Tag: iran

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Donald Trump acknowledged that he calls the Iranian military operation instead of a war because of legal reasons. Congressional Authorization, then, boils down to what the President calls his action rather than a universal understanding of what war is. You say potato, I say … Sorry, that old saying does work in writing but you catch my drift. Also, just as a reminder to the President, parsing phrases to avoid the unlikely retribution of Congress only really works if you don’t tell everyone what you are doing otherwise, in legal terms, this is known as a confession.

But, never mind — a military operation it is. This military operation has been going on a good month. Now I can quibble, and I will, about bombs and targeted assassinations being acts of war, but, say I wanted to be generous to Trump here, and agree with his characterization of those actions as being a military operation instead of a war.

When does a military operation become a war? And, just like that, an answer appears — when you send 50,000 ground troops. Bombing plus troops surely adds up to war. Or are we in some semantic Hell where Trump can call a war anything he wants and the Congress will agree to in order to avoid the wrath of Trump’s more rabid supporters. Apparently it is semantic Hell.

This whole operation is caught up in different definitions of words. Trump supposedly can only act without Congressional Authorization if it is an emergency. The USA would have to be in immediate and grave danger. My understanding of this power would be an impeding attack of USA was about to take place. There is absolutely no evidence that this was the case.

But the Iranians were trying to restart their nuclear program. No doubt, however, according to Trump the Iranian nuclear program was destroyed in a previous attack so the idea that so the idea that the Iranians had miraculously resurrected their nuclear capability to the point of an immenent attack is unbelievable. I am fairly certain there was more than enough time for Congress to review the problem and give its consent.

The Iranian, dare I call it, War is a disappointing display of hubris on the part of Trump and cowardice on the part of Congress. The whole point of Congressional Authorization for wars is that war is a serious business for a country. If we are going to take on such a responsibility it needs to come after careful consideration from the body that represents the all the people of the USA. For wars, particularly messy and potentially long term commitment wars to be won, everyone needs to be on board. This has not happened.

Instead we have semantic parsing of words so one man can drag a nation of 300 million plus people into a war dressed up like a military operation.

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The problem that many people, including myself, have with Donald Trump is he is, above all else, an asshole extraordinaire. That this detestable prick is president of the United States is both extremely depressing and a source of conflicting feelings about what he does.

So let me lay it out for my present destress:

  1. I dislike Donald Trump and disagree with most, if not everything, he does.
  2. I like the United States. It is my home.
  3. Donald Trump is the president of the United States.While I think he is a fuck up and fucking up everything he lays his tiny hands on, he also leads my country.
  4. I want my country to succeed whenever possible.

Which leads to the question, how can I hope for the best for my country with this miserable little shit running the country?

For example, the war with Iran. I think it is a big mistake. On the other hand, I think the world would be a worse place if the United States lost it. Muslim extremism, chaos in Iran and in the neighboring region, Women’s rights, Gay rights, things could get a whole lot worse if he were to lose. I can’t see how any of this would be better if the United States lost.

But, then, Trump is such a detestable man, if he wins, he will take credit for the victory and thus become even more insufferable. He will think he is smarter than he actually is and will continue governing as he had thinking he is wiser than he is. Thus making him even more likely to make even more risky decisions because he keeps rolling the dice and coming up a winner.

My one fond hope, though highly unlikely, is that Trump will be forced to work with Congress and our Allies to obtain a settlement that frees Iran from Muslim extremism while also bringing some peaceful resolution to the troubles in the region. So what I want, I guess, is for Trump to succeed only after he throws himself on the mercy of Congress and our Allies in order to ensure the victory.

Barring that, all I see is a mess.

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I need to clarify one of my blogs – A Stopped Clock is Right Twice a Day.

First, I give the impression that I thought bombing Iran is a good idea. I don’t.

What I want to say is this: Since Trump has starting bombing Iran, I am going to hope for the best — which is a non-religious Iranian government takes over and the Mullahs are overthrown. Since the military intervention is a done deal, I am hoping for the best result especially for the Iranian people and the American military.

This doesn’t mean I like what Trump has done. I think he is rolling the die here and he doesn’t impress me as someone who knows what dice game is being played much less how to win the game. He didn’t consult Congress and he is doing a piss poor job explaining why we are at war. If it all goes wrong, it is his bag of shit to hold and no one else’s.

With that said, since he has gone ahead with the war, I want him to succeed even though I hate his guts, have no confidence in his ability to successfully pull this off and think he is an asshole. It also kills me that if he does succeed that he has all the diplomatic finesse of an adolescent boy getting laid for the first time. He will be talking about this for some time to come. Endlessly talking about it.

It will be annoying but much more preferable than a disaster in Iran which results in a stronger more authoritarian leader in Iran and more restrictive Islamic fundamentalism foisted on the Iranian people. It is a bad choice but a choice nonetheless.

