Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Trump's "Wag The Dog" Moment?



Iraqi Shiite militiamen stormed the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad earlier today, retaliating for the U.S. airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia forces in Iraq on Sunday. Dozens of the militiamen and their supporters entered the embassy and set a fire inside, while some climbed to the roof. The escalating conflict began when the Iranian-backed militia forces fired rockets into a U.S. military compound last week, killing a contractor and wounded others. U.S. warplanes responded with airstrikes that killed an estimated 25 Shiite militia members on Sunday. The government of Iraq had opposed the U.S. airstrikes, but was ignored.

Unhinged, impeached demagogue and draft dodger Donald "Bone Spurs" Trump, using his favorite form of official communication, tweeted this morning that he was holding Iran responsible for the embassy attack. Trump's mismanagement of Middle Eastern affairs is having repercussions, per the Associated Press:
"The developments represent a major downturn in Iraq-U.S. relations that could further undermine U.S. influence in the region and also weaken Washington’s hand in its maximum pressure campaign against Iran.

Iraq has long struggled to balance its ties with the U.S. and Iran, both allies of the Iraqi government. But the government’s angry reaction to the U.S. airstrikes and its apparent decision not to prevent the protesters from reaching the embassy signaled a sharp deterioration of U.S.-Iraq relations."  (our emphasis)
If and when Trump plunges us into a conflict with Iran, a much larger and militarily stronger country than Iraq, this may be this incident that prompted it. As the passage above notes, we need Iraq to help us in the region, and that help is looking more and more elusive with Trump's blundering.

Trump has been trying frantically to distract the public from his multiple failings and crimes, which have culminated in his impeachment. War in an election year -- the "wag the dog" strategy -- is a risky proposition, but it served former President Dumbya in 2004, who wrapped himself in the flag, and falsely conflated the 9-11 attack by mostly Saudi nationals with Saddam Hussein's saber rattling. Ominously, Trump is crazed and reckless enough to try anything to rally support, including armed conflict with Iran.

(photo: Qassim Abdul-Zahra/AP)

5 comments:

jsrtheta said...

Trump won't start a war in Iraq. Trump is terrified of starting a war, especially in the year he's seeking reelection.

Trump believes that starting an armed conflict is the path to defeat for him. And he might be right. But if we've learned anything from the last three years, it's that he is not a warmonger. Quite the opposite, in fact. He has resisted every chance to engage in military actions, save once, very early, in Syria, where he fired off a few missiles, killed maybe one guy, and disabled an airbase for about a day. That's it. Even when it would have been seen as justified, as with the Iranian downing of a U.S. drone, he did nothing.

There is no excuse for him as a person and a president, but that's not because he is eager or even willing to drag us into a shooting war. He isn't.

One Fly said...

"Ominously, Trump is crazed and reckless enough to try anything to rally support, including armed conflict with Iran."

NO SHIT!

Hackwhackers said...

jsrtheta -- We hope you're right, but he's entered a stage of heightened instability and unpredictability. His Joint Chiefs may provide the only brake to a wider conflict. Let's hope it's avoided.

W. Hackwhacker said...

One Fly -- we shit you not!

jsrtheta said...

Do not forget a key part of his personality: He is a coward.

"Warmonger" was a facile accusation to make given his insanity, but he is still pretty cunning, and, of course, always a coward.

There is literally nothing in his history (not his bombast, his actions) that contradicts this and nothing to support a willingness to wage war. His words are meaningless. His actions are where to look.