Perpetual Middle East Geopolitical Quagmire Megathread

[Judge Roybeanbag 11856]

19 minutes ago, The Hot Dog Buffet said:

It would be interesting to see how a draft works given the current obesity rate among our youth.

Username checks out.  

[Lagunamadre 1975]

3 minutes ago, lemonlime said:

I'd be willing to bet he still doesn't.

Putin?  MBS?  

MBS for sure. In fact I would bet Kushner and MBS's bromance had a lot to do with this. A US/Iran all out war is Saudi's wet dream. Let the American's spend their blood and treasure to the benefit of the Kingdom. 

[Guest Lobo]

1 minute ago, GRHorn said:

Don’t be a jackass.

Pompeo perhaps. Or some other Unknown establishment Person. 

So there was a second whistleblower?

David Mamet has never been one for sequels,  but there’s one in here somewhere.  

[Fozzz 152]

1 hour ago, StruggleBus said:

Note to self: When a terrorist is blown up in your vicinity, don't move in close to get a sweet video for Worldstar.

Not a good idea, but we do double taps to kill the medics and other first responders.  

[Parliament 14559]

We can debate how we did it, and why we did it. But do we agree it's good that he's dead?

[bad_teammate 13479]

Is there a big sign in the sky that says, "Hey we just bombed a terrorist!" that first responders can read after a drone attack?

[SubliminalHorn 6995]

43 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

Are trans folks stilled banned from serving? If you are willing to learn there is still hope, buddy. 

Yeah not my thing

[GRHorn 105]

16 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

French's argument, in its entirety, is "we're in Iraq legally and he was in Iraq so killing him was legal." That's not a terribly compelling legal argument.

Don’t be such a dishonest twat.
 

You’re excluding the self defense against attacks. Whether you agree with that or not, it’s the argument he presented.  

[Goredho 17627]

Thought #1:  While I am horrified that Trump is in charge while this is playing out, Iraq/Iran/the ME is a problem he inherited.  The only right decision was never to invade Iraq in the first place.

Thought #2:  Given the number of decisions of similar scale that Trump makes flippantly on a regular basis, I wonder what problems of his origin that we'll be dealing with 2 decades from now?

Edited January 3, 2020 by Goredho

[GSU&UT 1799]

16 minutes ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

Here we go..

Hell yes, let's fucking go. Another multi-decade war baby!

[Lagunamadre 1975]

13 minutes ago, Parliament said:

We can debate how we did it, and why we did it. But do we agree it's good that he's dead?

Is it a good thing that Sadam is dead? He was a bad dude for sure, is the world a better place without him? Was his death worth the trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives we spent as a consequence? We don't live in a vacuum. If there are no consequences for Suleimani's death, sure, burn in hell you POS, good job America. But is his death worth the lives of a couple thousand 19 year old kids from the mid-west? Is it worth trillions of dollars in taxpayer money? Is it worth $150/oil that would drag us into a recession and kill American manufacturing? Actions have consequences. I just hope this admistration is ready for what it just started, because if it is not, Suleimani might become synonymous with Archduke Ferdinand.  

Edited January 3, 2020 by Lagunamadre

[DixonHur 11941]

I'm just glad the Russians and Chinese haven't been doing training exercises with the Iranian military... otherwise this could have been bad.

[4th&Five 41904]

Just now, Lagunamadre said:

Is it a good thing that Sadam is dead? He was a bad dude for sure, is the world a better place without him? Was his death worth the trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives we spent as a consequence? We don't live in a vacuum. If there are no consequences for Suleimani's death, sure, burn in hell you POS, good job America. But is his death worth a couple thousand 19 year kids from the mid-west? Is it worth trillions of dollars in taxpayer money? Is it worth $150/oil that would drag us into a recession and kill American manufacturing? Actions have consequences. I just hope this admistration is ready for what it just started, because if it is not, Suleimani might become synonymous with Archduke Ferdinand.  

You left out the countless civilians we killed/will kill again as well.

[Hank Scorpio 17924]

 

 

[Lagunamadre 1975]

1 minute ago, 4th&Five said:

You left out the countless civilians we killed/will kill again as well.

Yes, the worst of all of the collateral damage and yet the one American's care the least about. Sadly, What might make American's care more about this than we did the slaughter of Afghanis and Iraqis, is that Iranian women are hot.  

[Foosters 18224]

7 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

You left out the countless civilians we killed/will kill again as well.

I was gonna say, there are anywhere from 100k - 200k dead innocent civilians. I assumed he left those out because it's obvious the pro-trump guys here could not care less about dead Muslim women and children.

