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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsReza Marashi: "I've spoken extensively with career U.S. gov officials ... re: Trump ineptitude"
Link to tweet
8 hours ago, 16 tweets, 3 min read
"We have no functional national security decision-making process in place. We have no plan for what comes next. They are woefully unprepared for what's about to pop off, and they're too stupid to realize it. People here are freaking out, and rightfully so."
"We're still trying to dig out from underneath the last war of choice, and now they're trying to start a new one. I finally cracked open the bottle of scotch you gave me that I've been keeping stashed away in my desk drawer."
"I'm gonna call you later tonight to talk through this so I can go into meetings tomorrow armed with some sane talking points to insert into this clusterfuck."
"When did most of us find out about killing Soleimani? After it already happened. Since then, we've been trying to cobble together contingency planning on the fly, but these charlatans ignore most of it, and then Trump does more stupid shit that puts us back at square one."
"All Trump cares about is shitting on Obama's legacy, sucking up to donors, and distracting from impeachment. None of this is about American interests or security. He's surrounded by ideological lunatic sycophants like Pence and Pompeo. But they're far from the only ones."
"So many of Trump's top advisors on Iran are military vets who served multiple tours of duty in our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They believe to their core that Iran is the reason why they lost those wars, and they're dead set on payback - no matter what it takes."
"They've been pushing to kill Soleimani for years, and they finally baited Trump into it. They think war with Iran is long overdue, so for them, this was a means to an end. When Iran responds, they'll tell Trump to hit the Iranians harder. You see where this could go."
"They know the Iraqis are gonna kick them out now, so they're gonna try to kill as many as possible on their way out. Iranians, Iraqis, whoever. Some of them are advising Trump to tell the Iraqi government to fuck off and dare them to make us leave. I shit you not. Insanity."
"When I used your points about Soleimani's murder being a catalyst for Iranians to rally around the flag, they said that was 'Obama apologist bullshit,' and the Soviet Union forced people against their will into public displays of support. So apparently Iran is a superpower now."
"Trump is threatening war crimes against Iran, and none of his top advisors have the courage to publicly oppose it. Instead, they act like cowards and go on background with journalists to express their opposition. They should all resign. They don't deserve to serve this country."
"We have friends that are getting deployed into war zones, but for what? Trump has deployed 14,000 troops over the past 6 months, and it didn't prevent the current crisis. At what point do we start asking whether deploying troops is part of the problem rather than the solution?"
"The scariest part is that they're just making shit up to justify their preferred course of action. When we point out inaccuracies or question logic, we're at best yelled at or at worst cut out of the process. Most of the political appointees are paranoid, unqualified, or both."
"Last year, if you would've asked me whether American institutions are durable enough to prevent a Trump-led war with Iran, I would've said absolutely. Today, I'm not so sure. For as bad as it looks to you all on the outside, it's even worse when you see it from the inside."
"One of Trump's top Iran advisors got suckered into a honey trap, had their laptop/iPhone stolen and hacked before they woke up, and the White House refused to take precautionary measures regarding their security clearance. Ladies and gents, I give you the Trump administration."
In conclusion: Yes, folks. It really is that bad. I am but a humble messenger of truth. The voice of the voiceless. That is all. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.
Ilsa
(61,695 posts)Who was stupid enough to fall into a honey trap, and is this person still there?
Berlin Expat
(950 posts)very much like to know exactly who that "top Iran advisor" was. I want a name, dammit.
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)He seems to be the top advisor to tRump about EVERYTHING.
bdamomma
(63,883 posts)nt.
he doesn't have any brains either.
AZ8theist
(5,477 posts)Rumor has it he's a hermaphrodite.
Sure looks like it to me. Many, many, many people have said......
pazzyanne
(6,556 posts)Fragment
(68 posts)Ilsa
(61,695 posts)Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)From: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/01/iran-hawks-inside-trumps-administration-mike-pompeo-bolton-robert-obrien-brian-hook/
"No other Trump administration official was willing to state the quiet part in such loud, blunt terms, but Bolton was far from alone in cheering for this particular outcome. With Bolton out of the picture, three senior officialsSecretary of State Mike Pompeo, national security adviser Robert OBrien, and diplomat Brian Hook (who is responsible for coordinating the US governments approach to Iran)have picked up where he left off, ushering in the most tense period of Iran-US relations since the 1979 revolution."
Qutzupalotl
(14,317 posts)eShirl
(18,494 posts)Who knew?
Cirque du So-What
(25,949 posts)Zolorp
(1,115 posts)So there's that.
gordianot
(15,242 posts)hlthe2b
(102,297 posts)wnylib
(21,497 posts)American fascist, the German fascist was a bit of a prude.
gordianot
(15,242 posts)Hitler had Coprophilia a sex fetish involving feces.
wnylib
(21,497 posts)things about Adolf, but not that particular fact. It would explain his niece's abhorrence of his obsession with her, beyond the incest factor. Also why his sex life appeared to be so limited as to seem prudish.
Interesting contrast, though, beteeen him and Trump. Trump is more openly aggressive about owning, controlling, and humiliating women through sexual aggression, whether physical or verbal. But he fears contamination, germs, and being 'dirtied' by sex.
