they're okay but Iran is not....right?
Iran is not a threat. We are concerned because they don't like America (gee, I wonder why, I believe we instigated regime change there once before) and they have oil and influence and that just drives certain Americans crazy when someone is not under their control. Hopefully Europe won't be fooled into yet another American led quagmire.
3
@d The United States destabilized the whole region.
1
John Bolton's record is one of dangerous recklessness, poor decisions, scandals, and disasters, going back to the Iran-Contra scandal and continuing with the lies and deception leading to the disastrous Iraq war. His Iraq strategy only made Iran stronger, giving it a Shiite ally next-door and a land route to Syria and Lebanon. Directing the fate of other countries hasn't worked or worked as planned in Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, North Korea, Libya.. When will we learn? Maybe our imperialism will only end when we can no longer afford it and the World moves to another reserve currency, possibly the Chinese Yuan. Meanwhile blood and treasure that should be spent on America is wasted on adventurism.
1
“any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force.”
Read any resistance to Netanyahu's colonization project or MBS's power in the ME will be met with unrelenting force.
2
“All are concerns that have been leveled against Iranian forces for years.”
Yes, shows that nothing has worked in the past, and Iran is as a great a threat as ever. Also proves that the nuclear deal didn’t change anything.
“Since May 2018, the Trump administration has withdrawn from the major powers agreement that curbed Iran’s nuclear program, reimposed punishing sanctions on Tehran, demanded that allies choose between Iranian oil and doing business in the American market, and declared the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization.”
Sounds good to me.
I smell a Bush II-like fake out to do something with Iran similar to Iraq. Folks, let's not fall for it again. Especially not from a President whose motives in the area are highly suspect, for a number of reasons. In particular, I would wonder what Russia would get out of US military action against Iran...
I have zero confidence in any intel community. They have been wrong about as often as they are right. The groupthink problem is awful- no one is thinking independently or out the box.
Unfortunately we have to go with our “gut”. The Brits are no better than we are in figuring out threats.
I thought Trump (and his supporters) didn't want to police the world? Sounds to me like Trump is paying back the Saudis and Israel with this move.
I believe Congress has to approve any act of war, so hopefully this posturing is just that - posturing.
3
For those of us who remember the Gulf of Tonkin staged, phony attack on a U.S. warship, which was the pretext LBJ used to get us into the war in Vietnam in force, the claims of hostile action by Iran are eerily familiar.
Could President Trump be hiding behind John Bolton's skirts so that he can become a wartime President, which would greatly enhance his re-election chances? Nah, he wouldn't be that greedy or pernicious.
3
The Saudis claim that one of their "oil tankers with a shipment of oil bound for the US" was attacked. They provided an image of the ship.
The waterline of the ship was clearly indicating the ship was 1/3 to 1/2 full. The ship at anchor not being loaded would never have partial load then top off.
This "attack" may have happened but in no way was that ship taking a partial "shipment" of oil to the US; just doesn't happen. The ships are always full.
This story like the drone "attack" that followed the next day is building to an attack the day that Robert Mueller sits and testifies.
2
Another useless war might help reelect Trump, but it will drain the Nation's resources. The real winners of such an engagement will be Russia and China who will see any squandering of American resources as a gain for themselves on the world stage.
Let's face it, many of our European allies have a vested financial interest in trading with Iran contrary to US sanctions, and are already devising ways to trade around them with so called special purpose entities.
Don't expect them to acknowledge an Iran threat despite Iran supplying rockets that land on Israel, funding terror groups to the tune of billions (more if we lifted our foot off the Iran oil exports even temporarily, and paint death to America and Death to Israel on their rockets and boast of their ability to strike American bases in the region.
Those Saudi oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz didn't vandalize themselves. Nor can there be much doubt who did.
1
Confluence of Trump, Bolton-Pompeo, and Barr makes a dangerous combination making war with Iran extremely possible.
Bolton and Pompeo hated Iran deal from the beginning.
Trump is in it for two reasons. One, propelled by his racial hatred, he is determined to undo everything Obama did; Iran deal included. Two, strong possibility that Saudi, Israel and UAE have offered large sums of indirect help to Trump empire in return for Trump's acquiescing with their goals.
Barr, as he did with Bush senior, will okay Trump unilaterally going ahead with war without congressional approval.
One more war with manufactured reasons, and the US will be likely set back forever to China and Russia.
1
Bolton is just following orders. The ONLY way Trump can get rid of all the investigations against him, which are numerous, is to find a way to put the country under martial law, which would then grant him powers to do anything he wants because martial law is considered a "national emergency". The best way to get this started would be Iran. Look for some excuse cooked up by us to allow us to declare war with Iran soon.
3
John Bolton's scowl says it all: an angry little boy who grew up to be an angry little man. The world is full of such specimens, we are the ones to blame for the fact that he's in a position potentially to drag us into another bloody quagmire. RESIST!!
11
Down With Trump. The aggression does start in Washington. Where does this end? The damage being done to my country despresses me to no end.......
8
Venezuela didn't work out for Bolton so now he's trying something else.
10
Please, please NYT commenters email or call your senators and congresspersons immediately to make your concerns known about this march towards war with Iran.
3
Another War for Israel? They have put us in the poor house. The Silver Catilepiller has been paid to destroy the Mid East. The 2000 plan written by the Neo-Cons, included a wish for "a new Pearl Harbor". We have been overturning Governments since then, all according to the plan. Drop the $38 Billion per year payments to Israel,.
7
The anti Iran push comes from Netanyahu and the Saudis. Really, the world knows that. Trump has been more than happy to cancel the agreement (all things Obama you know must be destroyed)and Trump being Trump wants to allow Netanyahu and Saudia Arabia to use him and our American military to their advantage. If you even spend 5 minutes you can see that the propaganda from Israeli news outlets against Iran has been massive. Trump is so easily led, it is only a matter of time. And really, everyone knows Bolton for what he is.
7
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, don't get fooled again.
1
Clearly, here in Trumpland, Ignorance is Strength.
Next step: War is Peace.
And not far behind: Freedom is Slavery
7
I never thought I'd be happy that our allies have pulled back from supporting us, but in this case I am so glad that they already know what a liar Trump and his croines are and don't believe the cry 'wolf'.
7
537 days until the General Elections on November 3, 2020.
Then the long wait for The President to be sworn in in January, 2021.
The USA is hanging on by a thread.
7
This administration now thinks it can gaslight the world.
4
Good old President "bone spurs", being the true patriot that he is, is dying for a war to make him a wartime president, which he thinks will strengthen support for him and get him reelected. I don't know about anyone else, but as the mother of two sons, I do not believe sending troops into an unnecessary war because our so called commander in chief is itching for a fight is justified - or the American way. Will any of his children be on the front line? He who never served has no compassion for those that do.
We can't allow this faux president to murder hundreds of American Soldiers so he can get reelected. He does not care one bit about the troops - just his ego.
I'm beyond disgusted. If my kids were in the service, I would be petrified what this maniac will do.
God save the USA!
7
Hopefully our military will resist too.
7
Chicken Hawks run amok,
“Bolton did the same with President George W. Bush and Iraq,” Representative Seth Moulton, Democrat of Massachusetts and an Iraq war veteran, said in a statement last week. “As someone sent four times to that misguided war, I have seen the costs of Bolton’s disastrous foreign policy in a way he never will — firsthand, and at the loss of thousands of American lives.”
8
The MEK is a terrorist group, period.
They are a bad version (if that's possible) of the current regime in Iran. It is amazing how little Bolton, Guliani and the rest of the current establishment in Washington know about the group and Iran.
Having incompetent people in decision-making positions is scary.
3
“Could a little war help me get re-elected?” Trump asks his pillow as he doses off and dreams of a wonderful world for himself and his family while the rest of us struggle to sleep knowing ours lives will be ruined.
3
The Trumpers want a religious government here in the USA.
7
History repeats, the fall of a modern empire teeters on the horizon. Rome haunts us. The historical rise-and-fall cycles of nations hinges on like leaders; power struggles/grabs; and grave mistakes in judgement.
W/ Trump, cycles are sought, as a desperate man, make no mistake he is desperate- he can smell the dank shadows of a jail cell - looks to recent history for strategies to trick US citizens and divert attention towards a falsely-pretensed war. He could care less about any loss of life, esp of the US poor.
Beware, Iran is Iraq, a morally-bankrupt war, which forever mars the character of repub elected reps.
The Dems must stall and make enough noise until 2020 with allies; however, to end the decline of our nation it is not just trump we must target.
Dems must put all assets into removing M. McConnell, L. Graham, and top traitor-to-women Maine's terrible S. Collins. Roe v. Wade is threatened today only b/c of Collins and her self-serving actions. She is a liar with Mitch and Lindsey.
McConnell and Graham are worst than trump. They have betrayed our citizenry for $ greed, power, to protect personal secrets, and to cling on to an office for which they are not worthy.
These are 3 reps that must be voted out. All for whom we have damaging tv airtime by the hundreds of hrs to use in ads - full of hypocrisy and the lies they've told.
Dems - let's do this - a national effort is needed to get these three out. Let's protect against evil wars, tactics, and laws.
6
And here we sit, helplessly on the brink of war, with all of us at the mercy of stable genius "Chauncey Gardiner."
3
In my mind, let's see Trump do this! Once again we will see a person who escaped joining the military using a lame excuse, lead our nation to an unwanted war!. These chicken-hawks will never learn and we will spend thousands of lives and trillions of dollars on yet another debacle. My only concern is to those poor volunteer Americans in the armed forces who will needlessly lose their lives and limb!
1
We have a befuddled and incompetent president getting advice from discredited advisors like John Bolton. Other restraining voices have long since left the White House. The Keystone Cops are in charge and, as the saying goes, "elect a clown expect a circus". Supplicant Republicans who look the other way will be the real villains when the history books come out.
9
Trump, and sadly with him, the United States, has no credibility on the world stage due to his inability to tell the truth and make up lies to suit is narrative. He may have conned his base but not the rest of us. He is the most dangerous threat to America there is - much more than Iran.
8
Have we not learned from Vietnam to stop war-mongering? Bolton and Trump are bullies, proxies for the interests of Netanyahu and the Saudis.
8
>>> "Have we not learned from Vietnam to stop war-mongering?"
Nope, not from Korea, Cuba (Bay of Pigs), Vietnam, Lebanon, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq . . .
>>> "Bolton and Trump are bullies, proxies for the interests of . . ."
Yes, and also for the interests of weapons manufacturers, military contractors, politicians whose constituents are convinced (by appeals to "patriotism") that American military adventures are good and righteous, etc.
1
No, when Iran threatens the US and Israel in their daily life, the threat is real. It is time to extinguish the threat.
Irans religious leaders will fall. Get or or be taken out.
The population of Iran is 81 million yet we are allowing our government to be influenced by a group, who has been identified as a terrorist organization, with a few thousand followers. What sense does that make?
3
I can hear the haunting echoes of phrases like "weapons of mass destruction," "axis of evil," and "coalition of the willing." God help us. Bolton is a dangerous man.
10
"ultimate goal of the yearlong economic sanctions campaign by the Trump administration was to draw Iran into an armed conflict with the United States."
....... for the benefit of Israel and Saudi Arabia.
3
"United States officials call “malign behavior,” be it in Yemen, Syria or the Palestinian territories."
Is this "maligned behavior;
fighting against genocide in Yemen?
fighting against foreign regime change in a sovereign nation?
fighting for Palestinian human and legal rights?
"Maligned" seems to be in the eyes of the beholder.
4
When Bush, Cheney, Bolton etc. continue to hold sway over a country, instead of spending time in Guantanamo, what do you expect? By the way, here's Joe Biden, the next president:
"I actually like Dick Cheney... I get on with him. I think he's a decent man." Joe Biden, the Democrat.
4
I think that the tone and quotes in the article are skewed from the get-go, as if a conspiracy is afoot to pull the US into a war.
