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Perpetual Middle East Geopolitical Quagmire Megathread


Hugo Stiglitz

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This has whole thing has the very real likelihood of bringing not only the US but also the British sins home to roost. 

If the Iraqi parliament votes tomorrow/today to remove US troops from Iraq and end the operational agreement between the countries then a deployment of the 82nd into Kurdistan would be an invasion of a foreign country and an act of war against Iraq and by proxy Iran being the main target. 

It would also bring into debate Turkey and Kurdistan. The Kurds want their own country. If we leverage a historic bond with them only to leave them susceptible to Turkish rule that will be another fuck you to a populace in the region. 

I've seen a lot of that country and I am so happy that I'm no longer in the military and have to deal with these reindeer games. Constant meddling, playing sides and "strategic chess" (Brzezinski) has led us here. 

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1 hour ago, InkaUtexas said:

I did. I said never. Iran was never going to follow the deal. You seem to have faith in international organizations. I don't, and I work with them. 

Do you have evidence that proves they were violating the terms of the deal or are you just assuming they were because of your belief in their intent to violate it?

The last person I trust is Donald Trump. 

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1 minute ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Do you have evidence that proves they were violating the terms of the deal or are you just assuming they were because of your belief in their intent to violate it?

The last person I trust is Donald Trump. 

I agree, but Iran is the enemy here.  They have every intention to injure us any way they can.  Don’t defend them.  No ne3 t9 defend trump, but don’t defend Iran.  They have very bad intentions.

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4 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

Iran has never been in a corner Sir, not since the revolution. They are the Aggies of the Middle East. The Clerics were active before they took power. Being the Shia state they always were on the offensive, it is just that most Americans were not paying attention. My family has been fighting them since the revolution. My father worked ops for desert 1. My cousin was sitting on boats guarding tankers in the 80's. In Peru (1992) they tried to take out my mother. In Bosnia it was the first time they shot at me. I was working development right after the Dayton Accords. In Afghanistan they hit my development team, ironically killing 2 Shia. Brit MOD ran the tests to confirm it was Iranian explosives in the IED. My teams crime? They worked for an international company. So spare me your excuses. This is a bad dude, they are a bad government. I am not saying we are better, but alas, that is the way the world is. 

I am having dinner tonight with my old Afghan Interpreter. He knows this will lead to more bloodshed in his homeland, yet he is happy we are finally truly fighting Iran. As he told me last night, Al Qods is the silent killer in the Islamic world. And he is a Hazara Shia who lived in Iran. 

But what in God's name makes you think that any of this gives you any more insight to the Geo-political correctness of taking out this guy?   It's like saying that there were Mexican criminals in Tijuana in the 80s,  and your cousin fought them.   That some drug traffickers tried to take out your mom in 1992 in Montana.   Your father worked high up DEA in California in the late 1980s.   And you are about to have lunch with your Mexican interpreter.  As to your mind meld as to why they killed your guys, maybe they did not like the folks who have been hanging out in their country after invading it almost 20 years ago, or they are annoyed we drone strike killed their family at wedding by mistake. 

Point is, none of the similar stories above is going to change my mind about the absurdity of the Trump border wall, despite a similar story about your cuz and mom and dad and some interpreter and Mexico.   Because their are lots of really good reasons not to build it, despite the above.

So other than  being justifiably red-assed about "them" trying to kill mama, why is this current escalation a good thing?   Because for all that band-width, it said nothing about why the recent attack is good for our troops, or our country, or our never ending drunken sailor spending asses throwing more money at more middle eastern war shit.

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Just now, JimmyJames said:

Trump is the bad guy. His supporters are ignorant idiots and/or assholes. They are a minority in this country. The election was stolen. 

Oh no no no. If you are going to absolve every warmonger in Washington regardless of the letter behind their name because of your dislike for Trump than that speaks to your bias. They're all complicit.

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Just now, maninblack said:

Oh no no no. If you are going to absolve every warmonger in Washington regardless of the letter behind their name because of your dislike for Trump than that speaks to your bias. They're all complicit.

I’m not absolving anyone. Trump is the president. It’s ultimately his call. He’s an evil narcissist asshole. Blaming others is pointless. He calls the shots. 

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1 hour ago, InkaUtexas said:

I did. I said never. Iran was never going to follow the deal. You seem to have faith in international organizations. I don't, and I work with them. 

NATO seems to have worked pretty well.   You sound like that Reagan quote about I'm from the government and I'm here to help you.  The folks who love that quote also would be fucked without an FDA, USDA, and a score of alphabet agencies trying to make life less shitty.  The fact they do not always work as well as we'd like is a silly reason to disregard the effort or the organization.  Same thing with international organizations.  The only thing worse than them, is not having them.  

