Tryin get that oil.

https://www.mediaite.com/news/john-bolton-addresses-us-military-involvement-venezuelan-uprising-all-options-are-on-the-table/

“It is a very delicate moment. I want to stress again, the president wants to see a peaceful transfer of power from Maduro to Guaido,” he offered. He then added “That possibility still exists if enough figures depart from the regime and support the opposition. And that is what we would like to see. We want to see the defense minister, the chief judge of the Supreme Court and the presidential guard.”

When asked if the United States might provide any military support, he claimed: “all options are on the table.”

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-administration-has-already-built-its-case-iran-war-n1007281

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http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=4&topic_id=13244683&mesg_id=13244683&listing_type=search#13244692

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“There is no fate that cannot be surmounted by scorn.” -Albert Camus

I'm not saying, Iran wasn't involved in this. I'm just saying I know Bolton was smiling ear to ear

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/06/14/iran-removed-mine-off-tanker-targeted-attack-us-says-video-release/1453595001/


WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran was responsible for an attack on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

"Iran did do it," he said during a wide-ranging 50-minute interview on Fox News. “It was them that did it.” He also called Iran, "a nation of terror."

The president pointed to a video the U.S. military released, Fox News reported, that officials say shows Iran’s Revolutionary Guard removing an unexploded limpet mine from one of the oil tankers targeted near the Strait of Hormuz. The video suggests that the Islamic Republic sought to remove evidence of its involvement from the scene.

Iran has denied being involved, accusing the U.S. instead of waging an “Iranophobic campaign” against it.

The U.S. Navy rushed to assist the stricken vessels in the Gulf of Oman, off the coast of Iran, including one that was set ablaze Thursday by an explosion.

The ships’ operators offered no immediate explanation on who or what caused the damage against the Norwegian-owned MT Front Altair and the Japanese-owned Kokuka Courageous. Each was loaded with petroleum products, and the Front Altair burned for hours, sending up a column of thick, black smoke.

Thursday’s attack resembled that of an attack in May targeting four oil tankers off the nearby Emirati port of Fujairah. U.S. officials similarly accused Iran of targeting the ships with limpet mines, which are magnetic and attach to the hulls of a ship. The mines disable, but don’t sink, a vessel.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told journalists on Thursday that the U.S. assessment of Iran’s involvement was based in part on intelligence, as well as the expertise needed for the operation. It was also based on recent incidents in the region, which the U.S. also blamed on Iran, including the use of limpet mines in the Fujairah attack, he said. He also tied Iran to a drone attack by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on a crucial Saudi oil pipeline around the same time.

“Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran,” Pompeo said. He didn’t elaborate and took no questions.

Iran denied being involved in the attacks last month and its foreign minister questioned the timing of Thursday’s incidents, given that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran.

Pompeo noted that Abe had asked Iran to enter into talks with Washington but Tehran “rejected” the overture.

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Backed out against the advice of who:John Bolton

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-trump-ordered-military-strike-iran-reversed-sources/story?id=63853570

President Donald Trump ordered a military strike on Iran late Thursday, but reversed his decision after a plan was already underway, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The sources tell ABC News the president’s reason for changing course was unclear, but the reversal was against the advice of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton.

The plan and reversal was first reported by The New York Times.

A senior level administration source briefed on the plan says it would have escalated the situation quickly had it been carried out. Officials feared the attack could have caused hundreds of civilian casualties.

Top politicians from the Senate and House, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, met with administration officials over the downed drone Thursday afternoon.

"The president may not intend to go to war here, but we're worried that he and the administration may bumble into a war," Schumer said.

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You don’t get credit for resolving an issue you created

“Last week, the United States blamed Iran for attacking two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, despite a lack of any confirmed evidence. Iran has denied the attacks and has repeatedly said it is not seeking war with the U.S.

The U.S. Navy said Wednesday that fragments from a mine that allegedly struck a Japanese-owned tanker last week bear a “strong resemblance” to an Iranian mine; however, the president of the Japanese company has said the vessel was not attacked by mines but two flying objects. The U.N. and other international actors have called for restraint and a de-escalation of tensions.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top Trump officials have reportedly been linking Iran to al-Qaeda and the Taliban during closed-door briefings with lawmakers, in what Democrats fear could be part of a plan to invoke the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force to attack Iran.”