Similarly several reports of attacks on ships in an Omani port and on the Saudi pipeline are labeled “alleged”.
To those who objectively view the invasion of Iraq after 911 to have been a gigantic disaster in terms of loss of blood and treasure ..... consider this regarding Iran:
"Iraq’s military was a fraction of what it had been before the 1991 Gulf War when the U.S. invaded in 2003. Its fleet of armored vehicles was aging, short on parts, and completely outmatched by American tanks. The tiny Iraqi Air Force had not one plane from later than the 1980s, and in fact not a single plane got off the ground to challenge the U.S. in the air.
None of these things is true of Iran. Not only is the Iranian military generally modern and in good repair, but the nation has also conducted an aggressive program of missile development, including short-range missiles that can be fired from mobile platforms. Included in this are a number of special anti-ship missiles developed especially because Iran expected to be threatened by U.S. carriers. In addition, Iran sports a fleet of “midget” submarines especially designed to create havoc in the Gulf and act against both military and civilian craft. While there is little doubt the U.S. would overcome organized opposition quickly, it’s much less clear that this could be done without significant losses of equipment and lives, as well as a major disruption of the world economy."
Source:
Mark Sumner, Daily Kos Staff
4
Why are we always more worried about Iran than the countries closer to them are? I'd say if Brittan,Japan, Greece, India arn't getting riled up,why should we?
2
If Bolton is advising the President to go to War with Iran, Congress send a subpoena now.
6
Bolton has been peddling wars and "preemptive wars" for decades. Why? Because that's who he is!
Except among a tiny group of misanthropes and warmongers (most of whom, including Bolton, never went to war themselves), Bolton has been considered toxic at a worldwide level after he "shot his bolt" with the neocons and their incessant pressure and goading for a preemptive war in Iraq. Mission accomplished? Nope, not even after 16 years of war.
Unfortunately, with Trump's penchant for dictators, hardliners, and Fox News' self-proclaimed propaganda pundits, Bolton resurrected himself as the head of Trump's NSA.
Since Trump is largely an empty vessel when it comes to knowledge, information, and common sense, Bolton has been fulfilling his decades-long dream of war against Iran by filling Trump's head with nonsense.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/06/john-bolton-on-the-warpath
So let's hope Trump sticks to his campaign promise to get out of, rather than start, more wars in the Middle East. I am not optimistic, since Trump responds to authoritarian types and tends to impulsively follow through on what the last person told him to do.
5
There are two reasons why Trump, Bolton and Pompeo are "manufacturing" a war with Iran. Both have been known since January 2017 during the first days of the Trump regime.
1. As the walls close in on Trump, he will create a war with Iran to garner "patriotic support" as the 2020 elections near.
2. The only other country that has wanted this war is Israel. They want Iran destroyed and they want the U.S. to pay for it in lives and treasure. Israel knows this is the time to act since they now have control over Trump and he will probably lose the election in 2020. Israel has already begun to help the U.S. create false "incidents" in order to initiate an attack by the U.S. Bolton is simply following the "Gulf of Tonkin" (Viet Nam) and " weapons of mass destruction" (Iraq) model to justify an attack. American should think about how those two "manufactured wars" turned out for the U.S. and the millions of innocent citizens killed.
7
Where are the weapons of mass destruction? They are sitting in the US Congress; Graham, McConnell, Grassley, Jordan, Burr along with Miller, Pompeo and Bolton. It's not a foreign enemy that is the problem, it is the terrorism within.
9
I'm not certain that Trump can manage this situation properly, because he has given too much in acceptance of Saudi Arabia. He should not have done what he did there. I know Jimmy Carter thinks he did right there, but I disagree.
We don't accept Saudi Arabias culture. We should not be very close to them. I want us to stop buying their oil.
So our aggression towards Iran is easily misinterpreted as support for Saudi Arabia. That is regrettable.
We should have done what Sanders has suggested: withdraw support for the war in Yemen.
4
"Skeptical US allies...' indeed.
It will be very interesting to see how much of an 'alliance of the willing' this pathological liar can drag along with him. ANYBODY who sides with the US in a war against Iran at this point in time will almost certainly be complicit in war crimes.
The US no longer speaks for anybody in the civilized West, in any respect. The schism is complete.
12
Ah...the oily boys seeking another pool of petroleum for their never ending need to gather and take all. From my home, atop a ridge in Oregon, I can watch trains filled with domestically produced oil and coal travel through the Columbia Gorge. The carbon based products are then shipped to foreign markets. This is insane. Yet another war for oil is madness. Losing one more son, daughter, brother, sister, mother or father for oil is wrong. Stop the madness!
8
Will we never learn? Regime change by force doesn't work. Our misadventure in Iraq empowered Iran.
Saddam Hussein may have been a repugnant dictator. But he held Iran in check. Where Saddam confronted Iran directly, Saudi Arabia, Iran's chief regional foe, challenges Iran through proxies in places like Yemen.
What the Saudi's lack in military competence, they make up for with influence over the U.S. Fortune shines on Saudi Arabia: we again have an incurious, simple-minded Republican in the White House . And Trump, like George W. Bush is surrounded by warmongers motivated by their own agenda, not America's best interest.
6
Our very smart allies (something that can never be said for the Trump Kindergarten) know exactly what is going on here. Trump and Bolton have been telegraphing their moves for years - Bolton wants draconian American military dominance and Trump wants a war to distract from his MANY avenues of prosecution and probable imprisonment. Both seek to destroy this country and will most certainly obliterate Israel in the process.
7
The singular power the drives this madness: Israel.
5
I wrote it on an OP-ed comment 2 years ago. The third year of Trump would see a war start to increase the chances of winning a second term. People are more likely to vote for the incumbent president when we are at war, i.e. G.W. Bush.
5
Trump is not on the side of America as the land of the free, and certainly does not wish to associate with other democracies. His admiration for dictatorships and his alienation of our allies proves that. He says and does what he believes will benefit him, personally, he has no vision besides that.
7
This seems like the long awaited and planned sequel to the Iraq War fiasco. Just in time to incite angst and nationalism in voters for 2020, and drum up support for increased military spending.
This may not play out to be as beneficial as Trump and Bolton anticipate. We'll need to see if the Trump administration bullies it allies like Teresa May just like the Bush administration did to Tony Blair.
In 2016 Trump campaigned to keep the USA out of foreign wars. Lately he's been focused on getting the USA involved in foreign crisis unless they are being instigated by the strong men he admires.
6
American people wake up. There is no moral justification for an expensive war with Iran.
The two unwritten justifications are American greed and power. Greed: The military industrial complex makes the most money when we have a war. Power:The country tends to rally behind the president when we are at war and it is assumed this will increase Trump's chances of re-election.
Before the war machine starts ramping up, now is the time to call our congressional and senate leaders, protest in the streets, and let them know that we will not support another morally unjustifiable war.
9
There's no regime change in those countries,there just isn't ,as we have learned.
2
This scenario is reminiscent of the lead-up to the second Iraq war. George Bush raised the rhetoric and tried several approaches to get the public to support his war. Finally, he landed on weapons of mass destruction. But it was obvious weeks earlier that Bush was intent on starting a war with Sadaam Hussein. Sadly, the American people were blind to Bush's real intensions.
trump isn't even attempting to get public support. trump has already sent a fleet of ships to Iran to "protect" American interests, although no American interests have been threatened. But trump is relying on his firm 40% base to support him even if he shoots someone on 5th Ave.
We can only guess at trump's reason for threatening war with Iran. His policy toward Iran thus far has been a failure. He pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear agreement, and put sanctions on Iran. But Iran and the rest of the world ignored him, and his actions were useless. trump's "modus operandi" is to threaten and carry a big stick. If that ploy fails, he doubles down. His Iranian policy has failed, and now he's doing what he always does - he's doubling down. Now he will threaten Iran with war (and regime change) if Iran doesn't buckle to his wishes - whatever they are. However, trump doesn't have any allies to support him - the US is standing alone in this venture. Iran, however, does have at least one powerful ally - Russia, who would be only too happy to see the US embroiled in another middle eastern war.
4
As much as to Putin Tump is beholden to the Sunni Saudi, to whom Shiite Iran is a religious arch-enemy, much like Catholics and Protestants fought 30 or 80 year wars in Europe, or bombed and shooted each other to pieces in Northern Ireland not even 50 years ago. The GOP of Pompeo, Bolton, Pence etc. is beholden both to the MI Complex - that doesn't even need an actual war, a good war threat already delivers them trillions and helps solidify support for authoritarian coup efforts posing as 'law and order' - and to Big Oil and Gas that has become an export giant in the U.S., especially of its red states, and that together with Russia and Saudi Arabia would profit enormously from higher prices and reduced Iranian supply. Netanyahu seems to think crippling one of two main Islamic enemies is good strategy (the other one the Sunni face that Hamas and worldwide proliferated fundamentalist Saudi madrasses present, with its terrorism export 'successes' Al Qaeda and Isis). I'd say weakening an enemy for the Sunni ends you up as their sole one left, not an improvement, but I never read Machiavelli, maybe I'm missing something.
Even where Putin is an ally in name of Iran and its satellite influence spheres in Iraq and Syria, he seems to be in with the opportunistic coalition of Trump, MBS, and Netanyahu to cripple Iran, since it would help his oil- and gas-dependent economy.
With so much short-sighted politico-oligarchic interest hellbent on for-profit disaster the future looks dark.
4
The trump administration, like the Bush administrations are paranoid and only want to start another war for their buddies to make money. Perhaps this time the American people and young women and men who are called on to fight these wars and die for no good reason will say, 'no' Where other administrations (Obama) attempted to make peace through treaties and agreements the trump administration has walked away from those agreements for no legitimate reason. Will the Republicans ever wise up or will they let our country be run into the ground and become a third world country?
2
the few at the top always make a lot of money in Third World countries and failed states - and they don't even have to pay taxes! so, yes: basically Republicans want America to be a Third World country... with a few First World golf resorts and gated communities and plenty of peons.
2
Bolton, et. al., will make up whatever they want to try to accomplish regime change in Iran. They are working hard at fabricating a case to fool the US public. They certainly can and do count on the Saudi and Israeli governments to help. Maybe Trump thinks the Gulf of Tonkin was such a good idea, that he can use the "sabotage" of Saudi tankers approaching the Persian Gulf to bolster their claims to need to do something about Iran. Or maybe they will make something else up, just like the same group did about Saddam Hussein's WMDs. And do we really think this band have even thought about what government would follow and what would happen if they miscalculated? We saw how well this group did in Iraq.
The only regime change we should make is our own. A regime change of anyone else is an anti democratic act.
3
Historically, presidents in the midst of a new war have been re-elected. Thus Trump must have a war of his own in order to overcome his lack of popularity. He is clearly setting the stage, with John Bolton's help. Bolton also pushed for war in Iraq. We know how that turned out. Let's not let him do it again.
2
We need the Democratic party to speak for the large minority who are appalled by the prospect of yet another fruitless and destructive war. Come ON! Where are you?
3
When Trump appointed John Bolton as his foreign policy advisor, I silently prayed that something like this wouldn't be the result, while feeling in my bones that it would.
This is just unconscionable. "We" are still in Iraq, still in Afganistan. We have the worst income inequality of all the "rich" nations. How can we look in the mirror at ourselves as a country and not feel sick?
5
@Ellen Yes . Almost every day, the Trump team says or does something to make me feel shame. This is not the way it's supposed to be. Those who we call our allies need to be strong and speak up. And so do leading democrats. If they don't they are part of it.
3
Interestingly there is reports about friction between Russia and Iran in Syria, where Russia would like to solidify its control.
So the big question now is whether this manufactured friction with Iran is Wag the dog type of a situation. Or this is to help Putin???
1
You can expect terrorist attacks to end in Europe with this support by the European Community.
Iran has the power to stop all terrorist attacks on Europe.
