To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
This isn't the sort of international policy that one expects from any high official in a Western Democratic Republic... it's pretty much the sort of screed that an angry twelve year old on XBOX Live would use after losing a video game. Diplomacy, it's not.
Oddly enough, my first reaction to this tweet was 'I really need to gas up the car before the price of petroleum skyrockets.' It hasn't gone up much, perhaps because nobody really takes Trump seriously these days. I'm glad I filled up the tank at 2AM, though, because things could get volatile.
The whole sorry performance hints at desperation, perhaps because the chants of the Lafayette Park protestors were audible. I certainly wouldn't expect Trump to be averse to using a 'wag the dog' tactic. If he does decide to carry out an attack on Iran, maybe he can send the seventy thousand people who liked his tweet as a vanguard.
I saw that tweet late last night and thought, "This is fake. This is not a real tweet." Even after I went to twitter to confirm, I had to double check that it was actually his account.
ReplyDeleteIt seems, yeah, like a 12-year old having a temper tantrum. It's embarrassing.
And worse yet, it seems like not just his base but Republicans in general are very adamantly and emotionally supporting him. I'm so disappointed in my country.
I've been promising anybody who would listen a US/Israeli war with Iran since Trump was elected. A war was inevitable, and the risks of a war with nuclear armed North Korea are far too great.
ReplyDeleteNow, step back from last night. Trump has overseen a hardening alliance between Saudi, UAE, Israel (!!!) and the US since the campaign. The alliance is designed as a bloc to wage war - first economic, then kinetic - against Iran. The basis is hundreds of years of sectarian hatred between Persian Shiites and Arab Sunnis. Then, right on the timeline, Trump abrogated the JCPOA - claiming it was a bad deal and kicking off his economic war. The goal is to get Iran back in the Uranium enrichment business and use that as a casus belli.
Now, here's some good news. There will NOT be a ground war in Iran. The size, population, location and terrain make it a non-starter. The war might very well not even originate in Iran - the Iranian/Hezbollah forces in Syria make and attractive proxy target.
But there's some bad news. Iraq will side with Iran, and the American troops in Iraq will be dead before day two. Also, it will be simple for Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic with anti-ship missiles, choking off 30% of global oil supplies and sending the entire world into a deep recession.
But keep watching. It's going to feel like 2002 all over again, a relentless march to war, then some triggering event and just like that, before the mid-term elections, America is in a hot war in the middle east and American troops are coming home in boxes.
Yes, he thinks that will be a political win.
He may turn out to be right...
Yeah, Harry, it's hard to cope when your country is run by a 4chan troll.
ReplyDeleteI was actually surprised when Bush didn't escalate things in the Middle East to target Iran. The neocons have had a hardon for Iran since the revolution. Add the sectarian battle now being waged in Yemen, and things do look grim.
I can't see NATO or the UN getting behind this war effort. Hell, I can't even see the US public supporting it after the Iraq/Afghanistan war fatigue. Meanwhile, what will the Russians do? They are allies of Iran.
Christ, this is insane.