[Brisketexan 106618]

Just now, Foosters said:

I was gonna say, there are anywhere from 100k - 200k dead innocent civilians. I assumed he left those out because it's obvious the pro-trump guys here could not care less about dead Muslim women and children.

Oh, they care.  They care a lot.  Dead mooslems?  Their reaction:

[elfenix 34658]

let me see if i have this straight:

an american mercenary was killed in a rocket attack by ________ on an iraqi military base on december 27

in response, the US bombed irani-backed iraqi militia located hundreds of miles away on december 29

which then led to mass protests at the US embassy in baghdad, in which no one was killed

so, earlier today (local time), the US assassinated a high level irani military commander, along with several iraqis, near a civilian airport

is that correct?

[Message Board User 12405]

1 hour ago, hayden_horn said:

people are complicated.

Insanity.

Do you even cancel culture bro?

[Bateshorn 9989]

Think about whose calling the shots here: Donald Trump.  The wording of the DOD press release makes it clear that Trump ordered this.  Not that this was a joint administration decision. I have a theory that part of this was driven by the Ayatollah taunting Trump yesterday that he wouldn't do anything. Which means he's reacting viscerally (which isn't a surprise.).  Now, given Trump's incompetence and mental state, you can make a valid argument as to whether this option should have even been presented to him.  He's Donald Trump, how the fuck is he gonna know what we can do or not do?  Give him the option of donking off some 3rd Tier Iranian in Yemen and call it a fucking day. 

Which leads me to how this plays out.  What happens the first time the Iranian's manage to sneak a mine or a couple exocets through a carrier group and you have the news playing video of the Truman on fire in the Persian Gulf?  How's he likely to react to that? 

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13707]

59 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

The Rock knew about the OBL hit before people in Congress did under Obama.

Who fucking cares who was briefed and who wasn't?

First off, you have your facts 100% wrong. Congressional leaders on both sides were briefed about the OBL raid for months in advance. And they were told several days in advance it was going to happen.

Second, while that story has never been fully explained, the Rock wasn't tweeting about it 2 days before the attack on OBL like Eric did here. Rock didn't break the OBL story to the public until about 6-7 hours after it occurred. I'm sure word was spreading quickly in DC and within the military.  He also followed one of Rumsfeld's aides in leaking it online.

Unfortunately Trump has a right to disclose confidential information to Eric, even if Eric wants to jump on twitter to tell the world. And while Eric didn't give any details away, it could easily lead many of our enemies to change plans.

[immamac 44199]

3 minutes ago, elfenix said:

let me see if i have this straight:

an american mercenary was killed in a rocket attack by ________ on an iraqi military base on december 27

in response, the US bombed irani-backed iraqi militia located hundreds of miles away on december 29

which then led to mass protests at the US embassy in baghdad, in which no one was killed

so, earlier today (local time), the US assassinated a high level irani military commander, along with several iraqis, near a civilian airport

is that correct?

Not at all, but that's not the point you were trying to make was it? Instead of talking out of your ass and being coy why don't you just say what you are trying to say. 

[atomheartbevo 90546]

Schumer was just on the floor of the Senate, stating that top leaders weren’t briefed beforehand, and that Trump does not have the authority to start a war with Iran.  

He doesn’t understand that Eric Trump was briefed. And that’s what matters.   

Also, I want Turtle to go on record saying that Trump should be able to start a war with Iran.   

[Foosters 18224]

1 minute ago, immamac said:

Not at all, but that's not the point you were trying to make was it? Instead of talking out of your ass and being coy why don't you just say what you are trying to say. 

I think he's saying it was a fucking dumb decision. You needed that explained, or are you just being coy as well?

[bad_teammate 13479]

Pelosi and Schumer are going to bravely demand that Trump ask permission and then stoically not follow up when Trump refuses.

[immamac 44199]

Just now, atomheartbevo said:

Schumer was just on the floor of the Senate, stating that top leaders weren’t briefed beforehand, and that Trump does not have the authority to start a war with Iran.  

He doesn’t understand that Eric Trump was briefed. And that’s what matters.   

Also, I want Turtle to go on record saying that Trump should be able to start a war with Iran.   

Trump can do whatever the fuck he wants that's what all of you seem to be missing. Who's gonna stop him? A bunch of fucking suits who are being paid off by defense contractors in the form of campaign finances - get real buddy. Until you and your friends and all their friends and all their friends (4 degrees of separation) get together and protest ain't shit gonna happen. 

Get out and fucking vote. Get out and campaign actively against Donald Trump's reelection campaign. Spend all your resources available making sure that he doesn't get reelected. Then hope to God or whatever the next elected president neuters the executive branch from the power creep that has happened over time. 

Until then stop talking shit and being part of the reality TV show drama. 