Sounds like Hitler was obsessed with the idea of the 'dirtiness' of sex, or making it "unclean.' Or perhaps it was the idea of 'dirtying' a woman that turned him on.
gordianot
(15,242 posts)Anyone close to him is compromised including his deranged followers. All I need to know to form judgement on fellow citizens are you or were you ever a supporter of Donald Trump? I put Trumpers in the same category of Nazis former or current. Proceed with caution control your disdain.
Johnny2X2X
(19,069 posts)There's a tendency to give to Hitler an intelligence that he didn't have. What he did have was an aptitude, an aptitude for whipping up and exploiting fear.
The German government under the Nazis was a total mess and ran terribly. But they had mastered propaganda so whatever failure they had they told the public it was a success.
The WWII Germans had superior technology for fighting wars, but they ran the war terribly and made massive mistake after massive mistake. They truly couldn't get out of their own way.
Zolorp
(1,115 posts)Ilsa
(61,695 posts)He knew more, and it was downhill all the way after that.
All the rumpeteers I know haven't made it to that page yet, guess it would help if they could read, they still think he's doing a good job.
Some are thinking about what's going on and have become vewy kwiet.
Farmer-Rick
(10,190 posts)Funnel the remains of our dying economy to the American filthy rich.
Dismantling a democracy for the profit of only the filthy rich requires exactly those traits.
grantcart
(53,061 posts)Other one said
"Its my party and I will cry if I want to" with a picture of Abe Lincoln.
bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)a preparation for an invasion of Iran, and they worked very hard to scuttle American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere over the past two decades.
There are a lot of American military personnel who do hold a grudge against Iran for this. Iran succeeded in making Iraq a nightmare for America.
atreides1
(16,079 posts)Iran has the right to be concerned with anything that the US does in the region...because of the US participation in a coup that put the Shah in power for 26 years!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1953_Iranian_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat
bluedye33139
(1,474 posts)My subject was how veterans of recent conflicts have surrounded Trump and persuaded him to enact their vendetta against Iran, though.
I'm not going to follow your link and I'm not going to read a Wikipedia article.
brush
(53,792 posts)almost four times as big geographically with nearly three times as many people. It's terrain is much more than desert and much of it is mountainous like Afghanistan which has never been conquered.
It's farther away geographically requiring longer, more easily disrupted supply lines and it's technologically more advanced with a better military. Invading and fighting there would make the Iraq war look like a cakewalk.
trump needs to drop the Adderol snorting and push back from the table.
sinkingfeeling
(51,460 posts)with believers and loyalists.
blakstoneranger
(333 posts)This is what really bothers me about these wars is that they are always run by a bunch of disorganized, incompetent nincompoops. Let's how many of these MAGA nutjobs will join the service to fight the big brown monster.
blakstoneranger
(333 posts)Say what you want about that version of satan, he was a true patriot. He joined the military for one reason---to fight!! He was a decorated wounded veteran who suffered from mustard gas infection. What we have, on the other hand, is a Manchurian candidate: a person, especially a politician, being used as a puppet by an enemy power. The term is commonly used to indicate disloyalty or corruption, whether intentional or unintentional.
uponit7771
(90,347 posts)Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)hlthe2b
(102,297 posts)Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)She's a great reporter.
Of course, if they hadn't heard about it before, House Oversight and House Intel committees need to be on this ASAP.
quarbis
(314 posts)Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)scarletwoman
(31,893 posts)NCProgressive
(1,315 posts)It is inseparably attached to him just like his combover and penis.
calimary
(81,323 posts)Which he probably cant even spell, much less define.
quarbis
(314 posts)Fucked. Dickhead has no idea what hes done. If he bombs cultural sites and kills civilians hes committing war crimes.
BSdetect
(8,998 posts)There is no effective way to prevent a mega clusterfuck.
Yavin4
(35,443 posts)I though we won in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
Cognitive_Resonance
(1,546 posts)Pacifist Patriot
(24,653 posts)I'm in defense contracting and know a ton of ranking military personnel in the Air Force and Army. This is a sentiment I have never heard before. If anything, they blame political ineptitude at home for these losses.
Cognitive_Resonance
(1,546 posts)superpatriotman
(6,249 posts)Sounds like his entire government
Martin Eden
(12,871 posts)Our nation's fate is in the hands of a sociopath and his sycophants.
OMGWTF
(3,959 posts)BigmanPigman
(51,611 posts)hlthe2b
(102,297 posts)Puppyjive
(503 posts)A couple of things that I learned from my military career. Civilian oversight is critical. Although there are many intelligent troops, you can't let them take control of the government. This is what we call a coup or Marshall law. I specifically remember the part of the Geneva conventions that said we will not target foreign nationals. We now have that in our playbook. Many of my military buddies are pro Trump. They think they have it figured out. They are retired and making big bucks working for defense contractors. Many of these so called educated retired military members are educated from The University of Phoenix . No comment there. These are the people who are lobbying our lawmakers, creating a need for their services and making ridiculous amounts of money doing it, all in the name of security. We do not need these people surrounding our President and calling the shots. Scary times. I really wanted my son the join the military, but I am discouraging it right now. There is no mission anymore. There is no means to an end. All of these military people get their facts from FOX news. We are in a very dark place right now.