It is the least Iran can do show its appreciation for good common sense demonstrated by Europe and the acknowledgement of the goodwill of the European Community towards all nations of the world, the same cannot be said of Americans.
1
What will it take to prevent us from starting yet another war with a country that is not a threat to us?
4
Europeans don't care about the threat from Iran, they make too much money trading with the Iranians to care. Even if Iran did something to harm the prices or oil or otherwise further destabilize the region, the Europeans would simply expect America to do something about it. In the event of direct conflict with Iran, at most, the Europeans would supply us with supply truck drivers while our military actually fights.
2
As the heat is turned up on Trump on the corruption in his administration look for Bolton and Trump to initiate some type of military action against Iran. it will wag the dog and satisfy Bolton's lust and lifelong dream for war with Iran.
2
Of course the outrageous historical irony here is that the Islamic regime in Iran is a product of years of despotic rule by the former Shah of Iran; an American proxy or puppet. In league with the British, the USA dislodged the freely and fairly elected Mossadegh and put the Shah in power; arguably one of the costliest, and most tragic mistakes we as a nation have ever made in the Middle East. And here we go again...history may not repeat itself, but it seems we never learn. In attacking Iran, what sort of a result do we expect? Regime change? Replaced with what sort of newly minted despot? And at what (short and long term) cost? One thing is certain; if we do attack Iran, we will succeed in antagonizing the whole of Shiite Islam.
1
Three words.. Gulf of Tonkin. That's what's going to happen in the Middle East. Some suspicious and otherwise questionable assault by an unidentified enemy will get laid at the feet of Iran and Mad Dog Bolton will unleash the hounds. Lapdog Pompeo will do or say nothing to deter him and Trump will figure how this will enhance his re-election chances. It will be much uglier than the Iraq war if it happens. There will be no coalition to back the US. We will be on our own and it will be a total disaster.
3
I am fearing another Gulf of Tonkin event will occur and the US will use that event to justify engagement with Iran. Trump will have his Bolton war and gullible Americans will rush to support it. They will flock to support it and reelect trump. How retro would that be?
3
The Trump "effect" is letting this - yet another - travesty slide under the proverbial radar. It (the Trump effect) is such a three-ring circus that the drumbeat of war goes almost undetected.
Why are we once again - standing alone - threatening another country which has not attacked us? At a time when we don't even take care of our own citizens, why do we continue to throw money at endless war and cause deep harm to others with our punitive foreign policies?
2
How about regine change here before it is too late? (that would be for us and for the rest of the world.)
7
In Tehran or Washington?
1
Actually, the "aggresive moves" originate not from Washington but from Tel Aviv. Thank you Mr. Bolton.
9
This sounds a lot like the run-up to Bush's Iraq invasion. We don't need more wars.
CW4, USA, Retired
6
Trump and Bolton are going to get us into a war which of course will divert attention from the criminal behavior of this administration and get thousands of young military people killed.
4
As a Canadian, I supported our government's involvement in Afghanistan and Syria/Iraq recently. We did not support your fake Bush Iraq war and we won't be supporting your fake Trump Iran war!
5
"One American official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential internal planning, said the new intelligence of an increased Iranian threat was “small stuff” and did not merit the military planning being driven by Mr. Bolton. The official also said the ultimate goal of the yearlong economic sanctions campaign by the Trump administration was to draw Iran into an armed conflict with the United States."
A very familiar tactic by Bolton. The entire predicate for invading Iraq post 911 was based on deliberate false intelligence presented as fact to the UN and to the American people as justification for war with Iraq. A war that ultimately destabilized the entire region for a generation and directly led to the rise of ISIS.
Are we really as a nation going to fall for this nonsense yet again?????????
Why is it that with all the media out there none of them have dome up with a suggestion I've been making for months. If Trump can get a war started with Iran he can declare it as a national emergency and put the country under martial law, even though it's against the War Powers Act. If you don't think he would do this you haven't been paying attention. But remember, he has to get a war started somewhere in order to do this. Then, he could declare the country under martial law and with all the extra powers granted a president under it he could then make all his problems disappear because he alone (sound familiar) would tell us what we could or could not do under law.
Trump has spent his entire presidency telling lies and insulting our allies. “Skeptical” must be a polite euphemism for their reaction to his latest belligerent nonsense.
3
I'm sure they would like to change our regime,, too. How about that, John?
2
I'm all for it as long as his children and the Fox News ilk are the only ones sent to fight bone spurs war.
3
All you need to know is documented in roman history... Rome frequently went to war to conquer new provinces in order to detract from internal strive. War has always been the ultimate detractor for American presidents. Some military action looks inevitable, not because there is a threat, but because it will be politically expedient.
1
"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." Hermann Goering.
Here we go again.
3
Mr. Bolton is in favor of Mujahedeen Khalq, known as M.E.K.
Himm when did we see this colossal mistake before.
aha. Afghanistan.
Regan era CIA and NSA really helped another Mujahedeen group which is jihadists later on turned to be the main origin of 9/11 attack.
Bolton wants to bolster another Mujahedeen group. He really wants to dance with evil.
Is Bolton really working for USA or his all mind is set for perpetuating war and creating a constant demand for Military industrial complex.
2
The chicken hawks are gathering again.
4
I hope another bout of bone spurs isn’t imminent.
1
Bolton and Trump both skipped out on Vietnam; now they want to get us into another endless useless war, like Afghanistan.
They want war, the they need to send their own draft aged relatives to fight their stinking war!
7
How can a guy that did everything he could to dodge being drafted, in good conscience send out troops to war? This guy Trump is a disgrace willing to send our kids into a meaningless war, while his father's money and lies protected him. He should not be allowed to make that choice.
6
It seems more and more that 9/11 has the US Government's finger prints on it. The best case scenario is they knew it was coming and let it happen, making sure WTC 7 was primed as well. Interesting that it is the only building ever to fail like that. Think about the Grenfell Tower in London. It burned to almost 2,000 degrees Celsius and is still standing today almost 2 years after the fire that gutted it.
And, even though, apparently, the US Government did not know about it, we all knew about El Qaeda a week later. Not a bad turnaround for knowing nothing on 9/10.
Then we had the Iraq WMD dog and pony show for the benefit of the US and lickspittle Western governments who were again willing to throw soldier's lives away to keep alliances afloat (most notably Australia and Britain through John Howard and Tony Blair).
Then we had the lies about Syria... then we had the lies about Yeman and Palestine while the US supports Israeli and Saudi genocide and ignores repeated UN efforts to resolve those tragedies.
And now we have the focus on Iran, with just the same naive lies and beliefs about how this will fix everything.
It turns out the rest of the world's sympathy for 9/11 was used against it by the Americans to support their never ending quest to make the Middle East perfect for Israel and Saudi Arabia. Even though it is the policies of Israel and Saudi Arabia that are creating all the problems in the first place.
Leave Iran alone and fix the real problems.
5
Bolton is the ultimate warmongering neo-con who has never fought in a war but has promulgated constant wars across the Middle East since coming to DC, and, unfortunately, being taken seriously by our gullible Presidents (plural).
He doesn't care who dies or what countries are ruined - as long as we get to steal their oil and natural resources. Oil tankers sabotaged off the coast of the UAE? Blame Iran. "Credible threats" to our troops in Iraq (which we destroyed) and Syria (which we are in the process of destroying) - blame Iran.
Bolton, as a clone of Dick Cheney, is a stooge for the Military Industrial Complex and the petroleum industry for their never-ending quest for "our oil under their sand" - the mentality that bought us the ongoing disasters we have created throughout the Middle East.
The biggest threat to world peace is our homegrown troika of evil - Bolton, Pompeo and Trump, if he is seduced by these two neo-con con men.
7
So, we are going to believe another republican President with calls for war? Anyone remember Iraq Freedom? WMDs? Yeah, that was a great idea...Need Republican regime change here, starting with DJT in November 2020. Send John Bolton in on the front lines.
2
And the Democrats will go along—as most Democrats went along with the Iraq War.
1
"Military officials say they do not know why Iran appears to be embracing a more hostile stance"
Could it be because the US withdrew from the UN approved Iran Nuclear Deal all sides say Iran is following, and unilaterally imposed illegal US Economic Sanctions/Economic War on Iran designed to destroy the Iranian Economy supporting it's 80 MILLION people before having to resort to bombs?
Could it be because the US organized an anti-Iran Foreign Ministers meeting in Poland in February, and Israel's Netanyahu was the only head of government to attend, leading the charge for War with Iran?
Could it be because the US, at the request of Israel's Netanyahu, designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization?
Could it be because the so called Intelligence Iran was planning to attack US forces in Iran's part of the world, so far from the US Homeland, came from Israel?
The US takes all these aggressive actions against Iran, and the US Military wonders why Iran is reacting to the increasingly hostile US stance, so delusional in the US self-proclaimed exceptionalism?
Is the US Military that stupid and clueless?
8
Just more lies from Trump and everyone knows it. Other countries have more sense than to be drawn into another war on the wrong side.
3
I think this would be a good time to investigate into how Erik Prince, Betsy DeVos's brother, is preparing to make his next billion.
4
This has the same smell as the War in Vietnam, with the fake Gulf of Tonkin fake attack, and the war in Iraq, with the non-existent WMD.
Trump has even ranted against the war in Iraq about how we should not have ever started that war. And here we are in an antagonistic show of force with Trump and Bolton hoping to stimulate a shooting response so we can drop some bombs and get some people killed.
Why? because Trump wants to fluff up his image of a strong President among his base. How about if we remember the 50,000 of our young boys that were killed in Vietnam and the thousands that were killed in Iraq.
And Trump is fully willing to kill some more, just to bolster his image.
We will never be dedicated to a military exercise of such a magnitude as to cause regime change in Iran. When the costs rise to $T's and our young men's bodies start getting shipped back by the thousands, the sparkling image of "fixing" Iran will get tarnished.
Americans will only then realize that this scam had been run on them YET AGAIN!
This is not another WWE smackdown with another opportunity for Trump to strut his macho stuff. It is real people and real lives. We have no right to even think about getting involved in another Middle East war with the promise of devastation of Iranian cities like those in Iraq.
Vote No Trump in 2020
1
Another Gulf of Tonkin? Weapons of mass destruction, anybody? The country simply can’t, surely, be expected to believe Trump (tho most thinking people stopped doing that a long time ago; we believe Bolton at our great peril.
Families with kids “of fighting age” should be especially wary, because both Trump and Bolton don’t care about America—they want their war !!
Doesn't matter, the US kills countries, that's what we really do well. We're riding that dragon!
1
“ To he who has a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.”
Abraham Kaplan
Going for the oil fields again.
2
Netanyahu and his supporters are morally fraudulent individuals, intent on causing harm to the world, while benefiting monetarily. How? By continuing to grab occupied land, including Jerusalem. Demanding US tax payers money to invest in building it By asking working families to provide their children to die in amoral invasions. Yes, the likes of Bolton are subservient and making a case for Netanyahu while he attempts to keep his finger tips clean. Trump needs a war, they all need a war to cover up corruption.
3
It is the Saudis being threatened not the U.S. Why should we pay the price for the Saudis problems. They create the problems. The Saudis promote jihadism. The Saudis support the creation of Islamic states. The Saudis support the murder of journalists. The Saudis have a huge amount of money let them do the dirty work if there really was any to do. Iran has never been guilty of half of what is claimed while Saudi Arabia gets away literally with murder and supporting terrorism.
5
If you do not think that Donald Trump is amoral enough to start a shooting war to boost his re-election chances, you have simply not been paying attention.
Worse yet, if you do not think that Donald Trump is incompetent enough to blunder his way into a shooting war, you have not been paying attention. In his supreme egotism and narcissism Trump never admits into his thought process the possibility that he might be wrong.
He also never admits into his thought process the fact that things do not always work out as one planned. Once you start sending battle groups into harm's way, you are just asking or something to go haywire and spin out of your control. Trump's warped mental landscape and desperately hungry ego cannot allow him to think this way, i.e., the way a normal, well adjusted, intelligent leader would.