 

[Brisketexan 106618]

6 minutes ago, Bateshorn said:

Think about whose calling the shots here: Donald Trump.  The wording of the DOD press release makes it clear that Trump ordered this.  Not that this was a joint administration decision. I have a theory that part of this was driven by the Ayatollah taunting Trump yesterday that he wouldn't do anything. Which means he's reacting viscerally (which isn't a surprise.).  Now, given Trump's incompetence and mental state, you can make a valid argument as to whether this option should have even been presented to him.  He's Donald Trump, how the fuck is he gonna know what we can do or not do?  Give him the option of donking off some 3rd Tier Iranian in Yemen and call it a fucking day. 

Which leads me to how this plays out.  What happens the first time the Iranian's manage to sneak a mine or a couple exocets through a carrier group and you have the news playing video of the Truman on fire in the Persian Gulf?  How's he likely to react to that? 

 

Yeah.  There's a non-zero chance that Staboned is going to run out of opportunities to post his "happy no-nukes day" posts.  Seriously.  Does anyone think that petulant, enraged, infantile Trump has any restraint against popping off a nuke in response when Iran takes out one of our capital ships in the Gulf?

[HenryJames 67116]

1 minute ago, immamac said:

Trump can do whatever the fuck he wants that's what all of you seem to be missing. Who's gonna stop him? A bunch of fucking suits who are being paid off by defense contractors in the form of campaign finances - get real buddy. Until you and your friends and all their friends and all their friends (4 degrees of separation) get together and protest ain't shit gonna happen. 

Get out and fucking vote. Get out and campaign actively against Donald Trump's reelection campaign. Spend all your resources available making sure that he doesn't get reelected. Then hope to God or whatever the next elected president neuters the executive branch from the power creep that has happened over time. 

Until then stop talking shit and being part of the reality TV show drama. 

 

You’re not the boss of me.

[Lagunamadre 1975]

1 minute ago, atomheartbevo said:

Schumer was just on the floor of the Senate, stating that top leaders weren’t briefed beforehand, and that Trump does not have the authority to start a war with Iran.  

He doesn’t understand that Eric Trump was briefed. And that’s what matters.   

Also, I want Turtle to go on record saying that Trump should be able to start a war with Iran.   

That Eric Trump tweet deal is bullshit. He was replying to some right-wing nut who shared a video of soldiers on their way to the US embassy a couple days before the strike. It would make much more sense in the context that he was implying the soldiers in the video he was responding to were about to "open a can of whoop ass" rather than a drone strike days away that his dumb fat fuck father probably didn't even know about yet. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13707]

4 minutes ago, Lagunamadre said:

That Eric Trump tweet deal is bullshit. He was replying to some right-wing nut who shared a video of soldiers on their way to the US embassy a couple days before the strike. It would make much more sense in the context that he was implying the soldiers in the video he was responding to were about to "open a can of whoop ass" rather than a drone strike days away that his dumb fat fuck father probably didn't even know about yet. 

Then if his tweet was unrelated to this attack why did he delete it? It's not like people don't know it existed.  the simple explanation is that donald told his son.

[Lagunamadre 1975]

2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Then if his tweet was unrelated to this attack why did he delete it? It's not like people don't know it existed.  the simple explanation is that donald told his son.

I would guess because the embassy was still under siege and it could have gone way way south from there and if it had he would have had a "mission accomplished" type embarrassment with that tweet. 

[Goredho 17627]

 

12 minutes ago, bad_teammate said:

Pelosi and Schumer are going to bravely demand that Trump ask permission and then stoically not follow up when Trump refuses.

[elfenix 34658]

16 minutes ago, immamac said:

Not at all, but that's not the point you were trying to make was it? Instead of talking out of your ass and being coy why don't you just say what you are trying to say. 

care to correct any of that or are you just going to attack me?

[atomheartbevo 90546]

9 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Yeah.  There's a non-zero chance that Staboned is going to run out of opportunities to post his "happy no-nukes day" posts.  Seriously.  Does anyone think that petulant, enraged, infantile Trump has any restraint against popping off a nuke in response when Iran takes out one of our capital ships in the Gulf?

I think the DOD has restraint and would slow-roll such orders while frantically calling everybody in Congress.   I think that the GOP knows that us popping off nukes means a massive defeat on Election Day in November.   There’s a reason why we haven’t used nukes since 1945, even though we’ve had plenty of situations where politicians might have tried to justify it.  

[atomheartbevo 90546]

3 minutes ago, Goredho said:

 

1x1000, X

Nancy could easily slide into my Eva Gabor/Green Acres fantasies.   

Edited January 3, 2020 by atomheartbevo

[Lagunamadre 1975]

4 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Then if his tweet was unrelated to this attack why did he delete it? It's not like people don't know it existed.  the simple explanation is that donald told his son.

