Surfer 1,547 Posted January 6, 2020 Whatever your views on whether the current actions by the President are right or wrong these are facts. On the ground reporting from NBC. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 6, 2020 (edited) Boy, it would be nice if the American public heard this from the President himself, or failing that the Secretary of State, or the Secretary of Defense, or even the White House Communications Director. But no, via Twitter based on a journalist asking questions - and now confirmed by Reuters. Leaving a country after a conflict because you want to is honorable, but leaving because you have to is shameful. It is clear what this withdrawal is. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-withdrawal/in-letter-u-s-military-tells-iraq-it-will-withdraw-idUSKBN1Z520A Edited January 6, 2020 by Surfer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Herman 9,775 Posted January 6, 2020 I assume British forces were informed or have they found out on twitter as well FFS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 6, 2020 1 hour ago, Surfer said: Now they are saying this was a "draft" and "should not have been sent" - but it was still sent. This is just outright incompetence on full public display. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 6, 2020 (edited) Meanwhile, Senate Republican just don't want to hear anything about an Impeachment Trial. p.s. not one of them has commented about the Iraq / Iran fiasco. Senate Republicans introduced a resolution Monday that would amend the rules to allow them to dismiss President Donald Trump’s articles of impeachment, without any debate, if the House of Representatives does not transfer them for trial before next week. https://www.courthousenews.com/senate-republicans-push-rule-change-to-dismiss-impeachment/ And despite the President blocking witnesses from testifying to the House here is Senator Rubio saying if you didn't testify to the House you shouldn't testify to the Senate (despite the House being obstructed by the President - which is one of the articles of impeachment) Edited January 6, 2020 by Surfer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
keelansgrandad 6,679 Posted January 6, 2020 The whole situation is outrageous. Iran and the US sends troops, under whichever guise they choose, to a foreign state. What gives them the right? Just how would these nations like it if they were invaded by other countries troops. Forget the UN, a new born baby has more teeth. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 6, 2020 Talking of the UN ... maybe they should move that out of the USA as well. Geneva seems nice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Herman 9,775 Posted January 7, 2020 Even the Israelis have distanced themselves from this trump brainfart. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
keelansgrandad 6,679 Posted January 7, 2020 Ironic that there were more killed at the funeral of Soleimani that in the actual bombing that created it. What a very strange world it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rock The Boat 1,332 Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) 14 hours ago, keelansgrandad said: The whole situation is outrageous. Iran and the US sends troops, under whichever guise they choose, to a foreign state. What gives them the right? Just how would these nations like it if they were invaded by other countries troops. Forget the UN, a new born baby has more teeth. When it comes to Iraq, the Iraqi government has invited both the US (and UK) and Iran into the country. So much of the present crisis stems from the duplicity of Iraq trying to play both sides at once. US and UK troops operate a peace-keeping and training role in Iraq, and their government is very happy to see them there keeping Isis at bay, and providing lots of foreign aid. But at the same time the Iraqis are allowing the Iranians to have influence in their domestic politics. Sunni Muslims have been kicked out of the army, the police and the Iraqi government at the behest of the Iranians, of whom Soleimani was one of the key players. By letting the Iranians have so much influence in Iraq, their government created a grave threat to the Western presence in Iraq which culminated in the Iranian co-ordinated attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad. When embassies come under direct military attack, the embassy nation has every right to defend itself and its citizens. The drone assassination was a measured and correct response against that attack. It also demonstrates the difficulties of dealing with duplicitous Middle Eastern nations and if we withdraw and let them get on with killing each other rather than killing our people. But as soon as we do withdraw, then the cry goes up from the usual suspects, why are we letting all these innocent people die and why aren't we going in and helping them - whether it be marsh arabs, kurds, yazidiqis or whoever? The US is damned if they do and damned if they don't. One thing we must do is protect ourselves. The Iranian nuclear programme is a direct threat to the west. We must now go in there with drones and destroy their nuclear enrichment facilities, and raze it all to the ground. Edited January 7, 2020 by Rock The Boat Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
keelansgrandad 6,679 Posted January 7, 2020 Is that from the latest Oval Office press release RTB? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rock The Boat 1,332 Posted January 7, 2020 4 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said: Is that from the latest Oval Office press release RTB? Lot's of Iranians are happy with the take down of Soleimani, KG. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 You didn’t answer KG’s question did you? Who’s messaging points were those? All your own? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Herman 9,775 Posted January 7, 2020 2 hours ago, Rock The Boat said: Lot's of Iranians are happy with the take down of Soleimani, KG. Do you have any evidence of this? Quite a few exiled Iranians are understandably happy but what about the Iranians back in Iran? And no, twitter bots are not evidence. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) On your messaging points you are right about one thing - you are damned if you leave and damned if you don’t. Everything else is self- serving justification for 3 actions. 