Trump is a prime candidate to pound his chest, rattle his saber and stubble his way into a war when events spin out of his control. And it is not beyond his amorality to stage manage a crisis that provides an excuse to go to war. Tonkin Gulf Resolution ring any bells?
1
Remember when we used to have friends? Remember when Allies of the United States were glad to throw in their lot with us? The "Chaos President" and his mustachioed vizier--both of whom avoided service-- are heading into hubris land and dragging this country into a series of follies.
3
Voting for him to disrupt the establishment is one thing. And perhaps we put up with his lies and grandstanding and petty meanness with an eye-roll or a stiff upper lip.
But it boils down to this: would you die for him? Would you have your children fight and die for him?
I know my answer: absolutely not.
4
We are tired of made up wars from Viet Nam to Iraq and now the threat of Iran. The problem with Iran is we caused this in the 1950's. When a duly elected leader Mosaddegh for a pro American leader which led to the Shahs who were some of the worse despots. When the revolution happened and brought back the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, hostages, etc. Now rumors of war, just because they said not today. A deal was made by them and Obama and others that the right did not like. Iran kept to the deal. Even when a jealous liar got us out of it, they honored it. Now the jealous one and his minions are playing games to start another war. I told a Plain Dealer editor pro Iraqi war, we would be there 10 years later and I wrote him to rub it in after those 10 years. This could be infinitely worse. Now 16 years. 130,000 troops initially and Trump says it could be very many more. From where? Aaaah! The draft!!
1
Bolton seems to have blood lust. He is
always pushing for war. As Naom Chomsky stated in an interview that USA has the strongest military and we use it to show the world our supremacy and maintain the dominance. This is what "American manifest destiny" has boiled down to. Pick on militarily weak nation and pulverize it to demonstrate our power.No worry how many widows and orphans we create and the misery we inflict on the population. So long our
ego is satisfied and perceived
dominance is secured it is acceptable.
Ms Madelein Albright summed up the
sentiment well: asked about th 500,000
Iraqi children died because of lack of
medicine caused by our stringent sanctions, she bluntly said it was a
price well justified. We don't really care
about the lives and misery of other
people. This is unAmerican.
214
@s.khan Actually -- and unfortunately -- it's very American. In fact it's very human. Power corrupts; power is its own raison-d'être; power is the best antidote to existential dread. If these things weren't true, we'd long since have used our incredible good fortune in inheriting this rich, secure continent to create a just and peaceful society.
31
@s.khan The only problem is that Iran is not weak militarily. We may "beat" the Iranians, but it will cost us so much in young lives and resources that no one will gloat about "winning."
21
@s.khan And yet, what do you bet that the Democratic seniors and the media are 100% on board when the time comes?
5
Don't forget that if for you Iran is at the end of the world, for us this region is only two or three thousand kilometers from Europe. It's scary.
4
When things get very sticky for a president, there is always the notion of starting a war to keep voters on your side. ‘Ware, people - nothing to do with Iran/Iraq, everything to do with re-election.
Regime change in America. Now.
1
Hello America! Welcome to Stage Two, where the current administration invents another endless war to stay in power and use it as an excuse to further restrict civil liberties.
This. Is. Literally. How. Rome. Fell.
6
I never thought in 2016 that one person could do so much damage! I believed that the Senate and Congress would do their jobs and put limits on how much damage the administration could do, boy was I wrong. The GOP has sold what left of its soul to this man-boy in order to get what they want. Extreme right wing judges, 250 abortion bills so extreme that they are unconstitutional on there very face, perverting the military by sending it to the border to do Steven Millers dirty work and now picking a war in order to win reelection, because that's what it is a power grab. Voter suppression isn't working, gerrymandering is being reversed now the administration has to find a boggy man and Iran fits the bill. This administration will never call out the Russians or North Korea, or even China so its unleashed Bolton and his regime change dream. Our allies have called us out on our continued bigotry but the Senate sits by doing nothing. The 2020 election can't get here soon enough.
4
Bolton's just revived his plans from when he was a founding member of PNAC; still shooting to steal and control the majority of planet's fossil fuels, otherwise why threaten war with Iran and Venezuela, if not for their oil reserves?
1
GHW Bush was a smart man who could take advice from someone like Dick Chaney and not be easily led astray. Then we got George W Bush, not the smartest president in our history, and suddenly people like Dick Chaney, Paul Wolfowitz and John Bolton were able to lead us in a disastrous war in Iraq. Now we have Trump, neither particularly smart nor concerned at all about America (much less the rest of the world), only concerned with his approval ratings so he can cling to power. This is a great example of why we need superior men in Washington, not merely someone who pays lip service to your political preferences or claims they will shake things up. Whoever comes out of the Democratic primary is guaranteed to be far superior than the morally bankrupt Trump.
It is time to build Trumps wall, a wall around the entire country, a wall to keep the Americans in.
2
This bid to go to war in Iran is nothing more than a major ploy to invoke discord and death upon two countries with dual underlying interests in mind.
The first is to create a large scale distraction that will divert interest and attention away from the most corrupt executive branch and senate in the history of the United States of America.
The second is to generate updrafts of money to evil corporate overlords as was done in Iraq. We see you Haliburton, corporate prisons, and big patroleum interests.
However this time is different because we now have a globally connected and influential China on our hands who we had better stop provoking, a newly remboldened and extremely sinister Russia who is chomping at the bit to neuter America's world influence, as well as a significantly nuclear fortified Iranian military who are not just going to sit there with their hands folded while we send our military into their area to threaten them.
If the existing United Sates government is foolhardy enough, and stuck in the past enough to incite a war with Iran, the repercussions and multifaceted damage to America on the world stage will be incalculable and most likely permanent. Gone are the days when America will have the undisputed, uncontested, unavenged last military and economic word.
2
I wonder how concerned Pompeo, Bolton and Trump are that their own country is highly skeptical of their motivations, rationals and strategies.
I don’t think they care a whit.
Their hubris is monumental and history doesn’t seem to be a factor in their thought process.
This is the Trump administration; all the ‘best’ men, led by a ‘genius’.
3
I can’t imagine being a military family these days. Between Mr. Trump’s earlier “ Rocketman” tweets and his perceived “crisis” in Iran, they must be having lost of sleepless nights.
What happened to last month’s crisis - the southern border? Funny I don’t recall Secretary Pompeo flying to Mexico / Central America during that “crisis”. But he was quick to interrupt a trip to one of our allies to address this situation.
Contact your members of Congress. This nonsense needs to be stopped.
1
Trump is going for a replay of The Gulf of Tonkin scam Or, perhaps we will hear the battle cry "Remember The Maine". They could make a movie, with Ruppert Murdoch playing the role of William Randoph Hearst.
1
The true weapons of mass destruction are Bolton and Trump.
Thankfully our allies aren't believers and hopefully they can steer this train wreck away from warfare.
Why would anyone believe anything this administration has to say?
Trump and staff have been resistant to any type of intelligence. They make up their own facts and lie to us all.
2
This is the way Trump runs his Presidency. I am positive that nothing much has really changed in Iran regarding threat level. This is solely Trump building up unwarranted alarm so he can occupy the front pages, See Trump sending a fleet to the Mediterranean, see Trump discussing sending 120,000 troops to the Mid East, and see Trump reducing staff at our Embassy, And for what? So Trump can be the center of attention and play the tough guy. How much is this charade costing our taxpayers? Wait, breaking news more troops being sent to the Mexican border because of the emergency down there.
All Farce.
4
Democrats need to ram the message through next year that if Mr. Trump wins a second term it is almost certain the US will be drawn into another disastrous Mid-East war.
1
We are still fighting a war in Afghanistan. We are still fighting in Iraq and its environs. These wars are going past decades in length, and soon we may reach two decades of war in these places. How big of fools do we have to be, if we let John Bolton push this country into another Middle Eastern war? Not one drop of American blood for a war with Iran.
262
@Kjensen Why just "American blood"???? Is the life, health or securuigy of a professional soldier from the USA worth more, or worthy of higher consideration than that of a child or mother or father or grandparent in Iran? Sadly, there are many who would answer "yes" to this fundamental question. This is pure, un-adulterated tribalism: the driving force for most wars throughout history. We haven't by any means progressed to the point where people REFUSE to automatically divide the world in their minds, beliefs, policies and actions, into useless "US" and "THEM" categories. We are all equal under God: we are all human beings created in His image. There is no difference in value between people of one group or faction, and another. Many of the people who embrace the false dichotomy of "zero sum games" and "our group/civilization/culture/ethnicity" vs everyone else, claim to be Christian - but they delude themselves. The Scriptures tell us to LOVE our enemies (real or imaginary) and to help them when they are in need of help. If everyone who professes Christianity in the USA followed this and the other critical teachings of Jesus, wars, discrimination of most kinds, poverty, institutionalized and systematic injustices, etc - all these would nearly vanish.
5
No US allies should involve themselves in any war with Iran. The US Trump administration withdraw from the multinational nuclear deal with Iran before it really had much time to verify any results. That is a US decision and if the US wants a war with Iran it should be American sons and daughters that risk life and death not anyone else's young!! Trump has bashed close American allies for years now and shouldn't even bother to ask for help with another pointless war in the Middle East!! Nothing short of a full scale invasion of Iran and countless loss of US and Iranian lives will change the government in Tehran!! Is that what sensible Americans want?
1
Once upon a time the purpose of the American military was to guarantee the strategic interests of the United States. Apparently its purpose now is to subserviantly do the bidding of Israel and Saudi Arabia to further their strategic interests. Not to worry though as no one named Trump or Bolton will be wearing a uniform to assist in carrying out this madness.
7
If the first shot is fired by the US against Iran and the people in this country do not take to the streets in protest, then we deserve the consequences, similar to those that followed the war in Iraq. Lies that led to the death and injury to young men and women of our military. Not counting the same happening to the people of Iraq.
The idea of a maniacal egomaniac willing to deflect attention from investigations into his corrupt administration and go to war is sheer insanity if allowed to happen.
2
How dumb are we? No, seriously. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
1
All of America minus the cultish Trump base will be against it.
1
Echos from the past.
2003: President George Bush insisting, against all evidence to the contrary, that Iraq was hiding weapons of mass destruction, thereby justifying an American-led invasion.
1939: Adolf Hitler claiming that Poland was making aggressive moves against the Third Reich, thus justifying Germany's invasion and resulting in World War II.
1914: Kaiser Wilhelm demanding that Austria-Hungry invade Serbia in retaliation for the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, resulting in World War I.
We've seen this little drama several times before.
3
There is no new threat. There is only John Bolton.
5
The US lost its war in Vietnam (now communist government).
The US lost its war in Afghanistan (now Taliban control).
The US lost its war in Iraq (pro-Iranian forces now control).
When is the US going to understand that military might and smart weaponry do not achieve objectives and often achieve the reverse.
Why is the US more prone to create enemies than to foster allies?
The US has developed an image of being like an immature teenager seeking identity with a muscle car and kicking sand in the faces of the weak. It does not end well.
7
I believe the American public (including Republicans) are tired of expensive wars: wars fought far away for undefinable reasons that don't seem to affect our everyday lives and that have no end.
If Trump move forward with this, I don't think it will provide the benefits to his reign that he expects. It will be all round unpopular. Not even FauxNews can positively spin it. Trump Undermines R Democracy. Everyday
5
Forty countries sent troops to Iraq as part of the American-led coalition. Trump's worldwide charm offensive and the bogus reasons for rattling the sword should earn this administration zero war partners if the U.S. decides to take some kind of military action.
3
Why did we go to war in Iraq? Simply because at the time Iraq had the second largest reserve of oil in the world. Why do we want to go to war in Iran? Simply because Iran controls 10% of the worlds proven oil reserves.
Who get the benefit of the war aim ofcapturing the Iranian reserves?