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13 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

But what in God's name makes you think that any of this gives you any more insight to the Geo-political correctness of taking out this guy?   It's like saying that there were Mexican criminals in Tijuana in the 80s,  and your cousin fought them.   That some drug traffickers tried to take out your mom in 1992 in Montana.   Your father worked high up DEA in California in the late 1980s.   And you are about to have lunch with your Mexican interpreter.  As to your mind meld as to why they killed your guys, maybe they did not like the folks who have been hanging out in their country after invading it almost 20 years ago, or they are annoyed we drone strike killed their family at wedding by mistake. 

Point is, none of the similar stories above is going to change my mind about the absurdity of the Trump border wall, despite a similar story about your cuz and mom and dad and some interpreter and Mexico.   Because their are lots of really good reasons not to build it, despite the above.

So other than  being justifiably red-assed about "them" trying to kill mama, why is this current escalation a good thing?   Because for all that band-width, it said nothing about why the recent attack is good for our troops, or our country, or our never ending drunken sailor spending asses throwing more money at more middle eastern war shit.

Yeah, this.  Say you like the escalation?  What's the objective here?  What does victory look like?  What's the time table?  Who are our allies?

Also, can we just basically admit that a Republican President comes with a war in the Middle East?  We're 3 for 3 since 1988.

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Just now, Aqua Buddha said:

Yeah, this.  Say you like the escalation?  What's the objective here?  What does victory look like?  What's the time table?  Who are our allies?

Also, can we just basically admit that a Republican President comes with a war in the Middle East?  We're 3 for 3 since 1988.

Eisenhower knew what he was talking about. It will never stop until the Republican Party finally dies. 

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6 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

Today?

3 years, at least.  TDS is real.

Yes, yes it is.  Just not how you think.  

Quote

Lou Dobbs says Trump has already set a standard "for presidents that most mortals won't be able to meet," saying he "out-works them, he out-thinks, he is remarkably resourceful, he's bright, his judgment is second to none"

 

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2 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

I also think we confuse the Regime with the People. I am watching what they are saying and not the regime. Let them raise their Red Flag. I think the Iranian people, if we keep putting pressure on the regime, will drop it. 

Of all the stupid shit on this thread, this is the stupidest. If only there were previous examples of the US deposing regimes and all the joyous citizens welcoming us as liberators. I sometimes forget that all the Bush neocon imbeciles are still around even though a new breed of Trump idiot has taken over Washington. Jesus fucking Christ. 

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21 minutes ago, Sbbruin said:

I agree, but Iran is the enemy here.  They have every intention to injure us any way they can.  Don’t defend them.  No ne3 t9 defend trump, but don’t defend Iran.  They have very bad intentions.

Iran is bad. Over the years we've tried making deals with them and it's always been Iran who has broken the deal. Still, I think it's necessary that we keep trying to make deals in good faith. I figured they would break this deal too. All the evidence suggests that they didn't break this deal, regardless of whether you think it was a good deal or not. It appears that for the first time it was the U.S. who broke the deal. We expect it from the Iranians. We're supposed to be better than that. 

Iran is bad. The Saudis are no better. They are the sponsors and protectors of the fundamentalist interpretation of Islam that has resulted in a lot more American deaths than can be blamed on Iran. 

mdf50834.jpg

But they're our friends. They pay cash. 

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But what in God's name makes you think that any of this gives you any more insight to the Geo-political correctness of taking out this guy?   It's like saying that there were Mexican criminals in Tijuana in the 80s,  and your cousin fought them.   That some drug traffickers tried to take out your mom in 1992 in Montana.   Your father worked high up DEA in California in the late 1980s.   And you are about to have lunch with your Mexican interpreter.  As to your mind meld as to why they killed your guys, maybe they did not like the folks who have been hanging out in their country after invading it almost 20 years ago, or they are annoyed we drone strike killed their family at wedding by mistake.  Point is, none of the similar stories above is going to change my mind about the absurdity of the Trump border wall, despite a similar story about your cuz and mom and dad and some interpreter and Mexico.   Because their are lots of really good reasons not to build it, despite the above. So other than  being justifiably red-assed about "them" trying to kill mama, why is this current escalation a good thing?   Because for all that band-width, it said nothing about why the recent attack is good for our troops, or our country, or our never ending drunken sailor spending asses throwing more money at more middle eastern war shit.

 

 

Guy whose entire family has made their living via Middle Eastern war for generations supports Middle Eastern escalation. Screen_Shot_2018-10-25_at_11_02.15_AM.thumb.jpg.ddcda287e9078272e6b54359e08819d8.jpg

 

 

 

 

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5 hours ago, bolverk said:

This all just so sad and fucked up. It doesn’t have to be inevitable, but neither our current government nor theirs appear willing to be a voice of calm and reason.

