Posted on 07/17/2019 8:56:05 PM PDT by Farcesensitive
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) recently proposed to President Donald Trump that he should take a larger role in negotiating with Iran during a golf outing, a notion that Trump apparently supports, in order to prevent another endless war from starting in the Middle East.
Paul wants to sit down with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in order to ease tensions with the Islamic Republic, which has been confirmed by four U.S. officials according to Politico. This news has enraged the neocon war hawks in the Trump administration, who want a wedge to remain between the two nations preventing any talks.
Proud that @realDonaldTrump and I argued with you against endless wars! @POTUS made it clear to all of us at the table, we are getting out of the Middle East quagmire. We’ve been there too long. Time to bring our troops home. https://t.co/trO0aIHbzk
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 15, 2019
Zarif is in New York City this week for meetings at the headquarters of the United Nations. He is scheduled to meet with several journalists and think-tank officials, but a meeting with the junior Kentucky Senator may also be in order. Zarif made it clear in recent statements that Iran is not opposed to engaging the the U.S. in peace talks.
(Excerpt) Read more at bigleaguepolitics.com ...
“.. proposed to President Donald Trump that he should take a larger role in negotiating with Iran during a golf outing...”
Iranians play golf?
Agreed.
Welcome to FR.
Glad to be here.
Thanks for the welcome.
:)
Yup. At a presser a few weeks ago, Trump admitted that Bolton is a hawk, and keeps him on board for perspective. Smart move, I say.
Not a good idea.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/06/23/trump_if_it_was_up_to_john_bolton_us_would_go_to_war_against_the_whole_world_at_one_time.html
I do trust Trump
I do not Trust Paul
If there is a chance of our boys and girls not dying for nothing, and there can be concrete gains, then it is worth a try.
Trump certainly trusts Rand Paul, and not just a little.
“Aren’t there other countries with boots who Iran is a bigger threat to?”
Israel has shown that Arab armies, no matter how much better armed and more numerous, are terrible fighters. This is a cultural matter. And military assessments of why they are so bad are easily found online. The difference between Iranian and Arab armies is that the Iranians are religious fanatics who will accept individual initiative. The Iranians have proven themselves to be superior fighters and can easily beat their Arab neighbors. As one wag said, “Saudi Arabia has a military that doesn’t function well outside of air conditioning.” It doesn’t matter how well armed Iran’s neighbors are, they would be a pushover for Iran. I am not arguing for US involvement, just addressing your question.
Rand Paul is a smart thoughtful guy.
Iran didn’t do so well against Iraq though.
Didn’t they fight to a draw?
“Iran didn’t do so well against Iraq though.”
They had no training, no real backing from other powers, like Iraq had. The Iraq war was transformative. They now have training that is probably the equal of anyone. They have a huge defense industry that is turning out some world class weapons. They have adopted strategies that makes their country a hard target. I don’t think they would prevail in a war with the US, but they might cause enough casualties to force the current administration out of office. That is their strategy and we know from Vietnam that it works. Trump’s strategy is to attack their economy rather than their military. Casualties mean nothing to them, as each dead Muslim is assured a place at the right hand of God. Their 2000 small swarm attack boats are suicide vehicles. Their strategy is to overwhelm the Navy’s defenses and cause mass casualties.
Wow.
Yeah geez that Iraq/Iran war was a LONG time ago.
I HATE getting older :)
Works for me. Paul seems to be level headed, and ethical. I don’t see a down side for now.
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