2
Complicated geo-political discussions are irrelevant here. Trump and his team are a menace to humanity. They must go. Let's hope the electorate agrees.
2
Now is the time for Pelosi, Schumer and the Dems running for president to express their opposition to this farcical chest-thumping and preparation for unjustified war. Trump through Bolton and Pompeo are trying to build public support for Trump's re-election as the strong leader needed to protect the country. In the meantime, our Saudi and Gulf states allies are spreading Sunni terrorism around the world with their petrodollars. Iran is no angel, but it is not the only serious threat to peace. This electioneering of the military must be stopped.
4
The only way to address the recurring problem of cognitively challenged leaders who are unable to properly weigh the risks of invading foreign countries is to cut the US defense budget by at least 90%.
Americans, over and over, fall for the trap. Our egomaniacal leaders are given a very "big hammer" and then they break things. Are you surprised?
2
If this chicken Hawk would lead a charge or two than That crowd he supports would now manage the country like we did in Iran.Trump may like a war to hide behind . We remember his lines about draft dodging.I doubt our allies like this.
1
even an uninspiring president like George W Bush can see his approval ratings rise dramatically when he brings the nation into war,
but this will not happen with Trump.
1) Trump's disapproval rating of 54% is baked in and unchanging.
2) no one believes anything Trump says,
he is totally incapable of rallying the country.
Aside from some Republicans, Trump and his instigators Bolton and Pompeo are fooling precisely no one.
Who in Congress wants to vote for the Iraq, I mean Iran, War?
1
@Alex Cody
If Iran hits an American target in the next few weeks by accident, many in Congress will fall in line and support the US striking back. They will fear Aipac and their political futures.
1
For years Iran has repeatedly claimed its determined to annihilate Israel - the regions most formidable military force and one that’s nuclear armed. Europe, the UN and everyone else ignores these threats. So what’s the problem ? That Israel would respond with total devastation to an Iranian attack ? Or that Iran would attack US interests and declare victory over the mid-east ?
When have the feckless Europeans taken the lead in any post-War military threat ?
1
So now our military will be used as a pawn in Trump's re-election campaign with no thought of the loss of life. The United States is broken beyond repair if Congress lets this President move ahead with war with Iran. I no longer recognize this country.
8
John Bolton has been wrong about everything in the past. He is wrong now. When he speaks of regime change someone needs to ask him what he expects to occur. Does he want our military to fight their way to Tehran and set up a government? The next question is then how well has that ever worked? When he tries to make excuses the questioner needs to ask how well that worked in Vietnam or Iraq or Libya? Let’s assume that Mr. Bolton is well meaning but very misguided. That being the case, he needs to be outed as to the dangerous outdated thinking that he promotes. He has a 20th Century mindset. He needs to constantly be reminded that this is the 21st Century. Threats to our sovereignty arise from terrorism, cyber security and instability due to climate change (e.g. the conflict in Syria). He must be questioned at every opportunity and never allowed to pontificate in an unchallenged setting.
7
@MPS
John Bolton knows well enough how the policy of regime change worked in Vietnam as he elected to join the National Guard rather then serve because, as he wrote in a memoir, he “wasn’t going to waste time on a futile struggle” in Vietnam.
1
SO Bolton wants regime change in Iran? Seems the wrong way of going about it. And while we are on the topic of regime change, I would have thought efforts would have been better focused on proven direct threats to the United States like Russia.
3
"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s efforts this week to recruit European countries to back the administration’s steely posture on Iran are being received coolly." Why was this received "cooly", why wasn't it received with complete hostility and total opposition? The rest of the world has got to develop a backbone and let the U.S. know what we think of their foreign policy generally. If the world had demanded that Bush II and his cronies be put in the docket at the Hague for their criminal activities in Iraq , then maybe these guys would start thinking differently. It is interesting too that the congressman worries about the loss of American lives. What about the loss of Iranian lives or do they matter?
4
I'm sure Pompeo's major topic when meeting the European Union leaders was whether they would honor Article 5 of the NATO agreement and provide military support if the US enters into a conflict with Iran. I'm also equally sure the EU responded that they will do so only if they can verify that the US was attacked purposely by Iran without provocation and that it wasn't a military encounter manufactured by the US. Also that they will only provide military support for a reciprocal and equally balanced military response and not a massive military action or invasion in response to a small skirmish.
Lets not forget the only time Article 5 was invoked was for 911 and our European allies more than met their obligation and now are sorry that they did so.
12
@P Lock - "I'm also equally sure the EU responded that they will do so only if they can verify that the US was attacked purposely by Iran without provocation and that it wasn't a military encounter manufactured by the US."
It does not need to be "manufactured by the US." There are a few countries that love to see a US attack on Iran. One of these countries can manufacture some kind of sabotage attempt, plant as many Iranian "fingerprints" they can find, to be able to claim that it was done by Iranians.
It can be Saudis security people (the same ones who dismembered Jamal Khashoggi) blowing up one of their abandoned oil-pumping sites. It can be Israeli submarines, regularly going up and down the Persian Gulf, releasing a few floating mines with Iranian markings in the path of oil-tankers. It can be Emirates placing a bomb in one of their cities. Etc., etc.
3
@P Lock, a simple NO from NATO would be best.
“Privately, several European officials described Mr. Bolton and Mr. Pompeo as pushing an unsuspecting Mr. Trump through a series of steps that could put the United States on a course to war before the president realizes it.”
This is the big issue. Trump has little awareness of any complex matter, listens only to a select cast of characters with agendas of their own, and if he can be convinced something will enhance his reelection, he will do it.
22
Bolton and Pompeo appear to be agitating for a new foreign war - against a bad guy Muslim opponent, of course - in opposition to some of the many lies, inaccuracies, and fabrications of the President who says he's opposed to such adventures. they are like little devils, siting on Trump's shouders and whispering words of war in his ears. who benefits if they succeed? China would enjoy a distraction and further stress on the US. Saudi Arabia and Israel are always eager for the US to do the dirtywork against their common enemy. Boeing is in trouble and could sure use some juicy new military contracts, and luckily they have an inside agent in Defense. loads of potential customers for the insiders. all Bolton and Pompeo have to do to run their side hustle is convince Trump war will help him avoid impeachment, win in 20, and stave off prosecution for the growing list of his crimes, both in office and in prior times. what did America do to deserve this corrupt band of thieves?
1
Bolton has a history of lying at a high professional level. That's the only real story here.
28
If I'm not mistaken, wasn't John R. a member of the neocon cabal screaming "weapons of mass destruction" back in the days.
It is simply a question of American hegemony.
Nothing more.
F3
16
Colin Powell lost his integrity when he carried George W Bush's water at the U.N., claiming Iraq had yellowcake uranium.
How many career military officers view Powell's demise as a cautionary tale, now that Trump is in office?
15
They're not going to do this again, are they?
How do they think this is going to go? Drop a few bombs, "shock and awe" redux and Iran says "we give up"!
They did notice what happened when we did this to Iraq, right? Maybe not.
I don't believe it, then again, I kind of do.
11
@JayK: Iran will be a tougher nut to crack than Iraq was. This will not go well.
1
The endless stream of lies that Trump has told, here and abroad, have reduced his credibility to zero. And the world has not forgotten John Bolton and the lead up to the war in Iraq, a war that ultimately resulted in ISIS and millions of dead and displaced across the Middle East and migrants in Europe. Combine that with Trump's intentional insults to our traditional allies in Europe, his attacks on NATO, his obsequiousness to both Netanyahu and the murderous MBS and we have the perfect storm. People thought it would take longer for Trump to completely destroy the reputation of the USA. What do you think? Will three years be enough?
23
I really fear we'll become entangled in a relentless was with Iran requiring untold resources, man power and dollars. In the meantime the defense of our mainland becomes extremely vulnerable to attack by any adversarial nation paying any attention at all.
While we might end up with hundreds of thousands of US soldiers stuck fighting for their lives in Iran there may be nobody left to defend our actual shores, borders or air space..
Who among us wants to be forced to pick up weapons to fend off Chinese, Russian or even European forces on the streets of our nation? I'm too old for such foolishness so I'll be at the mercy of those capable.
6
Buried lede:
“...The ultimate goal of ... the campaign by the Trump administration ... to draw Iran into an armed conflict with the United States.”
For no reason, except Trump’s now 3-year-old re-election bid and his attempts to duck the investigators lining up at his door, he has decided - at least for now, we’re going to war with Iran.
We had (as we had with N.Korea, etc.) a situation where two “rogue” (I suppose for not following US desires) states, we had effective policies in place that tied verifiable halts to WMD projects and other diplomatic stabilization projects - peaceful threat reduction.
No good for Trump, now preparing to lose 120,000 US soldiers for no reason but retaining control of the White House.
The war planning efforts have already cost an unknown amount we don’t have, the military is tied down on the Mexican border where breaking the amnesty law has led to insane numbers of illegal immigration attempts and untold suffering, and an ever-swelling deficit.
When will this madness end?
11
Sounds to me like a repeat of the Gulf of Tonkin story. Worked out great that time....
7
Did we not engineer regime change in Iran in 1953 when we replaced the elected prime minister, Mr. Mosaddegh, with that stellar proponent of democracy and rule of law, the last shah? Look how well that worked out, 1979--present.
Harriet in San Francisco
10
Time for another "Coalition of the Willing" to shore up dubious US intelligence claims. The Republicans need enablers to help them open the doors of the Treasury and unleash another stupid but profitable American war of choice.
Where is Trump's Tony Blair?
4
As a political ploy, starting a war is a tried-and-true tactic for getting re-elected. As the expression goes, you don't change leadership (presidents) in the middle of a war. It would be perfect in keeping with Trump and his ilk. And the soldiers and civilians that die or get maimed in the process, and their families? Well, they're just part of the price of a political victory, now, aren't they?
8
@Mark - I'm hoping that even die hard Trumpists will finally walk away when it's their sons and daughters that Trump is sending into harm's way and then sneering at when they get killed or captured.
Trump is trying to wag the dog. We cannot let him succeed. Iran is 4 times bigger than Iraq with a MUCH more capable military. A war with Iran will cost trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of Iranian and American lives.
Trump has been a terrible president; this would make his presidency an actual disaster.
10
It’s okay China will float our war debts! Oh wait. We are in a trade war with them. Are these people trying to destroy the US on purpose?
1
this goes to show that no matter how powerful or rich you are you can't buy credibility
7
When you're backed up against a wall..
When your fight over subpoenas is about to collapse..
When your financial truth is about to be uncovered..
Start a war.
Deflect and distract.
14
We know our "allies" just want to do business with Iran.
1
The U.S.has a long history of undermining governments in Iran.
In the 1950's we (CIA) created a revolution and exiled a duly elected president. And installed the murderous and autocratic Shah, who did our bidding.The Shah's overthrow by the religious right (Ayatollahs) was the result of our short term planning. Thank you President Eisenhower!
After many attempts, The Obama administration, in collaboration with its Western allies and the United Nations, signed an agreement with the current Iranian government to limited their nuclear program.
Trump in his stupidity has broken that agreement and has aligned our policy with Israel, Saudi Arabia, and other gulf states.
War in the Middle East is now eminent. Still the Republican party,in its greed for power above all else, is supporting this craziness.
12
This story is a complete smackdown of the lies and ginned up intelligence emanating from the megalomaniacs occupying the White House, similar to what occurred in the lead up the Iraq war.
British Gen. Ghika plainly states that "there has been no increased threat from Iranian-backed forces in Iraq or Syria.” Likewise, intelligence and military officials in Europe are saying most of the aggression is coming from Washington, not Tehran.
The American people are forewarned. Trump and Co. are known liars.
Thanks NYTimes. More reporting like this is crucial and could actually make the difference in halting a stupid, senseless war with Iran.
