Early this morning Iran shot down a U.S. drone that may or may not have been in U.S. airspace. The “president” posted one of his signature stupid tweets about it —
Iran made a very big mistake!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 20, 2019
— and then later walked it back.
Asked later in the day about the downing of the drone, Trump seemed to suggest that Iran may have shot it out of the sky by accident. “I would imagine it was a general or somebody that made a mistake in shooting that drone down,” he said in the Oval Office alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “I have a feeling that it was a mistake by somebody who shouldn’t have been doing what they did.”
Oh, that kind of mistake.
This afternoon congressional leaders are meeting with the administration in the White House about Iran. I am not optimistic.
Yesterday the New York Times reported that Mike Pompeo evoked the name of al Qaeda when talking about Iran.
The Trump administration is telling Congress about what it says are alarming ties between Iran and Al Qaeda, prompting skeptical reactions and concern on Capitol Hill.
Briefings by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, backed up by other State Department and Pentagon officials, have led Democrats and some Republicans to ask whether the administration is building a case that the White House could use to invoke the war authorization passed by Congress in 2001 to battle terror groups as legal cover for military action against Iran.
As tensions between the United States and Iran have surged, Mr. Pompeo has sought to convince Congress that there is a pattern of ties between Iran and the terrorist group going back to after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, officials said.
A few days earlier, Pompeo was blabbering about Iran and the Taliban, prompting Juan Cole (whom I tend to trust on these matters) to respond,
Pompeo’s statement is so embarrassing as to be cringe-worthy. It is either a lie in the service of war propaganda or a display of such bottomless ignorance on the part of America’s chief diplomat as to be grounds for impeachment (or perhaps just consignment to an asylum).
Juan Cole goes on to explain the various ethnic/religious groups in the region and who is on speaking terms with whom, but the Taliban remain fanatical Sunnis while Iran is run by conservative Shia, so …
How’s about we suit up Bolton and Pompeo and send ’em out to fight two Iranian counterparts, preferably with wooden swords? I can’t bear the thought of that moron Trump being in charge of any real military action.
What scares me, is that right now, it might be tRUMP who's the guy who's the one trying NOT to start a war – while "The Mustache of Death" and "Pompouspeo" desperately want one!
We are doomed…
Well, whatever the outcome you can rest assured that what transpires it will be of the likes that the world has never seen before.
I suspect Trump will launch a cruise missile attack on the site where the missile that took down the drone originated. He'll call it a measured response in the hopes that it doesn't escalate the current situation. I wouldn't be surprised if he gives the Iranian's a heads up to avoid loss of life. Just a face saving gesture to show he's a tough guy… The same as he did in Syria. A big show.
Swami, you got that right.
What a last paragraph. It seems powerful people where able to throw a bucket of cold water on this situation, and uncheckable escalation was avoided. They too must have thought anything real must be handled somewhere else. Drama, theater, illusion, and fabrication are now the role of the executive branch, but anything real must be handled elsewhere.
What we have is a severe case of TDD, Trust Deficit Disorder. I must digress a bit. I heard a reported interviewing a Trump supporter in Florida before his big campaign kick-off. In response to the reporters query about Trumps veracity, honesty, and constant lying the supporter flatly stated this just is not true. Well, it is a long difficult journey to the place these supporters are, and Trump's supporters must think the whole world (I would guess) think as they do. Is this nonsensical thinking, that the world thinks as they do, a big leap for someone who sees the Agent Orange as the oracle of truth? I would guess not.
The fact is, unfortunately, that the Iran government may have more credibility in world view and even the majority of American's view, than Trump and company. Needless to say Bolton and Pompeo add nothing to the credibility quotient here. I had to break into a sick laugh when Trump tried to appeal to science to add credibility to his claims. On how many occasions has he overruled science because he knew they were wrong? Sorry, you don't get it both ways. That which is real must be handled by those who can handle reality and live in the real world. Trump rules over his base, who thinks he know the truth when he sees it and speaks only the truth. So wooden swords are more power, really, than they need.
What does Jared want? Not to mention the Saudis.
Please don't make me think about this stuff anymore. I'm old and have had my fill of watching republican-style administration.
Before we even get to the issue of the war authorization act, and whether Trump has the ability to start a war without congressional approval, what about the ludicrous claim that Iran is in league with al Qaeda? That seems to be a GOP go to, e.g. want to start a war? Just claim your intended target is working with al Qaeda, however implausible. Shiite Iran is not an ally of Sunni Saudi Arabia, and has opposed them throughout the region. Debating war authorization is putting the cart before the horse.
Until the Trumpanzees can provide solid proof of such a relationship (and even if they do, is war justified when the "terror" priority has been in ISIS?) and provocations that justify war, then Congress needs to be explicit in warning them off. Fat chance of that happening though, given how Trump basically runs the Senate.
Trust has never been so lacking in administration as this one. The knee-jerk reaction is to disbelieve anything they say, until proven, with facts and evidence.
Early next week Trump is going to complain his Nobel Peace Prize hasn't come in the mail.
Not a chance. Trump hates dogs and would never go near one, much less wag one.
Dogs are very smart and it is a good thing Trump doesn't have one because it would probably attack him in the middle of the night. Although I don't trust Trump or anything that comes out of his mouth, if it is true he hates dogs, he should get a cat. Then he would really appreciate dogs.
It's entirely possible Pompeo and Bolton are guest starring in roles previously filled by Meatloaf and Gary Busey. This season's show has been renamed The President of the United States of America, and this episode seems derivative of a previous one titled Fire and Fury Before Falling in Love, guest starring Kim Jong-un.
No congressional oversight.
Nadler subpeona mark burnett and request all the tapes. No executive priviledge.