Also, I think our assassination of Suleimani was in response to the attack on our embassy, which was still ongoing when Eric tweeted that, so I highly doubt the details of the drone strike had even been formulated yet. Just seems like common sense to me that he was just commenting on the white supremacists tweet with a little Toby Keith jargon.  

[Goredho 17627]

2 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

1x1000, X

Nancy could easily slide into my Eva Gabor/Green Acres fantasies.   

Young Nancy fembot for me.

[F250 29173]

3 hours ago, DalTxHornFan said:

David French (no fan of Trump, quite possibly the most never Trumper ever) lays out the constitutional case for this action quite clearly here in this 6 post thread:

 

French is part of the Never Trumper Republican exiles that lost power and influence once neoconservatism fell out of style. This latest incident is the kind of thing that makes their balls tingle.

[GSU&UT 1799]

1 minute ago, F250 said:

French is part of the Never Trumper Republican exiles that lost power and influence once neoconservatism fell out of style. This latest incident is the kind of thing that makes their balls tingle.

Yep, this is 100% straight out of the neocon playbook. They've been itching for a war with Iran for years and years.

[tchookem 3965]

98% of Americans had never heard of this dude before today. But 100% of Americans have an informed opinion on how his death will escalate tensions and eventually cause WW3. 

Unfortunately, the POTUS is part of both those percentages.

[Homesickhorn 2217]

You already have your answer from others that Pelosi, Schumer, etc. were not briefed.  

Now let it sink in that Eric Trump was briefed and boasting on twitter about it, when the senior elected members of the opposition weren’t, including the Speaker of the House.   
Eric Trump.  

This^^^^ is beyond fucked up.

[WhatTheBuck 28904]

3 hours ago, Red Five said:

You love him because he's a career criminal and conman and has no idea what he's doing and is historically corrupt and is incapable of telling the truth and is a truly terrible human being? That's weird. 

Don't forget the adultery and racism. They love him for that too. Especially the racism. 

[MissingInAction 25478]

1 hour ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Yeah not my thing

Sorry bro. Meant no offense. 😉

[Js1 86939]

Thread 

[atomheartbevo 90546]

Anybody find the WWIII stuff trending all over twitter to be....odd.  I mean, I get it, people are having a lot of fun with this stuff.

 

 

[Brian Fantana 6856]

59 minutes ago, immamac said:

Trump can do whatever the fuck he wants that's what all of you seem to be missing. Who's gonna stop him? A bunch of fucking suits who are being paid off by defense contractors in the form of campaign finances - get real buddy. Until you and your friends and all their friends and all their friends (4 degrees of separation) get together and protest ain't shit gonna happen. 

Get out and fucking vote. Get out and campaign actively against Donald Trump's reelection campaign. Spend all your resources available making sure that he doesn't get reelected. Then hope to God or whatever the next elected president neuters the executive branch from the power creep that has happened over time. 

Until then stop talking shit and being part of the reality TV show drama. 

 

That's an awfully high horse you're sitting on there.

[TriStone 1724]

6 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

That's an awfully high horse you're sitting on there.

Well, he's apparently correct.  Schumer said he wasn't notified.  As SML, he must be notified.  If he's being truthful (no guarantee of that), then it's a clear violation of the US code otherwise.  If the Democrats aren't going to move on it, then Trump (or any President) can indeed do whatever the fuck they want.

Edited January 3, 2020 by TriStone

[Mapache 1117]

Edited January 3, 2020 by Mapache

[Hank Scorpio 17924]

1 hour ago, immamac said:

Trump can do whatever the fuck he wants that's what all of you seem to be missing. Who's gonna stop him? A bunch of fucking suits who are being paid off by defense contractors in the form of campaign finances - get real buddy. Until you and your friends and all their friends and all their friends (4 degrees of separation) get together and protest ain't shit gonna happen. 

Get out and fucking vote. Get out and campaign actively against Donald Trump's reelection campaign. Spend all your resources available making sure that he doesn't get reelected. Then hope to God or whatever the next elected president neuters the executive branch from the power creep that has happened over time. 

Until then stop talking shit and being part of the reality TV show drama. 

 

It sounds like someone just finished their freshman year of college and has some opinions that are going to blow your mind old man! 

[Bama Chick 28596]

Also, I think our assassination of Suleimani was in response to the attack on our embassy, which was still ongoing when Eric tweeted that, so I highly doubt the details of the drone strike had even been formulated yet. Just seems like common sense to me that he was just commenting on the white supremacists tweet with a little Toby Keith jargon.  

lol at you thinking anyone with Trump DNA has the capability to be embarrassed.

Did you just recover from amnesia?