14
Funny how when his,own agenda differs from US Intelligence, he demeans his own intelligence group. In this case, he ignores intelligence from our allies that does not support his agenda. The man is a clear and present danger to our way of life, so intent on being reelected to further his dream of autocracy, that he will ignore all facts and opinions that run counter to his reelection plan.
Does anyone here think he would NOT start a war to stay in office? He can always blame the outcome on others who will have “misinformed him” at a later date. The initial volley in this war will lead to glowing self aggrandizing tweets of shock and awe under his watch. After that, the tweets will become defensive as “winning” becomes less obvious.
When will he go far enough such that even his loyal base rejects the carnage he will cause?
5
They're so transparent about ginning up an excuse to go to war for no good reason it isn't funny. Who pulled out of the nuclear agreement? We did. Who's been lying his head off about Iran ever since? Trump, egged on by Bolton. Who is Bolton to "want regime change" in Iran? This is a scandal and again, Americans will die for no good reason, just like they did in Iraq and Afghanistan. We never learn.
8
Republicans love to start wars, and I am worried that what worked for GWBush will work for trump in getting re-elected. If that comes to pass, we can all just kiss this country goodbye. Eight years of a trump rule will wipe out the 200+ years of progress that came before.
10
And the Dems look to Chuck for leadership. God help us.
5
Chuck has as much power as any Democrat can have in McConnell‘s Senate. Not much, but he uses it well.
4
@caljn
You support trump and you're denigrating Democrats and others who oppose him? Wow. That's messed up.
2
@Gardengirl I support trump? Nope. Merely pointing out there are no voices of opposition.
1
The electoral college MUST be abolished! Are we going to enter another war under another president who did not win the popular vote! How different the world might be today without it!
8
The popular vote has favored war more often than the electoral, I think.
1
Higher oil prices, billions of ammunition sales, Netanyahu’s Middle East agenda.
When rural America is pumping gas >4$ a gallon into their trucks, making the oil company shareholders rich, I hope rural America remembers who did this to them. Of course, as long as the war upsets the Democrats, it’ll still be a win for them.
9
The policy of this administration has been a pathway to war with the Iranian Republic and regime change there, not unlike Dubya's claims around Iraq's WMDs that eventually led to armed conflict in Iraq, to depose Saddam and the Bathe Party. To pretend otherwise is disingenuous in the extreme. Let's hope that American blood and treasure will not be used to satiate the insecurities of a narcissistic character with not even a glancing understanding of geopolitical interconnections.
3
Pompeo and Bolton surely are the B-Team. The entire Trump administration's foreign policy team is second rate, and they are pulling the US into deeper waters be it in the Middle East, Europe, China or Korea. Bless the world!
8
US citizen here: I don't believe it. After 10,000 lies from this Administration, I simply do not believe what they are saying.
15
With just the discussion of the buildup to a war with Iran, Trump's tax returns are forgotten, Mueller is forgotten, obstruction of justice is forgotten... The threats that worry Trump are not in the Middle East, a place he would gladly blow up if it benefitted him personally. Trump finds it advantageous to throw the tantrum approved by his "advisors" Bolton and Pompeo, simply because it's a distraction. It has nothing to do with Iran's behavior, a fact confirmed by every adult in the room. And speaking of adults, Congress should step in and put an end to this foolishness.
8
I believe we all knew that if the walls close in on Trump, due to his criminal behavior, the ultimate distraction he will use is a war. God help us if 2020 finds us in another unprovoked conflict in that minefield of religious tribes that is the ME.
8
This is a nightmare. Is our country going to allow another crazy militarist to involve us in regime change? (Remember IRAQ?) Iran has kept its part of the nuclear bargain, but that doesn't suit those who love WAR as a way to keep Americans focused on others to fear. We should be very afraid of what Trump and his spineless minions are doing to the wheels that keep our government running.
Why go sustainable? forget the troubled Middle East.
7
And the stock market continues to drop. All of this just to keep the negative news about Trump out of the headlines. This is nothing more than Trump sending troops to the border. A waste of money.
8
Nothing like a war to fire up the base before an election. I wish I could say I was shocked to see Mr. Trump pulling this old ploy.
9
This is Trump's reelection strategy.
10
Sounds pretty desperate. I seem to recall last time he was quite critical of previous Republican efforts at warmongering?
And why would they support this? Religions bigotry?
Looks like they want a crusade to reclaim the holy land.
@Thomas Wright
My assessment is that the only difference between what Trump considers a good or bad idea is whether it's his.
The US is a rogue state. It has been since the beginning of the 21st century under two Republican administrations. Under Trump, the pendulum has simply swung even more radically in the direction it was going under George W. Bush. The Trump administration is the logical extension of the dissolution and radicalization of the Republican Party. Trump's decision to abandon the Iran nuclear deal, thereby completing undermining American credibility, has now been followed by these Gulf of Tonkin-like accusations against Iran. But nobody with any sense would trust anything coming out of the Trump White House, let alone anything coming from the feverish mind of John Bolton. The real threat to the world is the US. The question for the rest of us is how do we deal with the problem of an unhinged, irresponsible and untrustworthy global superpower?
10
The real threat is indeed the US—executive, not the US legislature, which has over two generations lost the control over the executive given it by the Constitution.
Have we learned nothing from the neocon's lies regarding the Iraq war? It is my sincere hope that those currently enlisted in the military will refuse to deploy to attack Iran. Let's not shed anymore precious American blood and treasure on fruitless evil wars in the Middle East.
8
While 'war' plans have always been part of DoD's responsibility, this issue is mostly about the liar whom we have as president. Based upon Trump's presidency to date and the thousands of lies he has told, there is absolutely no rational reason to believe anything Drumpf says.
4
This is EXACTLY why Trump’s finances and taxes need to be examined. Is he making U.S. decisions based on personal financial gain?
9
US should stop its war mongering with Iran. We, as a nation, can not afford another war, period.
8
I can't think of a single reason to be patriotic anymore. Women's reproductive rights are repressed, the gun disease spreads more every day, the wealthy dominate our lives, salaries are a joke designed to keep you just above the waterline, cops are murderers and bullies, politicians are craven and easily bribed, the religious nuts are trying to make the country a theocracy, and stupidity is more often the case than not.
14
Now is the time to be Patriotic and get get rid of those phony unamerican flag-wavers who fit better in a Banana RepublicK . They want a dictator.
4
Doesn't any one remember the GUlf of Tonkin incident?
Here there aren't even radar echoes
Right now the Iranian regime is very unpopular in Iran
Nothing can strengthen the Mullah's hand more than an American attack
4
After destroying Vietnam, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, now continue with Iran a second time? The costs to the US have been enormous both financially, politically and morally.
10
'A few hours later, the United States Central Command issued an unusual rebuke: The remarks from the British official — Maj. Gen. Chris Ghika, who is also the deputy commander of the American-led coalition fighting the Islamic State — run 'counter to the identified credible threats available to intelligence from U.S. and allies regarding Iranian-backed forces in the region'.”
Mr. Bolton is known for similar rebuke of any one who expresses an opinion counter to his views. Even the language sounds like Bolton's.
10
This is starting to sound like some of the final episodes of the House of Cards. Invent a fake war and national emergency so you can stay in power.
8
House of Cards? It’s a far older story than that. Secretary Seward, e.g., told the newly elected Lincoln that he might cathect the impending Civil War by attacking England.
Sounds like Trump & Co. are in the early stages of what is probably best viewed through the lens of a campaign strategy: Gin up a war in the case that Trump's Tariff Tax on Americans tanks the economy so badly that only armed conflict will be the road to re-election. It's always worked before.
4
Yes, following the Bush/Cheney/Republican road map for ensuring their reelection and destroying our country. Sounds like a plan.
6
Some commenters have asked how this administration could push the U.S. into yet another senseless war. The answer is that even the most liberal Americans seriously subscribe to the myth that their country is "the greatest" in the world (despite the fact that a sizeable portion of its population live in conditions rivalling the world's poorest), and can therefore do whatever it pleases. The United States IS a great country, but only when it has great leadership, which it emphatically does not have at present. It is so obvious that Trump, who makes Bush 2 look like an inspiring leader in comparison, wants to distract the nation and the world from his crimes. It seems that he now wishes to add "war criminal" to his resumé.
12
@David Just how and why are we the "greatest country in the world"? By what measure?
4
@caljn
David clearly said that the belief the US is "the greatest" nation in the world is a myth that too many people, including liberal Americans, believe. The US's greatness lies in its potential and some of its achievements. What we lack is honest self-appraisal and a commitment to seeing the effects of our actions at home and abroad.
4
GDP?
If there any threats to the US coming from Iran they have been manufactured by the Trump Administration, namely Pompeo, Bolton and Kushner.
The American people need to ask the questions "why?" and "why now?".
In my view this manufactured crisis is solely for the benefit of Israel and Saudi Arabia. It has nothing to do with "US interests".
9
That the US is a source of lies is nothing new, it has been a source of lies since its founding (remember slavery and the pursuit of happiness, among other jewels). What has changed is that now the majority of white Americans take an active part in the concoction and dissemination of lies - from climate change denial to the election of a pervert as president, the US has become a cauldron of lies and immorality unequaled in recent history.
18
Nothing like a war to distract the mefis and Congress away from the current investigations. False war!
10
The American people must stand up against another groundless war that will kill perhaps millions of innocent people including young Americans. Any Republicans that back this madness must know they will be thrown out of office. We are talking about senseless murder to accommodate the personal needs of the mentally disturbed, amoral Donald Trump. We must take to the streets in protest if that is our only option.
14
So much for keeping America out of useless wars. Unless it helps deflect attention and get the vile degenerate elected again.
9
No problem for the US. Iran is a lot nearer to Europe and Russia. Maybe they should worry.
3
True. But young Americans will still die needlessly.
4
@Roland Williams
I don't understand your comment? Are you saying the US should not get involved? That is in stark contrast to the warmongering discussed in the article.
Or are you saying the US going to war is not going to affect the USA?
@Roland Williams
Another armchair war for the US?
I think that is the problem. In the US it is soldiers and their families who suffer, civilians just turn off the TV if they don't want to know. But in most of the rest of the world it is the civilians, their homes, their neighborhoods, their lives, their future, their country that has borne the brunt, they understand personally (not via the safe filter of a TV screen) the pain, the suffering, the terror of war and are thus far less inclined to be so jingoistic (diplomacy first), or so flippant about it.
You put a clearly unbalanced, irrational, unreliable, greedy person in control of the most powerful military in the world, surround him with equally unqualified or unbalanced war-monger people, threaten him with exposure of his unethical and possibly criminal activity through various investigations and court cases, and this is what you get: a scary, ominous, nakedly immoral and manipulative threat of a very serious and major war. People who have failed to get him out of office (Republicans, especially in the Senate) will be scandalously and immorally complicit in any tragic and unhinged war that these people cause. What does it take to see that the whole Trump administration is living in a world of unreality, disconnected from the real consequences of what they are doing?
14
They are wealthy. They have always been disconnected from the consequences of their actions. Trump by far the worst of them with never ending free money being given to him with no rational backing to the naked eye.
Quite clearly Trump, Bolton and crew are trying to create a Gulf of Tonkin incident as justification for military action. Or call it a weapons of mass destruction claim ala Iraq war II. Needless to say, they don't understand the history or consequences of those events.
Old men will soon be sending young men to die in foreign lands again, and for what?
"When will they ever learn?" - Bob Dylan
8
@Plumberb: "When will they ever learn?" wasn't written or sung by Bob Dylan. It is the refrain from Where Have All the Flowers Gone, written and performed by Pete Seeger. It was based on a Russian lullaby.
4
looks like the Don is taking the "war and investigations" path outlined in his state of the union.
5
Good point!! Thanks for reminding us of this revealing gem in the seemingly indigestible mass of Trump’s pronunciamentos.
This coming conflict is all Trump. Iran has not provoked it, so with lies, this administration will send tens-of-thousands of troops into harms way. How unsettling that world peace and stability is controlled by the likes of Trump & Bolton.
