Posted on 01/19/2020 6:40:15 AM PST by Kaslin
President Trump shocked the world — and mortified Democrats — when he authorized a lethal drone strike against Iranian General and super-terrorist Qassem Soleimani. The real surprise, however, wasn't that Trump suddenly found the gumption to target a high-profile Iranian — it was that it took America so long to rid the world of a man with so much American blood on his hands. Previous U.S. administrations, afraid of “escalation,” allowed the agents of Iran free rein in their murderous plots. Sooner or later, America had to push back.
What's odd, though, is that the entirely justifiable U.S. strike on Soleimani produced, in turn, a direct Iranian missile strike on two U.S. bases in Iraq. President Trump warned before these strikes occurred that America would not tolerate aggression against our servicemen and assets in the region — and a broad list of targets in Iran had been identified for potential retaliatory action.
The Iranians chose to avenge Soleimani in a particularly bold and provocative way. They launched ballistic missiles from Iran itself, targeting bases in Iraq where large numbers of U.S. servicemen are stationed. Iran could have used Iraqi proxies to do its dirty work; it could have attacked Israel or our allies in Iraq instead of U.S. soldiers. Instead it decided to go all out by mounting a direct assault on American personnel that left no doubt about who was responsible.
The missile strikes against two U.S. bases, as it happened, killed no U.S. servicemen. That is largely because Americans were able to take shelter as the missiles rained down. As recent reporting has shown, however, some soldiers were lightly injured by the concussive effects of the blasts.
President Trump chose to let sleeping dogs lie after the Iranian attack. He declared the cycle of retaliation complete, and he cheered the fact that Iran appeared to be “standing down”.
Given the apocalyptic reporting in the news media in the preceding days about an imminent “war” with Iran, Trump's restraint must have come as a surprise to Democrats and Trump haters. That Trump eschews involvement in foreign conflicts, however, has been obvious for a long time. Trump is willing to break the rules of diplomacy, yes, and even to use military force in unconventional ways, but he seemingly has no appetite for major military confrontations, and in fact he has been trying, with limited success, to disengage the United States from the grinding conflicts to which it is already committed, like the Syrian Civil War and the War in Afghanistan.
What ought to give the American people pause, however, is the strange precedent that President Trump has now set vis-a-vis foreign aggression. He punished Iran with lethal force for, as the administration described it, formulating plans to attack U.S. assets. When the Iranians directly assaulted U.S. bases, however, he demurred from retaliation.
What is the lesson here that Iran is supposed to learn? That the contemplation of terrorist acts against Americans may provoke us to violence, but the actual lobbing of sophisticated missiles at our bases, with the potential to kill dozens or hundreds of Americans, will only yield a yawn and a shrug?
If anything, it would seem that Iran's missile strikes were what demanded a resolute response. Our failure to deliver it could embolden Iran, and other hostile actors around the world, to target U.S. military personnel and bases directly. The results could be tragic, on a human level, and deeply destabilizing on a political and strategic level, since a successful assault on American personnel would presumably produce a whirlwind of violent consequences.
The time for retaliation in the wake of Iran's dastardly missile strikes has now passed. Unfortunately, that means that President Trump missed a crucial opportunity to demonstrate his seriousness about fulfilling his No. 1 responsibility as commander in chief: the protection of U.S. lives from foreign aggression.
We can only hope that this oversight does not put more of our servicemen in harm's way.
May 8 1968 and TBI was an unknown as a 'send them to the evac hospital' to see if their ears are ringing level of care. The explosives of that era undoubtedly were much softer than todays.
Now you want to know about bombs. The military should expect concussions. The NFL does why not them. My experiences are with fists and heads hitting on asphalt and my mother hitting her head on a tile floor. Sorry doesn’t;t meet your qualifications doctor.
I agree with your second paragraph. They are religious fanatics. The only way to stop a fanatic is to kill them.
a concussion IS an injury. If the command told trump no i juries someone should be relieved.
Yeah the real question is why Soleimani wasn’t taken out before....this was Trump’s finest hour...and imo if Americans were killed or severely wounded in Iran’s counter strike Trump would have made them pay 10 fold in blood and infrastructure...
I am not subject to spin. There were injuries as admitted Friday night by the TRUMP administration. There was thread started then. You might turn off your own spin cycle.
Not the same thing at all.
One bullet can kill a man.
One nuke simply ends the sender.
OK, suppose Iran nukes NYC. That’s where I was born and grew up, no doubt it would seriously piss me off.
What after that makes you afraid they would take over the world?
Here’s a hint: they do that, they ain’t taking over shit.
Well put.
If a U.S. President is unwilling to court-martial and summarily execute multiple members of a military leadership who operates that way in an 'effing war zone, then he has no business putting those troops in harm's way like that.
The author is grossly ignorant. He doesn’t understand that the President is actually destroying Iran rather than the author asked for tit for proportional tat.
Nicholas can’t comprehend the fact that by closing off virtually all Iranian oil exports, even those to the largest Iranian customer china, Iran is being destroyed, not just wounded.
Nicholas is so behind on current events he can’t comprehend the fact that The President has made good on his threats to the European hold outs to quit doing business with Iran or suffer very serious American retaliation in the form of 100% tariffs. The Euros have seemingly capitulated.
Nicholas thinks that by invoking the words American Serviceman he makes himself important. He does not.
His ignorance dooms himself to birdcage lining producer
Kills millions of Americans prior. Kill them first and save millions of lives.
Unfortunately that decision stretched all the way back to the WH. I think Reagan’s National Security advisor (Don’t remember which one!) bears the blame. Who knows he may have talked Reagan into agreeing with that policy.
> You have a neighbor with a gun in his bedroom. What gives you the right to take it away from him? <
To which I’d add: Maybe you gave your neighbor a reason (not necessarily a good reason) to buy that gun in the first place.
Remember George W. Bush’s “Axis of Evil” speech? In that speech he threatened Iraq, Iran, and North Korea. Then he went ahead and invaded Iraq.
Soon after that both Iran and North Korea ramped up their nuclear programs. No surprise there. Bush should have kept his stupid mouth shut.
Great point. Any foreign leader with half a brain has every reason to develop a WMD program to defend his country ... mainly against THE UNITED STATES.
Won’t get fooled again.
Sorry.
Hint: it would become a worldwide thermonuclear war involving US Russia China UK India Pakistan etc. Being pissed off would be the least of your troubles.
Its not taking over, but exterminating (bringing all to Paradise) the human race is their goal.
with no ammunition in their weapons
Absurd.
Iranian nuke goes off on US territory.
One hour later Iran is gone.
No way on earth Russia OR China would participate in that insanity.
If Pak and India take the opportunity to get in a few licks, that's their problem.
But can they fire their waves of cave missiles through glass?
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.