1 the US and UK INVADED Iraq they were NOT invited. 2. the US disbanded the entire Army which was mainly comprised of Sunni - a minority but politically ruling over the Shia majority. With access to guns and explosives but no pay, they started the insurgency.. 3. the US, UK, EU Russia and China had a perfectly good nuclear ragreement with Iran that this US administration decided to unilaterally tear up and threaten its allies if they didn’t do the same. All because Obama has negotiated it, or because Israel objected to it? So spare us the sage, worldly wise tut tutting, from “national security” policy hawks who want revenge on Iran for whatever passes for reason in their brain - they are engineering another war in the Mid East. Edited January 7, 2020 by Surfer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 A question to my Republican friends that I just get blank stares back on. Why don’t they convict the President of the Impeachment charges? if they did then VP Mike Pence would become President and he appoints another Republican to become the VP - Nicky Haley for example. Pence would continue the same policies, on taxes, environment, anti-abortion, healthcare and judges as Trump, but without the obvious insanity, and could quickly clean house of the idiots like de Voss, Carson in the cabinet too. So what is it they are scared of? That Trump, like Samson, would bring the whole party down with him? Is there some scandal at the heart of their party that is so much worse than some blistering editorials from the Fox News crowd after ejecting President Trump? You have to wonder are they perhaps compromised by Russian money or intelligence too? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rock The Boat 1,332 Posted January 7, 2020 19 minutes ago, Surfer said: On your messaging points you are right about one thing - you are damned if you leave and damned if you don’t. Everything else is self- serving justification for 3 actions. 1 the US and UK INVADED Iraq they were NOT invited. 2. the US disbanded the entire Army which was mainly comprised of Sunni - a minority but politically ruling over the Shia majority. With access to guns and explosives but no pay, they started the insurgency.. 3. the US, UK, EU Russia and China had a perfectly good nuclear ragreement with Iran that this US administration decided to unilaterally tear up and threaten its allies if they didn’t do the same. All because Obama has negotiated it, or because Israel objected to it? So spare us the sage, worldly wise tut tutting, from “national security” policy hawks who want revenge on Iran for whatever passes for reason in their brain - they are engineering another war in the Mid East. They were invaded by George Bush as part of the second Gulf War but we're not talking about going that far back. We're talking about the situation today. And those US and UK troops are in Iraq by invitation. You don't send letters to a government that you're invading. The Bush government did disband the Iraqi army but again that is now a historical fact. And they rebuilt the army with both Sunni and Shiite forces, in an honourable attempt to bring both factions of Muslim society together. It was when the duplicitous Iraqi government started to allow Iranian influence into the country that all the good work stated to unravel when tens of thousands of Sunnis were thrown out of the army, police and government and imprisoned. Don't forget where Soleimani was when he was killed. Not in Iran, but in Baghdad where he was planning major attacks on the west. So we can assume that the Iraqi government was enabling terrorists a safe space to meet up and co-ordinate their attacks on us. I'm not sure on what grounds you think the nuclear agreement with Iran was a good one? The views coming from the White House suggest that Ira was not complying with the terms of the agreement, that they were processing material that could be used in a nuclear device, that they were actively engaged in planning further terrorist events in the west, and taking part in hostile activities in the Gulf and the Mediterranean. There is no evidence that Trump is a hawk, as much as would like that narrative, in fact he has so far shown very little military response during his tenure as President. If Trump wanted to engineer a war he could very easily set out to flatten Tehran, similar to how Obama has bombed out much of Syria. He hasn't. We've had a single precision missile targeting a very precise target. It was a job well done. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rock The Boat 1,332 Posted January 7, 2020 12 minutes ago, Surfer said: A question to my Republican friends that I just get blank stares back on. Why don’t they convict the President of the Impeachment charges? if they did then VP Mike Pence would become President and he appoints another Republican to become the VP - Nicky Haley for example. Pence would continue the same policies, on taxes, environment, anti-abortion, healthcare and judges as Trump, but without the obvious insanity, and could quickly clean house of the idiots like de Voss, Carson in the cabinet too. So what is it they are scared of? That Trump, like Samson, would bring the whole party down with him? Is there some scandal at the heart of their party that is so much worse than some blistering editorials from the Fox News crowd after ejecting President Trump? You have to wonder are they perhaps compromised by Russian money or intelligence too? Do you mean in the same way the Democrats are compromised by the Clinton's selling 20% of America's uranium resources to the Russians. And where did Obama get $17m to buy a beachside property in Martha's Vineyard. Money he didn't have at the beginning of his Presidency. Wouldn't it be nice to have a super-wealthy President who didn't need to get involved in pork barell politics? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 27 minutes ago, Rock The Boat said: Do you mean in the same way the Democrats are compromised by the Clinton's selling 20% of America's uranium resources to the Russians. Ha Ha. A debunked right wing conspiracy theory. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hillary-clinton-uranium-russia-deal/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Rock The Boat said: They were invaded by George Bush as part of the second Gulf War but we're not talking about going that far back. The Bush government did disband the Iraqi army but again that is now a historical fact. Don't forget where Soleimani was when he was killed. Not in Iran, but in Baghdad where he was planning major attacks on the west. I'm not sure on what grounds you think the nuclear agreement with Iran was a good one? The views coming from the White House suggest that Iran was not complying with the terms of the agreement There is no evidence that Trump is a hawk 1. I'm sure the Iraqi's won't so quickly brush off the fact they were invaded. US troops have been there ever since. 2. There you go. The insurgency that killed the majority of US troops and thousand of Iraqis flowed from that action. 3. No evidence has been produced to back up that claim. The Iraqi PM said Trump asked them to meet in Bhagdad. 4. The views from the White House are contradicted by all of our allies and the nuclear inspectors. Iran WAS complying. 5. Trump? No. Those around him and on Fox - absolutely yes. He's a weak man that follows the latest word in his ear. Edited January 7, 2020 by Surfer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
keelansgrandad 6,679 Posted January 7, 2020 In cold wars and tensions, people do get taken out. But never anyone at this level RTB. I have no wish to defend Iran and its clandestine efforts to control the Middle East despite them representing only themselves and Shia minorities on the area. They are obviously governed in a way that is alien to us in the West and much of their policy is far from politically and humanely inspired. But the sanctions, not only the severe US ones but those by the EU, were believed to have been working and there was an opinion that there was unrest with the people against their governments foreign policy. But to take out, to all intents and purposes, their VP is not something we would have accepted had it been the other way round. The world would have been in uproar if Pence had been assassinated by an Iranian missile in Iraq. The silence from most western governments is ample illustration that they don't agree with what happened. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hoola Han Solo 448 Posted January 7, 2020 14 minutes ago, Surfer said: 1. I'm sure the Iraqi's won't so quickly brush off the fact they were invaded. US troops have been there ever since. 2. There you go. The insurgency that killed the majority of US troops and thousand of Iraqis flowed from that action. 3. No evidence has been produced to back up that claim. The Iraqi PM said Trump asked them to meet in Bhagdad. 4. The views from the White House are contradicted by all of our allies and the nuclear inspectors. Iran WAS complying. 5. Trump? No. Those around him and on Fox - absolutely yes. He's a weak man that follows the latest word in his ear. Trump is one of the most insecure and needy leaders in living memory. He needs constant validation. Quite why someone with severe personality disorders got to the top is barmy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 And a perfect response to very simplistic "but he's a terrorist" questioning from a leading "Democrat Presidential candidate" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 3 minutes ago, Hoola Han Solo said: Trump is one of the most insecure and needy leaders in living memory. He needs constant validation. Quite why someone with severe personality disorders got to the top is barmy. For that you can blame who is funding rightwing TV, radio and press as well as much of the Republican Party. The Russians joining in via Social media just icing on the cake. Similar scenario in the UK with its press too - but corrupting the BBC being the icing there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) Meanwhile, there has not yet been an impeachment enquiry for violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause. But there could be... ... for activities like this. " A closer examination of the time frame surrounding the application and registration of these trademarks reveals that they coincided with the Trump administration’s reversals on tariffs on Argentina " https://www.citizensforethics.org/trump-argentina-trademarks/ Edited January 7, 2020 by Surfer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 7, 2020 (edited) Meanwhile, like all schoolyard bullies who finally get called out, they have their minions work out how to spite the other children. After Trump’s threat, administration begins drafting possible sanctions against Iraq https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/01/06/trump-administration-begins-drafting-possible-sanctions-against-iraq-following-trumps-economic-threat/ Edited January 7, 2020 by Surfer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 8, 2020 Meanwhile, the US Sec of State continues to pour gasoline on the Middle East's hot spots .... why? https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-settlements-idUSKBN1Z71LT?taid=5e15e1e548fe97000144c576&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TCCANARY 263 Posted January 8, 2020 Anyone who does not understand the above should keep re-reading it until they do. 😀 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Surfer 1,547 Posted January 8, 2020 (edited) More on the warmongers .... the President will address the nation in a few hours. Will he have been listening to Hannity, Gorka, North or Ingram on Fox News last night or to Tucker Carlson? This is the undue influence of Rupert Murdoch's media empire on this President.... whatever the Fox News opinion hosts say goes (usually) - so we'll see..... https://www.foxnews.com/media/sean-hannity-on-iran-retaliation-there-is-a-massive-price-to-pay Edited January 8, 2020 by Surfer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TCCANARY 263 Posted January 8, 2020 57 minutes ago, Surfer said: More on the warmongers .... the President will address the nation in a few hours. Will he have been listening to Hannity, Gorka, North or Ingram on Fox News last night or to Tucker Carlson? This is the undue influence of Rupert Murdoch's media empire on this President.... whatever the Fox News opinion hosts say goes (usually) - so we'll see..... https://www.foxnews.com/media/sean-hannity-on-iran-retaliation-there-is-a-massive-price-to-pay Gorka, Ingraham & Insanity! Mad, mad & madder! They define the term RWNJ. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites