Posted on 06/21/2019 7:22:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
For some, you could hear the sound of war drums. It was coming. Iran had shot down a surveillance drone in international waters. President Trump did not mince words, saying Iran made a huge mistake, though was cagey about military action. He told the press “you’ll find out” when asked. President Trump has taken action before, firing cruise missiles at an airfield in Syria in 2017 after a horrible chemical weapons attack struck the town of Khan Shaykhun. The airfield was the staging ground. Reports trickled in last night that air strikes were ordered against Iran but were halted by Trump. We didn’t know why, but earlier this morning the president tweeted that he aborted the mission because the retaliatory strikes were not proportionate (via WaPo):
EXCLUSIVE: Iran received message from U.S. President Trump via Oman overnight warning of imminent attack on Iran - Iranian government officials pic.twitter.com/kzV1S1MCHC— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) June 21, 2019
....On Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International Waters. We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it, not....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019
....proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can NEVER have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA, and not against the WORLD!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2019
President Trump ordered an attack on Iran on Thursday in retaliation for the downing of a surveillance drone in the Strait of Hormuz but called the operation off just before it was due to occur because it would have caused extensive casualties, he said Friday.
In a series of morning tweets, Trump said he called off strikes on three Iranian sites minutes before they were to be launched because he was informed of the likely loss of life among Iranians.
“We were cocked & loaded to retaliate last night on 3 different sights when I asked, how many will die,” Trump tweeted. “150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. 10 minutes before the strike I stopped it.”
Such a death toll was “not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone,” Trump wrote, adding: “I am in no hurry, our Military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go, by far the best in the world.
Iran will not get the bomb. It would be their death sentence.
No, it's not. Israel is no different than any other country that may have some common interests with us but does not justify any special, far-reaching foreign/military policies for this country.
NATO countries are allies. SEATO countries are allies. Etc., etc. The U.S. actually has common defense obligations with the member countries of these organizations under the treaties that established them. We have no such obligations to Israel except in one very limited circumstance with Egypt as a result of the 1976 Sinai accords. And we have the same obligations to Egypt under that agreement, too.
Go covert.
These are my exact feelings as well.
There has to be a point where that line is crossed and action has to be taken. Launching 3 cruise missiles at the cost of 8 million dollars does not seem to be the correct response for a 300k dollar loss unless 10s of millions of dollars is damaged in return and some lives will be lost.
Tough call.
It’s not 250 million, not even close.
We have seen the drone ground track. These technological wonders have GPS on board and transmit their exact location hundreds of times per second. We are absolutely certain where the drone was when the transmission stopped. One could argue with the integrity of the reporting agency, but the track on the TV was clearly outside Iran’s claimed territorial water.
And while on the subject, how do we know that they l have the debris? When I worked on our drone program, we had charges that we could use to blow the sensitive stuff to smithereens. What do you want to bet that there are no collectible debris?
This reminds me of the story of an orchestra who was disrespecting its conductor, who sneaked in and changed a note in the double bass's sheet music in a modern piece that had weird harmonies to begin with. As they reached that point in the work, the bass player played the altered note and the conductor stopped the orchestra immediately. After the heated argument that followed, the conductor was triumphant and from that point had everyone's respect.
OK, let's demonstrate to everyone @ FR that we understand the very big picture, perhaps the largest macro perspective possible. Ready? What is the key, the linchpin to US global dominance?
Is it the people - now nearly 50% minority with an avg IQ below 100? Is it the systems of laws, freedoms and liberties? Hey, wasn't the 2A meant to allow the people to form an equal bulwark to federal power? What about the 4th & 5th? So, let me ask again, what makes the USA so great, it's people, culture, laws? (At this point the keyboard warriors from flyover country get their knickers in a wad. Evidently, they have no idea of what the 'new America' is like, but rather channel a fantasy version of 'Murica born of their youth.)
The answer my friends for US hegemony is that the dollar is the global reserve currency. For that one reason alone, it's why we are able to run annual budget deficits in the $x billions per year, why the national debt is $x trillions, and unfunded liabilities and other electoral promises surpassing immeasurable $x trillions of dollars. And guess where a huge portion of that freshly printed money out of thin air is directed? Ding ding we have a winner - it goes toward funding and financing the MIC for advanced weapons research and development programs, along with standard operating costs of maintaining a global posture.
OK, what will happen when the US (eventually) loses the global reserve? I don't think anyone really wants to know. So, in the meantime, it IS in our national interest to protect the dollar at all cost. Which means we must (constantly) demonstrate that no other foreign power can challenge us either militarily or economically. But the clock is ticking - how can a 'new' US comprised of lower IQ individuals from less dedicated and disciplined cultures (remember multi-culti is the norm) hope to compete against a monolith like China looming in the future?
Smart money says it can't; which of course is why the US is being degraded domestically and invaded physically on our respective borders. So, for now if you enjoy the relative peace and quiet before yet another dominant empire in the annals of history begins to teeter and fall. By all means we need to be on the outer ramparts keeping the wolves at bay.
Trump said there would be additional sanctions levied against Iran.
His biggest problem is the EU is still trading with Iran for oil. If he takes a “wait and see” attitude about a retaliatory strike, there may be a possibility he can bring the EU into line with sanctions.
Iran is already on the brink of collapse, this could push it over the edge. The populace aren’t happy with the Mullahs. This takes the “Great Satan” meme away from them.
Trump knows the Mullahs would like nothing more than to show dead Iranians to the world press. They would then escalate by firing a missile at one of our ships and we’d be in a shooting war which the Democrats would use going into the 2020 election.
Trump is giving the Mullahs the option to use diplomacy. Going forward, anything they do could have disastrous effects especially coming out of the G20 summit next week.
Trump’s stated goal is to re-negotiate the Obama/Iran Nuclear treaty. If he succeeds in getting a better one than Obama negotiated...goodbye Uncle Joe. Biden would be toast.
I don’t doubt Trump would level Iran if need be, but he is playing the long game right now and while we lost a 130-million dollar drone, no lives were lost.
The Dem’s are in a no-win situation. They can’t criticize the President or else they are seen as “hawks.” If he causes the collapse of Iran, it will have been done through diplomacy, and if the Mullahs up the ante, the Navy is already on station.
Like he said...time is on his side.
I would NOT issue threats to these bastards without following up. That is where I do NOT agree with him. These c-suckers understand one thing and that is raw unadulterated force.
Now, the nest little speed boat dingy’s’ they send out? Blast it/them to heaven and let it/them float back down to hell.
They wanna try a go from there? Fine, let em try it and see what happens.
The next step would be to destroy their oil terminals. ALL of them.
I would like to see someone held to account for putting our $250 million drone in a place where it was likely and reasonable for someone to shoot it down.
I agree with sanctions, but its wishful thinking that Iran is about to collapse. Cant wait for it to happen, but they have been under sanctions for decades, as has NK. Both despotic regimes are still there. Both abuse their own people and export terror or provide arms to terrorists.
Normally I am a glass half full guy, but regarding Iran being on the brink of collapse, I'm going to bet it will only happen with catastrophic military defeat in response to one of their foolish attacks. Otherwise, so far their own people haven't figured out how to overthrow the regime yet.
Yes. I tried to say this earlier but I think this sums it up better. Trumps compassion for 150 dead Iranians shows weakness in the eyes of Islamics, who only understand and respect FORCE. That is the message that will be received. We will be at this same juncture again soon as a result.
But we also need to show the world that we can be good stewards of such responsibility to keep their goodwill - endless wars is not gonna be enough in the long run. China is already working out deals with its neighbors like Russia and now India to bypass the dollar in their direct trade. Our heavy handedness in destroying other country's economies by restricting their access to dollar payments is wearing thin, even with some of our Western Europe allies. My guess is we have one more decade of dollar rule at best before the rest of the world insists upon some sort of "world currency". That's when the sh*t really hits the fan here in the US. Of course with our insane debt levels and endless spending it could very well be less than a decade should the whole ponzi collapse before then.
And so the souls of the Beirut Marines and Khobar Towers Airmen continue to cry out that no one felt compassion for them........same for every American military member killed in Iraq and Afghanistan with the help of Iranian weapons and money.
Thing is, they shot down an UNMANNED drone. It cost us money. That’s all.
There is a difference between a bad guy torching your car vs raping and killing your wife.
I honestly think a lot of people are treating this like it was a manned aircraft and they have our pilot or he’s dead.
Interestingly, I believe that if Iran was a civilized country they would simply say somebody goofed and then send us a check for the value of the aircraft at its used value based on mileage. I’d be good with that.
Unmanned aircraft really change the dynamic. With robots it’s hard to have another Gulf of Tonkin.
Drones exist for this very reason. You are correct.
Which could kill 150 ppl
He should have just first targeted the site from where the rocket was fired
And asked how many would be killed at that target.
If people got killed because they were hanging our where a rocket was fired that brought a USA plane down, too bad if the perps get killed IMO
This. I guess we were suppose to kill 150 because of some property damage.
I respectfully disagree. It has been reported the proxy’s of Iran (Hamas, Hezbollah) have been crippled in their ability to conduct terrorist activities due to the economic sanctions that have been placed on Iran.
It is true the regime has managed to keep the populace under control for now, but remember the Shah had his “secret police” too and he was overthrown. I think we are rapidly approaching the same tipping point with the Mullah’s.
From what I understand, the currency of Iran is pretty close to worthless, the regime is not doing anything to alleviate the suffering of it’s people. The Mullah’s are still living large and while not perfect, there is some Western influence creeping into the country that shows young people there is a better way than strict Sharia law.
Again,if you take away a reason for the people to suffer,(America, the Great Satan) then who becomes the bad guy?
You can only ask the population to suffer for only so long before they rebel. Let’s hope it is sooner rather than later.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.