Finally, I am amazed, yet again, how I can write something, reread what I’ve written to make sure it is what I want to say, publish it, only to realize it isn’t exactly what I wanted to say. My apologies and I endeavor to do better in the future.

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I have mixed feelings about Trump bombing Iran. I have to give him credit for again choosing his enemies wisely because, whether I like Trump or not, and I don’t, I think the Iranian government’s treatment of women and gays is horrible. They are assholes, and if I have to choose, which I am afraid I must, then the Mullahs are bigger assholes than Trump.

But least we forget, Trump is still an asshole. He should have consulted Congress before taking military action — something he had plenty of time to do as he has been considering bombing Iran for some time. There was no imminent Iranian attack or even an increase in Iran’s nuclear capability which Trump assured us months ago was annihilated. He also needs to explain what exactly our goals are here. Again something he has failed to do.

It undermines our world position. For instance, how can we complain if China were to invade Taiwan? We can’t refer back to International Treaties and diplomacy as the proper avenues of action when the U.S. kidnaps one country’s president and kills another’s supreme leader. Yes these processes make quick action difficult, but, then, that is precisely what they were intended to do. Stopping people from acting rashly. You can’t pick and choose which treaties you will honor and which you will ignore.

And, saying that nobody complained when Obama and Clinton did the same thing is hardly a credible defense. It is just saying I know it is wrong but if your side can do, so can our side. It is a 10 year old’s response for getting her hand caught in the cookie jar. The fact is, this time, your hand is in the cookie jar so explain it.

In the meantime, I am hoping for the best for Iran who now have a chance to get rid the Islamic fundamentalists while also pissed about Trump’s continued bad behavior. A stopped clock is right twice a day and all that.

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Trump is contemplating military action with Iran. He has been thinking about it for some time. Clearly this isn’t an emergency as he has been thinking about it for some time. An emergency would suggest that something has to be done immediately. This means there is more than enough time to consult with Congress. Only Congress can declare war, right? I get that in an emergency quick decisions are necessary and sometimes the President has to act alone but this isn’t an emergency, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Why isn’t someone in Congress complaining loudly about this? As far as I can tell they aren’t doing much any way, this would be a good time to perk up and make your opinion known. So where is Congress? They could at least give an opinion on the matter. They are in session. Given the present makeup of the Congress, I suspect Trump might get a majority to go along with him. Fine. At least democratic norms were practiced.

Trump isn’t even going through the motions of democratic processes here. He is thinking about it and when he is through thinking about it, he will act and no consultive body like the Congress can do anything about it. I can’t say I am that disappointed in Trump. Trump is an ignorant asshole and always has been. But the Republican elders? What are you waiting for? I mean, for one, they are old. They have hit their pinnacle. People like McConnell, Grassley, and Graham are clinging to their power. But what real power do you have if you are afraid of Donald Trump? You can’t influence the man. You won’t say what you honestly think because you fear the man. This isn’t power, boys, this is keeping your position. Your power lapsed the first time you toadied up to Donald Trump.

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I am so confused. I thought the Israelis took care of Iran’s nuclear capabilities last week. So why is Trump bombing the burnt out facilities again? Last week everyone was saying that Israel had crippled Iran’s nuclear capabilities for the foreseeable future.

Trump was making sure that Iran’s nuclear capabilities are destroyed for good. Is anything for good? I mean building a nuclear bomb isn’t all that difficult. The science is readily available. The infrastructure and materials are the hard part and we were assured that Israel had taken care of that part. Since Israel had already delayed it, what was the point of the extra bombing? A few extra months, a few extra years? Trump’s additional bombing seems unnecessary and a waste of money and effort.

Also since Israel had just bombed the shit out of Iran’s nuclear facilities, where was the urgency in doing it again so quickly. This is the excuse for failing to consult Congress. Trump needed to act quickly to ensure that Iran’s nuclear capability was destroyed. It wasn’t likely that Iran could hobble together a nuclear bomb in the next few days, so there was no danger in waiting for Congressional approval. The only problem with waiting was that Congress might no approve of the bombing.

Well, Democrat Presidents have bombed without consulting Congress, why can’t Trump? This is true and Democrat presidents were wrong to do it. On the other hand, this is hardly a defense of Trump’s action here — particularly for people who claim to be strict Constitutionalists. As every mother in the world has ever said to their children if everyone jumped off the Empire State Building, would you do it too? You are saying I should be able to do a wrong thing because everyone else is doing the wrong thing and getting away with it. It isn’t fair that I can’t do the wrong thing too is hardly a credible defense.

So in review: Trump bombed, without the consent of Congress, an already neutralized weapons sites because Iran could maybe revive their nuclear weapons capability in a couple of years. Go Team.