11
Nothing succeeds in getting a president re-elected like a war. e.g., Nixon and Vietnam, W and Iraq. And Bolton, who helped us get into Iraq, is whispering in Trump's ear, advocating "regime change." A third ingredient is the ceding of war powers by Congress to the President which has been going on since 1950. LBJ taught his successors how easy it was to phony up a slight or non-existent incident into a huge escalation of hostilities.
The stage is being set. This is what Bolton and his ilk have lived for for decades. The truth plays no role in this.
11
We, as a nation, are currently broken. The U.S. military will be used as an arm of Trump's reelection campaign. Large swaths of the electorate will fall for the ploy. It may be hard to see from the inside, but Trumps regime is the greatest threat to world peace. He was elected, and is supported by large swaths of the U.S. public. In that sense, WE are a threat to world peace. It is far past time our fellow citizens who harbor authoritarian, theocratic, tendencies (is there anything more 'un-American' than that?) sober up or are sidelined from power.
503
What do you mean “will be?” Remember the border deployment? It already has.
33
Extremely well said. Thank you.
23
@Seattle
Don't include me in that 'WE'...
I woke up one day in November 2016 without a country.
Trump will never, ever, ever, ever by my POTUS.
He stole the election and his presidency is invalid to me.
72
While this article is informative it's not an intelligence report. Don't we have to watch Fox News to get the president's intelligence briefing? Trump!!!
6
Europeans are driven by greed, pure and simple. They ignore Iran's human right abuses and terrorist activities because their corporate masters demand it. Follow the money, as always.
W, Cheney and Big Oil weren’t driven by greed in their Middle East strategy and decisions?
11
There’s also only so many whimsical wars Republicans can wander into and still expect allies to humor.
12
Wow, international government intervention should be increased at our cost.
What Would Ayn Rand Say?
2
At this point the U.S. military is simply used as a hit squad. This just shows there's no difference between a criminal and a soldier. Both are murderers.
6
Murderers. So said Major-General Smedley Butler’ USMC in 1935 after a career putting down indépendantistas in Central America. “Gangsters for capitalism,” he said. Wow.
Beware the military industrial complex and don't get involved in a land war in Asia, two timeless pieces of advice from President Eisenhower which generations of American leaders have ignored and America has paid the price for their greed and stupidity again and again.
One can only hope that war with Iran will not come to pass, that wiser heads will prevail but if it does, the after side will be the stuff of nightmares.
4
The allies would have to be complete fools to go along with Trump.
11
He is despised by the entire world, the only people who like him are the cultish Republican base. I’d say the appetite to indulge him is probably about zero.
9
So would any decent person including the Americans. “We were only following orders” is not an excuse in the face of senseless murder.
4
Folks lets admit it. America is a rogue nation that needs to be reeled in.
14
If I were a nation considering military action, now would be the time to do it. Trump is beholden to his base and his base hates American military intervention. Putin could take Ukraine and we wouldn't lift a finger.
2
@Brett - His base likes whatever Fox news and Trump tells them to like.
4
Regime change begins at home!
9
Bolton is a dangerous and contemptible man who would too easily trade American lives to fulfill his dream of regime change. He should never again be near the levers of power.
8
@Mark. Is it his dream of regime change? After reading this article, I was stunned to realize how tiny that other area of his life must be that he feels the need to compensate for it on such a grand scale.
Whether on the southern border, in Yemen, Venezuela or with Iran, the current administration seems eager to push a crisis narrative that justifies some form of extremist action. The rest of the world is on to this ploy. and will not buy into the effort to deceive.
5
Who couldn't see this coming? Another Republican war based on more lies. This time our allies are too smart to join in, especially with a liar whose first order of business upon taking office was to insult and alienate them.
8
Intelligence of WMDs sounds like it might show up any day now.
7
We’ve seen this movie before, and the ending is horrendous. I’m no admirer of the Iranian regime, but I have zero trust in our own Orwellian government. That a failed neocon like John Bolton could be back in a position to cook himself a case for war and send it up the stovepipe is mind fracturing; and when the best hope of preventing the madness is our volatile and juvenile and otherwise incompetent president, well, that’s bordering on dystopian lunacy.
9
Congress! Act now! Reign in this president and his crazy advisors like Bolton, Pompeo and Miller!
Sometimes wars start by accident - igniting the kindling of chest beating, saber rattling "preparations".
Why is John Bolton even allowed a voice after his role in Iraq?
There is no "credible evidence" of a threat from Iran. President Trump: you owe the American people facts. But I guess that never stopped you in the past...
9
Well, here we are kids.
Our own leaders, Trump, Bolton, and Pompeo are a greater threat to world peace than Iran.
We knew we would end up here on election night '16.
That WAS the firewall, and it was handily breached.
More damage to come.
11
John Bolton has made this his life’s mission. He’s been pushing this agenda for over 30 years, and, finally, has a willing ear. Who knows why he’s obsessed? The point is that he is obsessed, and, in his present job , that makes him very dangerous.
His boss is little better, and, likely has motives quite different from Bolton’s. These 2 men could easily begin a major war, and, we citizens can do nothing to prevent it.
Who will protect us from our Government?
8
It seems this administration serves everyone but the majority of its own citizens: large corporations, capital income rich people, Netanyahu’s government, Saudi Arabia, ...
The issue is that the Trump administration spends future president’s budgets by running huge deficits. Government shutdown extortion has compromised the Houses’s ability to crack down on this.
9
We, as a nation, are currently broken. The U.S. military will be used as an arm of Trump's reelection campaign. Large swaths of the electorate will fall for the ploy. It may be hard to see from the inside, but Trumps regime is the greatest threat to world peace. He was elected, and is supported by large swaths of the U.S. public. In that sense, WE are a threat to world peace. It is far past time our fellow citizens who harbor authoritarian, theocratic, tendencies (is there anything more 'un-American' than that?) sober up or are sidelined from power.
7
The remedy is a stand-up Congress. Wish we had one.
For a time I helped to lead the anti-war protest against the Iraq war (Bush Jr.s) in Utah. Looks like a repeat.
7
Can we rush Biden back into the Senate so he can again vote to authorize another war?
3
Why are people not protesting against the electoral college, which is to blame for putting second-place candidates into power for 12 of the last 20 years?
7
Why is any civilized nation still lending a shred a credibility to the US?
12
John Bolton, major player in George W. Bush's creepy cadre of war mongers and torture enthusiasts, the crowd that gave us the Iraq and Afghanistan fiascos. No wonder our allies are sceptical. And what about the American people? How many endless wars sans clear objectives, let alone clear victories, can we be led into?
7
Bolton may want war, but there will be no war. This whole scene is being played out for another purpose, to cast world attention on Iran and to demonize it to the maximum.
Why?
Because Iran has long been the leader in the resistance to Israel's abuse of Palestinian legal and human rights. Iran represents a major obstacle in the path to implement the Kushner-Netanyahu deal to be made public in just a few weeks. This "deal of the century" will attack Palestinian legal and human rights and Iran will surely not sit still.
7
This is all about Trump and his allies in the WH trying to deflect the news from Trump's legal troubles to a non-existent war. First it was Venezuela, now Iran. Americans will see more and more of this as 2020 rolls around. This is what you get when you put a mad man in the WH.
7
They got done destroying Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, now it's Iran's turn.
2
In a nation of laws, Bolton would have been brought to justice already for his complicity in inciting the Iraq war. Yet in the US, he gets to do it all over again with a different country, and likely more death and destruction to follow.
And to call Trump a pawn in this game, is putting it more than mildly. That imbecile doesn't even understand what's happening.
4
John Bolton is a pathetic little man and Andrew Miller is even if more so at least Bolton served in some capacity in our armed forces.
Bolton seems help bent on using our military forces to forward his own political agendas. When I think of the clowns that insulated themselves from the horror of warfare, whether it was bone spurs or hiding out in the national guard (although not all were able to do so), I'm reminded of his comments in 1985 : He wrote in his Yale 25th reunion book: "I confess I had no desire to die in a Southeast Asian rice paddy. I considered the war in Vietnam already lost."
According to all credible military strategists on the subject, war with Iran would be at least as ugly as dying in a Vietnam rice paddy and winning it would not easily measured.
So, we all should be wary (not just Trump haters) of this administration and its lack of valor, integrity and honor when it comes to any military actions
3
The moment Coward Trump said he wanted to get out of Syria and Afghanistan, I was concerned that this would be the next move. Create sanctions and hope that Iran takes the bait and blocks traffic through the strait of Hormuz. If they don't take the bait, then we will create "Fake News". They must keep the machine going. War Is a Racket!
5
The moment Coward Trump said he wanted to get out of Syria and Afghanistan, I was concerned that this would be the next move. Create sanctions and hope that Iran takes the bait and blocks traffic through the strait of Hormuz. If they don't take the bait, then we will create "Fake News". They must keep the machine going. War Is a Racket!
1
This is a terrifying development and clearly shows the international danger that is the Trump presidency. A new war in the middle east is the last the the world needs right now.
4
The craziest part about the American military's aggressive posture in the world is that American soldiers come back from every deployment saying, "I'm not really sure why we were there, but I guess there was a threat or they wouldn't have sent us. However, if I saw guys like me, foreigners with guns rolling through my neighborhood in humvees, you can be sure I'd be shooting at them the same as they're shooting at us."
When will poor country boys learn... ?
6
I'd be all for invading Iran, as long as John Bolton and Donald Trump were the first in line to do the actual fighting.
"You know the type, loud as a motorbike, but wouldn't bust a grape in a fruit fight."
6
When you have foreign policy lightweights, war mongers and amateurs like Bolton and Pompeo, who have never seen the blood flow, never been in a war zone and completely ignorant of the history between the US and Iran let alone the history of the Middle East, Iran and earlier the Persian Empire, advising a President whose galactic lack of curiosity and understanding of any part of the world is inexhaustible, the danger in our current nuclear age is omnipresent.
The history of American unending military interventions around the world for the past 100 years or so extends into the hundreds almost always ending with failure, death and destruction. We are as big a threat to initiating the final bang as every nation we have accused of threatening world peace including Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
5
Bolton "claims" that Iran is becoming a greater threat.
And the U.K. and France and Germany don't believe him?
Of course they don't. No one believes Bolton.
Are the men who run Iran, bad people?
Of course they are, but so is Bolton.
Bolton has been wanting America's military to invade Iran for thirty years.
It's his life-long obsession.
Even though Bolton spent the entire Vietnam War avoiding combat, he has no trouble sending other people into combat.
The tens of thousands of Americans who were killed and wounded and maimed for life in the Iraq War debacle, do not cause Bolton to lose any sleep at night.
"I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them Why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight and to die."
2
45 and Bolton are just itching to take us to war
5
This entire situation stinks to high heaven.
An embattled regime eager to change the subject away from all the investigations into its corruption.
Democrats who would take impeachment off the table if the US stumbled into another war of choice on the basis of flimsy ‘evidence’.
An advisor who has been pushing regime change in Tehran for years - along with the rest of the Neocons who lied us into invading Iraq.
Trade wars that are killing Trump’s base in the Midwest, a base that needs a distraction.
‘Allies’ Israel and Saudi Arabia who’d love to see the US take down Iran for them.
Putin laughing at a US president who would try to go to war after alienating our partners in Europe and elsewhere.
The hate for profit Fox ‘News’ network that would be cheerleading yet another Republican military adventure.
A nervous stock market looking for an excuse to collapse.
This sounds like a Tom Clancy novel - but Trump is no Jack Ryan. The biggest threat to the US isn’t Iran - it’s the idiot criminal in the Oval Office, his administration, and the corrupt conservative cabal formerly known as the party of Lincoln. They have been working to subvert democracy for decades. They are almost done getting their permanent grip on power.
This could well be the end game - with no guarantee the good guys will be able to turn things around with a magic reset.
