Trump and Pence Demand Trust, Then Lie, Blaming Soleimani For Benghazi and 9/11
We’ve seen this before. It ends terribly

It’s 2003 all over again. In a throwback to the lies of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are spreading misinformation to justify military aggression in the Middle East.

Trump ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, carried out late last week via a drone strike at Baghdad international airport. There’s no gainsaying that Soleimani was a ruthless leader who orchestrated bloody militia violence throughout the region. But the leaders of the current U.S. administration are distorting his record — even as they’re asking for Americans to trust that the killing was necessary to preempt what Trump called “imminent and sinister attacks” on U.S. interests.

Pence got the ball rolling Friday in a series of tweets enumerating the “worst atrocities” of an “evil man,” in which he painted General Soleimani as part of the 9/11 plot. ...

For his part, Trump threw conspiratorial fuel on the fire. In the aftermath of the drone strike, Trump retweeted a claim that Soleimani had orchestrated the 2012 attack on diplomats in Benghazi, Libya. Trump retweeted a claim by Jack Prosobiec — an alt-right troll infamous for backing the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory — that Soleimani was “responsible for Benghazi”: ...
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/po...T8SdYoaChJcumdQ

Luegen, nichts als Luegen.

‘Four embassies’: The anatomy of Trump’s unfounded claim about Iran
The theory was born last Thursday in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, where President Trump stood before men in hard hats and orange construction vests for an environmental announcement and offered a fresh rationale for his controversial order to kill a top Iranian general.

“They were looking to blow up our embassy,” Trump said, referring to the heavily secured Baghdad facility that had become a magnet for protesters.
Later that night, at a raucous campaign rally in Ohio, Trump added to his story. The Iranians, he claimed, were planning to attack not only the U.S. Embassy in Iraq but also an undisclosed number of embassies in other countries.
And then Trump fleshed out his claim even further. “I can reveal I believe it probably would’ve been four embassies,” he said in an interview Friday with Fox News Channel.

Based on what is known so far, Trump’s statement was at best an unfounded theory and at worst a falsehood. At each turn in the commander in chief’s rapidly evolving narrative of why he authorized the Jan. 3 drone strike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the machinery of government scrambled to adapt and respond.
The result is a credibility crisis for an administration that has long struggled to communicate factual information to the public. At a perilous moment for the nation’s security, with the United States at the brink of war with Iran, Trump is unable to rely on trustworthiness to justify his decision to take out Soleimani, both because of his lengthy record of exaggerations and lies and because of his ever-shifting rationales. ...

Despite Trump’s claim that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was one of four facilities under threat of attack, some embassy officials there said they did not receive an alert commensurate to the threat Trump described, said people familiar with the situation, who were not authorized to comment publicly.
When officials in Washington or in a diplomatic outpost receive specific, credible information about threats to an embassy, warnings are typically sent to the U.S. personnel in the post to be vigilant and take precautions.
“If they had knowledge of an imminent threat, then you would’ve expected them to notify people,” said Ronald Neumann, president of the American Academy of Diplomacy and a retired career Foreign Service officer.

After the killing of Soleimani and Iran’s public vows to take vengeance, U.S. personnel in the region were on edge and asking colleagues about information related to emerging threats. Some who never received any information about such specific threats were angered and confused when Trump later claimed that the Baghdad embassy would have been attacked, when they had received no such information, said the people familiar with the situation. ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/...c754_story.html

Luegen, nichts als Luegen.

U.S. Citizen Dies In Egyptian Custody After Years Of Pleading For Trump’s Help
Mustafa Kassem was ensnared in a crackdown by Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh El-Sisi, who Trump has called “my favorite dictator.”

Mustafa Kassem, an American father of two who spent more than six years locked up in Egypt, died on Monday while still in custody, a reminder of how the U.S. struggles to balance its ties to repressive regimes with its stated commitments to human rights and its own citizens ― often with deadly consequences.

President Donald Trump, who in 2017 loudly celebrated his role in securing the release of one American detained by Cairo, never publicly responded to entreaties from Kassem to help in even small ways. He instead has counted Egypt as a close partner, and last year called its autocratic leader “my favorite dictator.”

“I have seen you defend other Americans. I ask you, why not me?” Kassem wrote to Trump on Sept. 12, 2018, in a message his attorney sent to the White House and shared with HuffPost. ...
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mustafa-k...5b650c621e3b2d3

Wann beginnt die Bombardierung von Aegypten?

Trump says it doesn't matter if Soleimani posed an imminent threat
President Trump on Monday downplayed the significance of any imminent threat to the U.S. before he ordered the strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, raising new questions about the intelligence preceding the move.

The comments marked the latest revision in what’s become a shifting explanation about the threat Soleimani posed to U.S. personnel in the Middle East. Over the weekend, some of Trump’s top advisers were unable to confirm his claim that Soleimani was planning to target four U.S. embassies. ...

https://thehill.com/homenews/administrat...ne-qwEQ5X9-0x9o

Die derzeit letzte Iteration der sich immer weiter entwickelnden Luegerei.

None of Trump’s Iran Policy Makes Sense. All of It Is Dangerous
This is what it looks like when an actual madman pursues the Madman Theory of foreign policy

President Trump’s speech on Wednesday about Iran’s retaliatory missile strikes on two U.S. bases could be read in any number of ways. The mainstream papers will run with the raw news it contained: no American or Iraqi casualties from the attack, more economic sanctions on Iran, and that Iran “appears to be standing down.”

But Trump’s 15-minute speech was also a glimpse into the addled mind of a commander-in-chief with no set of guiding principles and no clear idea where he wants to take the country and why. His speech was contradictory and discordant, a mish-mash of chest-beating, dodgy history, Pentagon-humping, and empty calls for peace.

He seemed to crib from that famous Vietnam War-era maxim — we must destroy the village in order to save it — when he brought up Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the nonproliferation deal reached by the Obama administration and the Iranian government in 2015. Known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, the deal lifted some economic sanctions on Iran if the country agreed to limit its development of nuclear weapons material.

In his speech, Trump savaged the Iran nuclear deal as “very defective” while saying that it
“expires shortly anyway and gives Iran a clear and quick path to nuclear breakout.” But in the same breath, he called on the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China — all signatories to the deal — work together to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. “They must now break away from the remnants of the Iran deal,” he said. “We must all work together toward making a deal with Iran that makes the world a safer and more peaceful place.”
Which is, well, exactly what the Iran deal was intended to do — and by many indications, was succeeding at.

....Next, Trump touted the $2.5 trillion his administration had spent to rebuild the American military adding, “Our missiles are big, powerful, accurate, lethal and fast.” Comments like these should sting the ears of any supporter of Trump’s who took him at his word when, as a candidate, he pledged to spend less, not more, on the military and held up excessive defense spending for political purposes as a prime example of Washington’s swampiness. Now, with an ex-lobbyist for weapons contractor Raytheon as his secretary of defense, Trump is all too eager to pour bottomless sums of money into defense spending and brag about the size of the U.S.’s missiles.

He used his speech to announce additional “punishing” economic sanctions on Iran, but gave no details about what those sanctions would look like. And how many times has Trump rolled out a new policy only for that policy to never see the light of day? ...

... But so many of Trump’s actions — tearing up the nuclear deal, assassinating a top official, perpetual militarism — cleave in the exact opposite direction. If the end result was the stick of sanctions and the carrot of cooperation, couldn’t we have gotten there without first taking two powerful countries to the precipice of an all-out war?

But when ego dictates foreign policy, this is what you get. A president who has no worldview faces no constraints on what he can and can’t say. Except that it’s hard to say that any of us are safer because of it.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/po...ZbaY_LVCZCAOwdo

Syrian official gave US intel on Soleimani whereabouts - report

The source said that the official, who has been in contact with the Americans for a long time, had set a condition that the Americans would not eliminate Soleimani in Syria.

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Syrian...s-report-614143

Wenn das stimmen sollte, was dann?

Zitat von mbockstette im Beitrag #1006

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Syrian official gave US intel on Soleimani whereabouts - report

The source said that the official, who has been in contact with the Americans for a long time, had set a condition that the Americans would not eliminate Soleimani in Syria.

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Syrian...s-report-614143

Wenn das stimmen sollte, was dann?