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If you can't understand it without an explanation

you can't understand it with an explanation

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

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For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

went out of my way to trip someone walking down the hall, told him he wasn't going to do shit and threatened to kill him, then when he pushed me back I did my best "YO HOLD ME BACK, HOLD ME BACK" with all my asshole friends pretending to hold me back while I shit myself in fear.

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12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

That's the analogy I was looking for.

Pompeo and Bolton/and the military complex are the ones behind beating the war drums.
Look at their careers...they're war hawks, even by American standards.
The military industrial complex has been itching to invade Iran for yers now.
As Commander in chief of the military, Trump stopped an attack on a sovereign nation, at least that day.
I don't think he's a peace advocate at all...but he said no.
He should be commended for it.

Watch the critiques in the media devolve into how weak this makes us look, and how unpresidential Trump is for stpping the attack.

We shouldn't even be considering attacking Iran, at all.

If anything, he'll get (rightfully) criticized for ALMOST launching an attack over taking down an unmanned aircraft in disputed territory.

Trump was prolly like “hell, yeah.. let’s bomb their asses”

errrr.. oh, real war? My war?

“Hoooold up, waaait” - Nate Dogg

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

They'd be sitting at home cashing those spread-freedom-by-blowing-shit-up thinktank checks if he hadn't re-elevated them to positions of influence in spite of literally everybody knowing exactly what they stood for.

______________________________

"Walleye, a lot of things are going to go wrong in your life that technically aren't your fault. Always remember that this doesn't make you any less of an idiot"

--Walleye's Dad

He could've not hired all of those hawks
He could've not pulled out of the Iran deal
He could've not spent this whole week playing up how excited he was to do war

We can't keep setting the bar so low.

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12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

as they give to Trump.

I know there is more to it but I really hope we aren’t pushed over the edge by a drone being shot down.

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TBH the fact that you're even a mod here fits squarely within Jag's narrative of OK-sanctioned aggression, bullying, and toxicity. *shrug*

Today, we are all murder-drones.

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12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

When you are slipping on the polls like a drunk fireman, the easiest cure is to drum up a proxy war in the news cycle. For the most part, Americans thought of this exactly like you did and he backed out. Nothing to do with convictions or it being a "provocation" by the Iranians, purely a hedge on perception of his base. Ultimately, he's a chickenshit who would rather be a waffler than a proven villain, so he called it off.

Is going to be the difference between us starting another pointless war in the Middle East. We just have to spend the next year and a half hoping he gets too focused on his big beautiful wall or what they're saying on The View to authorize an invasion of Iran.

The next GOP president won't be this dumb.

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12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

what??? if there is a plan underway why is that being reported?

nothing about this is good.

until the last minute.

That's coming from 45's Twitter, but even if it's true, why is that the LAST thing you ask about?

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12 play and 12 planets are enlighten for all the Aliens to Party and free those on the Sex Planet-maxxx

XBL: trkc21
Twitter: @tyrcasey

They reported this bullshit for a whole day and only now are some news reports noting that it doesn't make any sense. So he pulled out because of casualty estimates, but he didn't have casualty estimates until AFTER the strike had been ordered? Ten minutes before the missiles were supposed to fly? Really Donald? Is that how it works?

It was a complete, obvious, bullshit bluff on Trump's part. Just like sending the perfectly round number of troops to the region in the first place. He ordered this strike with absolutely no intention of going through with it. Someone in the WH leaked the story to the Times (at least that's where I saw it first) knowing that they'd eat up any shit like this and report it as breaking news. And then when the rest of the manufactured story is released it sounds like "Trump was very serious! This guy is crazy! He'll go to war at the drop of a hat! We're all lucky he chose to be the bigger man THIS TIME!"

They think they're signalling to the Iranian government that he'll go to war, and they also think they're signalling to the American people that he takes casualties seriously. Neither is true. It's the kind of transparent bluff you'd see from a middle schooler.