DL Open Thread: Sun., Jan. 5, 2020
Officials Put Option Of Killing Suleimani Before Trump–So That He Wouldn’t Take It. Don’t they know him by now?:
In the chaotic days leading to the death of Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Iran’s most powerful commander, top American military officials put the option of killing him — which they viewed as the most extreme response to recent Iranian-led violence in Iraq — on the menu they presented to President Trump.
They didn’t think he would take it. In the wars waged since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Pentagon officials have often offered improbable options to presidents to make other possibilities appear more palatable.
After initially rejecting the Suleimani option on Dec. 28 and authorizing airstrikes on an Iranian-backed Shia militia group instead, a few days later Mr. Trump watched, fuming, as television reports showed Iranian-backed attacks on the American Embassy in Baghdad, according to Defense Department and administration officials.
“As Sanders And Warren Vow To Block War With Iran, Biden And Buttigieg Offer Better-Run Wars.” Sometimes, a well-crafted hed says it all.
Australia Is Burning. Climate change is here with a vengeance.
Cambridge Analytica Made The World Safe For ‘Global Manipulation’. 87 million Facebook accounts. Voter manipulation on an ‘industrial scale’ in 68 countries. I can’t even…just read it.
‘Putin’s Big Lie’. In a rewrite of history totally at war with the facts, Putin blames, wait for it, Poland for the outbreak of World War II.
What do you want to talk about?
https://mobile.twitter.com/amalsaad_lb/status/1213741775430529024
What appears to be millions attending Soleimani’s funeral procession in Ahvaz, an Iranian city usually described by mainstream media as “restive”, and hence hardly a Soleimani stronghold. Trump doesn’t know what is awaiting him across the Middle East
….
Maybe Ollie or Manny can come back and explain the significance of this.
The Iraqi parliament just voted to expel all US troops.
We’ve been greeted as liberators!
This next war will pay for itself.
Just wondering, and I couldn’t find it with a cursory search – why was Iran’s General Soleimani in Iraq?
It’s reported that QS was in Baghdad to deliver a message from the Saudis to Iraqi officials. He was on a diplomatic errand.
https://mobile.twitter.com/MJPlitnick/status/1213841658120458241
Iraqi PM announced this after the parliament voted to expel US troops.
If you remember a high ranking Iraqi dude was with QS.
Here’s a good thread in Twitter from Wash Post Baghdad bureau chief, Mustafa Salim
He has spoken with the Iraqi PM
https://mobile.twitter.com/Mustafa_salimb/status/1213819577626431490
“… why was Iran’s General Soleimani in Iraq?”. – puck
Iran and Iraq share a border. They have to have a relationship with each other so why should Soleimani not be in Iraq since Iraq and Iran are at peace with each other. The question that should be asked is WTF are we in Iraq?
Both questions can be asked. You seem to be ignorant of the tension in Iraq these days over Iranian influence there. Perhaps you don’t realize that Iraq is a cobbled-together “nation” split between the two main branches of Islam.
We should not be there. But don’t push BS like “Iraq and Iran are at peace with each other.” So are the U.S. and Mexico, but an American general visiting Mexico City would certainly generate “what is he doing there?” questions. It’s stuff like that that makes you sound like a propagandist, because anyone who wasn’t would acknowledge the true situation instead of presenting the one you did.
“..an American general visiting Mexico City would certainly generate “what is he doing there?” questions.”
It’s hard to imagine a commenter on an Iranian blog asking that. But then, there are no Iranian forces occupying Mexico City.
This is a poor response. Take responsibility for your position for once instead of picking on a weak analogy.
You know damn well what I’m saying. Acknowledge it, counter it head-on, or get out. Your choice.
I made it to the anti-war rally/March in Philly(props 2 REV for letting us know when & where). Arrived late to hear an older speaker of Middle East origin, I think Iranian.
The front of city hall facing east on Market was covered with mostly a young crowd, some with their kids, about 50/50 white/middle east, with representation from Jewish Voice for Peace and a sprinkling of older white Lefties. No much evidence of the Good and the Great from the political or journalism worlds. Protesters did outnumber status quo enforcement officers by ~ 10:1. I have to admit the SQEOs were all peaceful. My favorite sign said
“Bombs 4 Peace is like Fn€£ing 4 Virginity”.
Not original, but too many of us can’t seem to grasp it, so it bears repeating. Mostly a curious to positive response from onlookers during the march, taking cell phone pics …a young gal on the sidewalk with a walker gave high 5’s to marchers.
Thanks for the report.
I went to the Wilmington rally. Raining. Only about 3 or 4 dozen out. But it’s a start. Jess Scarane spoke to the crowd. Coons was no where to be seen. Probably somewhere trying to figure out how to approve more military funding.
Re: Cambridge Analytica. None of this would be illegal if Americans rather than Russians were behind it. We have legalized dark money in politics; this is the rational result.
Pollsters always ask if people want the political parties to work together. Duh. Of course they do. They never ask if they want money out of politics, because the answer would be overwhelming. And if you got money out of politics, a lot less money would go to pollsters.
Because he knows we are all ignorant of history, culture, religion & politics Ayatollah ali Khamenei explains the meaning behind “Death to America”
https://mobile.twitter.com/BlakeDontCrack/status/1213726355545706498
He makes a very good point.
“…a few days later Mr. Trump watched, fuming, as television reports showed Iranian-backed attacks on the American Embassy…”
“In February, 1966, Dinsdale made a big mistake. In a fit of pique he napalmed Cheltenham. Even the police began to sit up and take notice…”
Monty Python, “The Piranha Brothers”
You write as though that’s satire: Philadelphia did it for real.
Yo, Dana,
It was my attempt at humor! I was comparing Dinsdale Piranha’s fit of pique with the Mango Mussolini’s fit of pique. The Cheltenham referred to in the quote is in Gloucestershire. It’s not the one in Montgomery County! 🙂
No, Monty Python wrote it as satire.
As the article notes, it was similar to the Waco standoff, though the article doesn’t quite articulate how — in both cases the government was confronted by armed bands and decided on violent responses, with cataclysmic consequences both times. In the case of MOVE the fire spread because firefighters refused to enter an area where they were in danger of being fired upon.
The biggest difference, of course, is that Waco was a rural compound and MOVE practiced its alternative lifestyle amid a nice middle-class black community that didn’t want people returning to nature in the middle of their block. They were in violation of all sorts of zoning, health and safety laws. This by no means justifies the violence of the response, but residents had good reasons for their complaints, something the story you linked minimizes to the point of inaccuracy.
Both cases are often used to condemn government incompetence, but the more accurate lesson is that when you use force to settle a situation, you can rarely contain its spread. Experience should show that there are virtually always unintended consequences.
BTW, the fact that MOVE is not an acronym for anything should tell you all you need to know about the mental stability of the group’s founder. These people were nucking futs and a pain in the ass to the entire city for years before this ever happened; their standoff with police in Powellton Village redounded against real peace activists for years.
China pledges military support to Iraq.
Cool.
https://mobile.twitter.com/RudawEnglish/status/1214170432603086853