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Zitat von Leto_II. im Beitrag #1007

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Zitat von mbockstette im Beitrag #1006

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Syrian official gave US intel on Soleimani whereabouts - report

The source said that the official, who has been in contact with the Americans for a long time, had set a condition that the Americans would not eliminate Soleimani in Syria.

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Syrian...s-report-614143

Wenn das stimmen sollte, was dann?

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Wenn (Falls) das stimmt, würde mich das in meiner Vermutung bestätigen, dass der Moor seine Schuldigkeit getan hat und nun von Russland und/oder Syrien (Syrien aber eher nicht ohne russische Rückendeckung) den Iran rausdrängen will. Es kann aber auch der Versuch sein, Misstrauen zu säen.

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Call a spade a spade. Trump nennt Soleimani einen Hurensohn, der schon vor 20 Jahren hätte getötet werden sollen. Die deutschen Pressefuzzis sind natürlich mal wieder außer sich.

Zitat von Maga-neu im Beitrag #1009

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Call a spade a spade. Trump nennt Soleimani einen Hurensohn, der schon vor 20 Jahren hätte getötet werden sollen. Die deutschen Pressefuzzis sind natürlich mal wieder außer sich.

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Europas letzte Warnung

Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien verwarnen Iran im Streit um das Atomabkommen. Es ist der letzte Versuch, den Deal zu retten. Doch Teheran stellt sich stur.

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/a...19648b4#ref=rss

Da hat sich nicht nur sayada etwas anderes von der EU erhofft und nun dies.

Zitat von mbockstette im Beitrag #1011

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Europas letzte Warnung

Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien verwarnen Iran im Streit um das Atomabkommen. Es ist der letzte Versuch, den Deal zu retten. Doch Teheran stellt sich stur.

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/a...19648b4#ref=rss

Da hat sich nicht nur sayada etwas anderes von der EU erhofft und nun dies.

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Kurds file criminal complaint against Iran mosque in Germany for terrorism

https://www.jpost.com/International/Kurd...errorism-614308

Zitat von sayada.b. im Beitrag #1012

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Zitat von mbockstette im Beitrag #1011

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Europas letzte Warnung

Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien verwarnen Iran im Streit um das Atomabkommen. Es ist der letzte Versuch, den Deal zu retten. Doch Teheran stellt sich stur.

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/a...19648b4#ref=rss

Da hat sich nicht nur sayada etwas anderes von der EU erhofft und nun dies.

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Ich und von der EU erhofft? Was kann man von dem Saftladen denn schon erwarten...

"Den Europäern wird gerade ihre Machtlosigkeit vor Augen geführt. An Bemühungen mangelte es nicht, darauf weisen auch die Außenminister in ihrer Erklärung hin. Doch der Versuch, europäischen Unternehmen an den US-Sanktionen vorbei den Handel mit Iran zu ermöglichen, unter anderem durch Gründung der Zweckgesellschaft Instex, ist gescheitert. Europäische Banken weigerten sich, Geschäfte abzuwickeln. Zu sehr sind sie auf den US-Kapitalmarkt angewiesen, zu groß ist die Dominanz des Dollars."...

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@mbockstette

Okay, ich nehme zur Kenntnis, daß Sie versuchen, mich zu verstehen.

Aber können Sie das wirklich? Würden Sie Israels Regierung verdammen und doch beten, daß das israelische Volk bliebe vom Krieg verschont? So jedenfalls ergeht es mir. Mit Iran und den Iranern.
Ich weiß, ich wünsche mir eine eierlegende Wollmilchsau. Aber wenn ich daran denke, wie viele Opfer auf allen Seiten die letzte Revolution gekostet hat...
Wir haben noch viele Verwandte in Teheran und Umgebung, auch wenn einige Mitglieder der Familie inzwischen in den USA, Österreich, Schweden und Australien leben...

Eleven US Troops Were Injured in Jan. 8 Iran Missile Strike
Nearly one dozen American troops were wounded in Iran’s Jan. 8 missile attack on Iraq’s al-Asad air base. This week, they were medically evacuated to U.S. military hospitals in Kuwait and Landstuhl, Germany, to be treated for traumatic brain injury and to undergo further evaluation, several U.S. defense and military officials have confirmed to Defense One.

Senior military and Trump administration officials had said on Jan. 8 that 11 Iranian missiles had caused “no casualties, no friendly casualties, whether they are U.S., coalition, contractor, et cetera.”

... In the past week, news organizations that were granted access to the base to film the damage and interview military personnel have reported that no Americans were killed, wounded, or “seriously injured.” But the New York Times reported on Monday that some personnel had been treated for concussions. ...

According to a senior U.S. defense official, “About a week after the attack some service members were still experiencing some symptoms of concussion.” The official expected more information would be released soon. “We only got wind of this in the last 24 hours.” ...

... Still, several news organizations soon reported from Al-Asad that U.S. troops had been alerted to the attack hours in advance, and told to head for bunkers 15 minutes before the missiles began to strike. Many U.S. troops, however, manned exposed positions, including at least one group of drone operators who stayed in an above-ground building to get their drones aloft and avoid ground damage. The leader of an Army drone team told NPR that he was “knocked off his feet by the blast.” Others told the New York Times that missiles damaged the building they were in.

On Thursday, Pentagon chief spokesman Jonathan Hoffman declined to say what tipped off the Americans. He did deny reports that the warning came from somewhere besides the United States or Iraq.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2020/...gdEJLreoYEfruXY

‘Dopes and babies!’ Trump unleashed expletive-filled rant at military leaders after growing bored in Pentagon meeting: report

... Trump seemed preoccupied with voiding President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, which he called “the worst deal in history,” and blew up when Tillerson started to explain why it was effective.
“I don’t want to hear it,” Trump said. “They’re cheating, they’re building. We’re getting out of it. I keep telling you, I keep giving you time, and you keep delaying me. I want out of it.”

Trump then moved on to Afghanistan, which he called a “loser war” to the shock and horror of military officials who’d fought there.
“You’re all losers,” Trump said. “You don’t know how to win anymore.”

The president then asked why the U.S. didn’t get oil in exchange for stationing troops in the Persian Gulf.
“We spent $7 trillion; they’re ripping us off,” Trump yelled. “Where is the fucking oil?”

“The American people are saying we can’t spend a trillion dollars a year on this,” he complained. “We just can’t. It’s going to bankrupt us.”

By that point, according to the book, Trump had worked himself into a lather, insulting individual military leaders and breathlessly ranting.
“I wouldn’t go to war with you people,” Trump brayed. “You’re a bunch of dopes and babies.”

Others in the room felt sick to their stomach by the president’s tirade and one woman was seen crying, and only Tillerson spoke up to defend the military — and he famously wrote off Trump after the meeting, speaking to others as the room emptied.
“He’s a fucking moron,” the secretary of state said.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-call...age-book-claims

Derjenige, dem das Thema eigentlich am nächsten geht, ist nicht mehr zu lesen. Dabei hätte er soviel beizutragen.

@ Nante

Sein Vater ist vor 7 Wochen gestorben. Außerdem twittert er lieber neuerdings.
Unter anderem...

😣

Ich bin sozusagen seine Vertretung. Was nicht heißen soll, mir ginge das Thema nicht sehr nahe.

Zitat von sayada.b. im Beitrag #1015

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@mbockstette

Okay, ich nehme zur Kenntnis, daß Sie versuchen, mich zu verstehen.

Aber können Sie das wirklich? Würden Sie Israels Regierung verdammen und doch beten, daß das israelische Volk bliebe vom Krieg verschont? So jedenfalls ergeht es mir. Mit Iran und den Iranern.
Ich weiß, ich wünsche mir eine eierlegende Wollmilchsau. Aber wenn ich daran denke, wie viele Opfer auf allen Seiten die letzte Revolution gekostet hat...
Wir haben noch viele Verwandte in Teheran und Umgebung, auch wenn einige Mitglieder der Familie inzwischen in den USA, Österreich, Schweden und Australien leben...

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The Middle East Isn’t Worth It Anymore
With few vital American interests still at stake there, the U.S. should finally set aside its grandiose ambitions for the chaotic region

Last week, despite Donald Trump’s repeated pledge to end American involvement in the Middle East’s conflicts, the U.S. was on the brink of another war in the region, this time with Iran. If Iran’s retaliation for the Trump administration’s targeted killing of Tehran’s top commander, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, had resulted in the deaths of more Americans, Washington was, as Mr. Trump tweeted, “locked and loaded” for all-out confrontation.

Why does the Middle East always seem to suck the U.S. back in? What is it about this troubled region that leaves Washington perpetually caught between the desire to end U.S. military involvement there and the impulse to embark on yet another Middle East war? ...

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-middle-...ore-11579277317

Iranian protester speaks to Israeli station I24News, risks his life

He provided his opinion on the current political reality in Iran, Soleimani and Iran's nuclear weapons program. "What the Iranian people want with all their being, is that the regime will fall."

He added that the regime has been "dispersing the people [protesters] at any price: by shooting tear gas, by beating up people, by creating mayhem and terror."
i24 also asked the protester about the level of popular support for former IRGC Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in an American airstrike earlier this month. He responded that, "the Iranian people regarded Soleimani as a terrorist and criminal because he plundered the people's wealth, [and] in suppressing [the demonstrations in] November, [where] he had a leading role.

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Irania...his-life-614492

Trump threatened UK with 25% car tariffs unless it agreed to accuse Iran of breaking nuclear deal
Tehran accuses Britain, France and Germany of succumbing to 'high school bully'

Donald Trump threatened the UK with a 25 per cent tariff on its cars unless the British government officially accused Iran of breaking the 2015 nuclear deal, it has been reported.

The secret threat last week, first reported by The Washington Post, which cited unnamed European officials, would have seen the tariff imposed on all European automobile imports to the US unless Britain, France and Germany agreed to the ultimatum.

It came days before the three European Union powers on Tuesday triggered a dispute mechanism under the agreement which does amount to a formal accusation against Tehran of violating its terms. It could lead to the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions, but is being framed by the Europeans as the last chance to save the nuclear deal.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po...FmfzdXMr9ibfGp0

Zitat von Willie im Beitrag #1023

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Trump threatened UK with 25% car tariffs unless it agreed to accuse Iran of breaking nuclear deal
Tehran accuses Britain, France and Germany of succumbing to 'high school bully'

Donald Trump threatened the UK with a 25 per cent tariff on its cars unless the British government officially accused Iran of breaking the 2015 nuclear deal, it has been reported.

The secret threat last week, first reported by The Washington Post, which cited unnamed European officials, would have seen the tariff imposed on all European automobile imports to the US unless Britain, France and Germany agreed to the ultimatum.

It came days before the three European Union powers on Tuesday triggered a dispute mechanism under the agreement which does amount to a formal accusation against Tehran of violating its terms. It could lead to the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions, but is being framed by the Europeans as the last chance to save the nuclear deal.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po...FmfzdXMr9ibfGp0

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Zitat von mbockstette im Beitrag #1024

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Zitat von Willie im Beitrag #1023

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Trump threatened UK with 25% car tariffs unless it agreed to accuse Iran of breaking nuclear deal
Tehran accuses Britain, France and Germany of succumbing to 'high school bully'

Donald Trump threatened the UK with a 25 per cent tariff on its cars unless the British government officially accused Iran of breaking the 2015 nuclear deal, it has been reported.

The secret threat last week, first reported by The Washington Post, which cited unnamed European officials, would have seen the tariff imposed on all European automobile imports to the US unless Britain, France and Germany agreed to the ultimatum.

It came days before the three European Union powers on Tuesday triggered a dispute mechanism under the agreement which does amount to a formal accusation against Tehran of violating its terms. It could lead to the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions, but is being framed by the Europeans as the last chance to save the nuclear deal.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/po...FmfzdXMr9ibfGp0

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Der Iran bewegt die Gemüter. Er setzt die ganze Region in permanente Aufregung und das zeigt auch diese sportpolitische Entscheidung auf:

Iran banned from hosting international soccer matches

On Friday, the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) received an official letter from the Asian Football confederation (AFC) in which it says that Iranian soccer teams will henceforth be banned from hosting Asian Soccer League Championship matches, adding that future matches will be played in "neutral countries," most likely the neighboring United Arab Emirates.

https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-N...-matches-614541

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