Democrats had better start impeachment now, before the bombs start dropping and it becomes impossible.
6
Once again dejavú... remember the long PowerPoint presentation of one
3
Trustless in Washington and around the world... do you really believe that the thinking persons’ world, after experiencing this man’s fact- free thinking, really lends seriousness to the credibility of his integrity and honesty? Please!
2
OMG. As each day dawns I find myself thinking more 'out there' thoughts. Only now - they aren't so out there. These old men in their old suits sitting half a world away deciding how to start another war as though they were buttering a piece of toast.
Which is what we are going to be.
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Donald Trump wants a war, knowing that a "wartime" president always gets a bump in the polls. He's willing to take Iranian lives and risk the lives of American soldiers and pilots simply to demonstrate he's a "strong" leader, and to raise his standing for 2020.
If it weren't so outrageous it would be pathetic.
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Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. This stinks of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, and is just the thing this petty, childish man would try to use to deflect attention from the growing mound of evidence of his criminal, unconstitutional behavior. Someone please invoke the 25th before more Americans are put in harms way as a distraction.
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This move is right up Trump’s alley. Start a war in an attempt to solidify his base and insure his re-election. Bolton won’t be happy until he starts a war somewhere, even if it’s against New York.
If this administration should go to war against Iran I believe it will find that it is not the pushover that Iraq was.
Now is the time for congress to that a stand against this fool before one drop of American blood is shed.
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They should be more than skeptical given our abysmal failures in trumped up and imaginary enemies. Post war disasters, need I mention Vietnam; there are others. This is what happens when you have a very inept government, Trump and his ilk; Bolton who should be deported along with Trump at the border crossing of Tijuana. Endless war governments from Washington. When will the march of Folly stop?
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When? When Congress stops lying down and resumes its constitutional role to make law—and war. And peace. It has been lying down since, I’d argue, before the Gulf of Tonkin, and it’s just about forgotten how.
It's surprising to see NYTimes not beating the war drums, but I'm glad they aren't this time. Good article, keep it up.
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This administration is not a credible witness on anything, the Iranian situation included.
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Manufactured border security crises, manufactured foreign crises... Using the Middle East as as a big sandbox for blood to flow and lives to be lost, just to satisfy the perverse whims of powerful nations who calculate how this aggression may benefit them both politically and economically. Trump and Bolton don't care about the young men and women who will die serving their appetite for war. They care even less about civilian casualities. Despicable.
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Only in the USA will “alternative facts” be treated as reality.
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If there is any country that has good reason to feel threatened it is Iran. Unfortunately many Americans are ignorant of the history of US/Iranian relations. The US and Britain engineered the overthrow of Iran's democractically elected government in the 1950's. The US then helped install the repressive puppet regime of the Shah. The US supported Iraq's war against Iran in the 1980's which resulted in the death of nearly one million Iranians. A US naval ship shot down an Iranian commercial airliner resulting the death of hundreds of passengers and then didn't even have the "courtesy" to apologize. Can you imagine if Iraq had done even one of these things against the US what would have happened? It's time for Americans to understand some history and gain some understanding of other cultures when acting on the world stage.
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The U.S. has become "The Boy Who Cried Wolf". Should Bolton & Co.'s rhetoric continue and - worse yet - conflict occur, I'd be surprised if we retain any allies to work with us if any actual threats occur. The Trump Administration is working very hard to make America a pariah among nations.
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This President isn’t against war. He’s fascinated by military men and their shiny objects. He just doesn’t want somebody else’s ear; hence his dissing of our commitments in Afghanistan and Syria.
He wants his own war.
Feckless Republican senators will have to decide whether their re-nomination is more important than the survival of their constituents.
There’s little reason to hope that electoral self-interest won’t predominate again.
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Haven't we learned from Bush/Cheney/Iraq?
Congress must be involved in this. They must take full responsibility. No war by executive order based on more lies.
Perhaps re instituting the draft would awaken the population!
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2nd president to lose the popular vote then get reelected by starting a war.
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John Bolton has NEVER been the man for the season, and neither has the guy in the wh. Now, by a massive insult of fate.. they have come together .. this is a dangerous combination.
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If Israel and Saudi Arabia want to go to war with Iran so be it. Why should Americans die for their perverted desire for war? Let these two countries send their troops.
The LIES coming from the Trump administration are like Bush's for Iraq courtesy of John Bolton. I would be nice if Congress called this chicken hawk in for severe and in depth questioning along with our intelligence service to show the 'reports'.
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Crush it now here at home. At least the EU sees this Bolton threat and is not taking the bait.
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Trump adminstration manufacturing another crisis? Oh boy that's not new. If he can manufacture a crisis about migrants, I guess he'll manufacture a useless war.
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Good grief,Trump and John Bolton are not rational human beings. Enough is enough, another war of "liberation" will fail and our military personel will suffer for another 25 years. STOP!
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John Bolton wants a regime change in Iran, I want a regime change in America...the only difference is that I have the constitutional right to want a new administration....John Bolton has no right to such action in a foreign country. We are the terror State.
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Regime change is needed urgently -- in the U. S.
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Dejavú all over again... looking for an excuse to move the war-machine. Remember the PowerPoint presentation of one of the Bushes cronies, so believable. It seems that the United States of America has decided to destroy rich Islamic countries. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and now they want to continue with Iran??
3
Was just reading that the CO2 level in the atmosphere just hit 415 ppm. It has never been anywhere near that high since humans have been on the planet. That seems like more of a clear and present danger than Iran.
If there is one thing that Trump is absolutely amazing at, it is drowning out everything that is important with his corporate confederate evangelical isolationist nonsense.
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WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
Who are we to force regime change on another sovereign nation? Look what happened last few times we did this!
They did NOT VIOLATE the nuclear treaty, but Trump claimed they did anyway. Then we sanctioned them, Now it’s back to war threats... It’s all because Israel wants us to eliminate them - and the neocons are eager to comply.
This is heinously immoral and illegal by any definition of international law. We have badgered Iran for years - then wondered why they are anti-American. We simply won’t leave them alone.
This is no Iraq. Iran can and will vigorously defend itself. They are more than capable of downing our planes and sinking ships. Are we prepared for tens of thousands of American casualties? It’s a given if we take on Iran!
In objective, provable reality, what true harm or threat has Iran done to us recently. I am not talking the fake hype from Trump and Bolton - I mean a real injury. There isn’t one: certainly not enough to start a war, not even close!
Besides, doesn’t Congress declare war? It’s not the President’s role to make up a war, and then invade a country!
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So far in this thread only you and me seem to remember that it is not the executive’s duty or prerogative to declare war. Perhaps a congressperson or two will listen before it’s too late.
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Spain has already pulled its frigate from Persian Gulf not wanting to be party to tis war mongering, I hope the other allies with forves in the area do likewise to show that the US is in this alone.
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War intelligence information from the administration that demonstrably lied about the size of his inauguration crowd?!
Sorry, don't believe that.
If the dems in Congress cannot see fit to enforce their impeachment powers they can at least show the tiniest bit of spine and enforce that only Congress has the power to declare war.
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YES! Congress alone has the power, but it has proved under both Bush II and Obama that it does not want it. Congress also has the power to subpoena evidence and testimony. Good luck with that.
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@William Everdell
No argument there.
Perhaps Congress will be stuck in a dilemma.
Face an election with a wartime president or face an election after impeachment and failed conviction. At least there is a chance it will shine the light on McConnell and maybe, possibly, per chance show their true colors to everyone. And those colors aren't red, white, and blue.
1
Congress might try impeaching Bolton, Pompéi and Shanahan first.
Shades of « yellow cake ». The neocon drumbeat picks up speed and volume for the US (as in *us*) remaking the Middle East on behalf of Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Not our backyard. Not our fight.
If Bibi and MBS (two VERY unreliable narrators) feel so “existentially threatened”, by Iran, they have the the resources to deal with that: nukes, state-of-the-art weapons we have provided them, and deep pockets of oil money.
An armed conflict may or may not be in Saudi and Israeli best interests, but it is most certainly not in *ours »
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This entire Iran threat is pure political theater calculated to give Don Trump some photo ops to appear more presidential and commander in chief like. If Iran represents a threat to the US then so does Bolivia. It is as bogus and Trump's claims to be a business success.
1
For God’s sake, Senate Republicans, neutralize Trump now!
You’ve been repeatedly warned to cut your (and our) losses. Can’t you see Trump is a clear and present danger.
The House just needs to be given the go-ahead from the critical group of Republican senators necessary to equal 67 votes, which would remove the blight of Trump from office.
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Here in America the ones paying attention are also skeptical about new claims of threats from anyone outside the country. The threat is from the inside. Active duty troops...do what's right please.
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So we will fight a proxie war for Saudi Arabia and Israel. When will we learn. Another Repub war in the Middle East.
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What America does best: war.
And Bolton will do that for us because his world view is pure violence and the only way to counter it is to blow them up first, whether provoked or not.
Are republicans capable of anything other than war and tax cuts?
If you would like a full, chilling view of Bolton, read about him in the May 6 issue of The New Yorker.
This is probably a good time to go long on oil, I'm sure many administration officials have already done so.
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Our allies and Russia rightly reject the jingoistic falsities promulgated by Bolton. Iran is not posing any danger to the United States--except in the overheated neo-conservative rhetoric of war-mongers like Bolton.
Iran has 80 million people. Half of them are under 40. They are fiercely patriotic, and the nation has never launched a first strike against another nation for 300 years. They fought a totally debilitating war against Iraq from 1980-88 and would have prevailed, except that the United States improbably supported Saddam Hussein against them.
The U.S. pattern of attacking and trying to interfere in Iran's internal affairs is a long habit, and Iranians know it. Bolton and his ilk, including Trump and Pompeo, seem to think that they will foment a pro-American revolution in Iran by making life miserable for Iranians. This will never, never happen. It is a Chicken Hawk fantasy.
More likely, the American public will turn Trump and his war-mongers out of office if we goad and poke and prod Iran until there is a pretext for war.
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Going to war has always been an excellent way to increase the power of the executive in a republic at the expense of the legislature. Madison foresaw that at the time the Constitution was written. That’s why only Congress was given the power to declare war.
Is there anyone out there reminding our officials that we would need one of those Declarations to reply militarily to “provocations” from Iran? Or even one of those newfangled Authorizations for the Use of Force?
As subpoenas are defied and the law is broken and treaties are ignored and war is made by executive decision, we lose through our ignorance the republican principle that law is made only by the legislature and the executive’s duty is to execute it—and obey it.
5
The core of the problem is precisely US hegemony in the Middle East. Nobody ever defines what are the "US interests" in the Middle East. Decades ago one would assume it was the flow of oil. Today one would guess it is the price of oil.
PS. "US interests" does not include Israel's interests.
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The survival of Israel as a democratic republic is indeed in US interest. In my view, anyway. Happy to argue about other things that may not be. Vive la république!!
President Trump should avoid a confrontation with Iran and and focus on Venezuela. The Israeli military and Saudi Arabia's long-standing disputes with Iran places Iran in checkmate. No one lives forever. When the Iranian state is free of radical leadership by the Religious Caste and Republican Guards, it will become normalized and more secular in outlook.
Iran's zealots will die-off and a younger pro-western nation will rise from the ashes as a fledgling democracy. Let history takes its course to heal the wounds of 444 days of hostage drama.
The president seems to be playing with fire as he battles with China on tariffs, Russians on Crimea and election hacking and North Korea on Nukes. In this critical time a mistake could trigger a nuclear rebuttal to ignite WW3.
Iran, North Korea and China-Russia are not worth going to war. No one wins as Climate Change would be acerbated by destabilized communities at war, desperately seeking refuge were none exists.
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Maybe history will also forget the roughly 40,000 days since the CIA overthrow of the democratically elected, moderate government of Mohammed Mossaddegh in 1953. For Americans, history of Iran-American relations begins in 1979. For Iranians, it begins 26 years earlier.
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