With Trump in the White House, it is inevitable.  He does not like to correct himself, or be corrected.  If he knew how to drive, and he's driving down the road doing 70mph in a 55mph, and you tell him he shouldn't, he's going to say "fuck you, I'm Donald Fucking Trump" and next thing you know, he's doing 80.

When people criticize him, he's liable to double down, only it's worse - the airheads on Fox News worried about their 4 year-old daughters having to serve in the military are encouraging the hell out of him.

Trump thinks he's always the smartest person in the room, and once he gets it in his head that he's in the right, he's not going to reverse course, no matter how many die. For all we know, they might have been targeting one of the lesser-ranking members in that convoy, and once it got out who we killed, and people started getting worked up about it, Trump may have decided "fuck you, I'm the President, I can have anybody killed that I want, hey, get Pence in here, put out some tweets linking Iran to 9/11."

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22 minutes ago, Hook1997 said:

I’m not a Trump fan but how people see killing a guy who is proven to be responsible for terror attacks on US soldiers as a terrible thing I don’t get.  Defiantly wouldn’t say that makes us the bad guys...   

You do realize he’s on Twitter threatening to bomb civilian targets in Iran?

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11 minutes ago, Aqua Buddha said:

You do realize he’s on Twitter threatening to bomb civilian targets in Iran?

Once again did you miss the part where I’m not a Trump fan?  Just saying it wasn’t a bad thing to kill a terrorist.  But also don’t see a tweet from him talking about bombing civilians at all?  

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45 minutes ago, Hook1997 said:

I’m not a Trump fan but how people see killing a guy who is proven to be responsible for terror attacks on US soldiers as a terrible thing I don’t get.

Well, what if it leads to even more terror attacks than would have happened if we hadn't killed him?  I'll hang up and listen.

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14 minutes ago, Gatorubet said:

Well, what if it leads to even more terror attacks than would have happened if we hadn't killed him?  I'll hang up and listen.

There’s no perfect answer to shit like this...  Option one keep him alive and let him keep doing attacks on Americans and killing them, option two kill him and see if anything actually happens.  Do we know anything will actually happen yet?  No.  It’s not black and white as most politics isn’t but most people see all politics that way these days.  One side can say the sky is blue the other will argue till they are blue in the face it’s not right now, it’s a fucking joke.  See above Post for reference 🙄.  Killing a guy that has killed Americans before is not close to slaughtering innocent people.  So yea we’re isis I guess lol. 

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4 minutes ago, Hook1997 said:

There’s no perfect answer to shit like this...  Option one keep him alive and let him keep doing attacks on Americans and killing them, option two kill him and see if anything actually happens.  Do we know anything will actually happen yet?  No.  It’s not black and white as most politics isn’t but most people see all politics that way these days.  One side can say the sky is blue the other will argue till they are blue in the face it’s not right now, it’s a fucking joke.  See above Post for reference 🙄.  Killing a guy that has killed Americans before is not close to slaughtering innocent people.  So yea we’re isis I guess lol. 

Are you dense?

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2 hours ago, Al Bundy's Napoleon Hand said:

I wish I could remember who this expert was discussing this when the nuclear deal was put in place, but if I remember correctly it was framed as sort of an unspoken given that ultimately Iran could get around the deal, or cheat, but with the deal in place, it would set them back by a decade, thus worthwhile.

They attacked the deal like it was saying Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in ten years. The deal would've been re-negotiated and extended providing that Iran remained in compliance. 

Carrots and sticks, how do they work?

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There’s no perfect answer to shit like this...  Option one keep him alive and let him keep doing attacks on Americans and killing them, option two kill him and see if anything actually happens.  Do we know anything will actually happen yet?  No.  It’s not black and white as most politics isn’t but most people see all politics that way these days.  One side can say the sky is blue the other will argue till they are blue in the face it’s not right now, it’s a fucking joke.  See above Post for reference .  Killing a guy that has killed Americans before is not close to slaughtering innocent people.  So yea we’re isis I guess lol. 

Those were the only two options? Huh. Interesting. So, I guess the option of “kill him covertly and don’t brag about it on twitter so we maintain deniability” wasn’t a thing? You know, like the Russians do? A little Polonium tea, maybe.

There are plenty of wrong ways to do the right thing. Trump has a gift for finding them.
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30 minutes ago, Hook1997 said:

There’s no perfect answer to shit like this...  Option one keep him alive and let him keep doing attacks on Americans and killing them, option two kill him and see if anything actually happens.  Do we know anything will actually happen yet?  No.  It’s not black and white as most politics isn’t but most people see all politics that way these days.  One side can say the sky is blue the other will argue till they are blue in the face it’s not right now, it’s a fucking joke.  See above Post for reference 🙄.  Killing a guy that has killed Americans before is not close to slaughtering innocent people.  So yea we’re isis I guess lol. 

Would you be cool with the Iranians killing say....a high-ranking CIA official or state department official who was fomenting turmoil within Iran?

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