Shitfuck. War.

7/1/20 Hello America 27
Al Asad air base in Iraq.

Here it is. Here’s the next step we all expected: retaliation followed by the President justifying his first attack because of that retaliation. Iran has claimed responsibility for attacking an Iraqi – at which US troops are housed.

From the AP:

Iran says it has launched “tens” of surface-to-surface missiles at Iraq’s Ain Assad air base housing U.S. troops over America’s killing of a top Iranian general.

State TV described it early Wednesday as Tehran’s revenge operation over the killing of Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard then warned the U.S. and its regional allies against retaliating over the missile attack in Iraq. The Guard issued the warning via a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

From ABC (heads up – autoplay video):

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in a briefing at the Pentagon on Tuesday afternoon that the U.S. was ready to retaliate for any attack launched by Iran.

“To our partners and allies and to the Iran regime, I would like to say we are not looking to start a war with Iran. But we are prepared to finish one,” Esper said. “As I’ve told my many colleagues, as I spoke to them over the last few days, what we like to see is the situation be de-escalated and for Iran to sit down with us to begin a discussion about a better way ahead.”

I honestly don’t have anything intelligent to say. What the fuck happens now? Are we just going to enter into another endless war without any plans or goals?

Also important: are the American people more skeptical than before? The aftermath of 9/11 and the beginning of the Iraq War saw nearly a McCarthy-esque scene: opposing the war in any form was viewed career suicide for almost any elected official. You couldn’t really say you were against it or even question it in mixed company unless you wanted to start a fight about whether you were a traitor to your people. Support The Troops is a punch line for a reason.

Even if we elect all the good guys in November, they won’t be able to stop this now. And how should our allies (or Iran) know that we won’t just elect another warmonger the next go around? Why should we be trusted?

Here’s a take I can’t really argue with. Noam Chomsky: US Is a Rogue State and Suleimani’s Assassination Confirms It

After Bush took over, qualifications were dropped. It was asserted as fact that the U.S. “has assumed many of the very features of the ‘rogue nations’ against which it has … done battle.” Others outside the U.S. mainstream might think of different words for the worst crime of the millennium, a textbook example of aggression without credible pretext, the “supreme international crime” of Nuremberg.

This is what Trump wanted. He wanted a retaliation to start his war. This is what his buddies who sell war want. They are ready to destroy the world.

Disparate factions of Iranian people have been unified in mourning the loss of their leader. They. Are. Pissed. American blood will spill over this.

Crowds in Tehran for Sulemani’s funeral.
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27 Comments

  2. My dad was telling me he was hoping Iran wouldn’t fall for Trump’s setup. 30+ people died and over 200 were injured in a stampede trying to mourn Soleimani. People loved that shitbag. Had Khamenei NOT retaliated, he’d have been Gaddafi’d before they got Soleimani in the ground.

    The war started on Friday. The only question now is how bad will it get.

  3. How can we possibly expect anyone in the Republican party to speak out against this, when none of them will speak a word against the man in the Oval?

  4. Updates:
    Iran is warning US allies against retaliation.

    Iran is also threatening Dubai and Haifa

    And an Iranian official decided this was a good time to dunk on Trump.

    Iran saying they won’t attack if the US doesn’t retaliate, and I don’t see a world where that happens. I think Trump will be trying to invoke Article 5 by morning.

    • Netanyahu and MBS have both signalled to Iran that they don’t want to get involved. They may get backed into a corner, but their attitude changes when they’re not playing with house money (i.e. somebody besides the US is putting their lives on the line).

      I can only hope they finally realize Trump is pathetic and his brain trust is incompetent, and they have the influence to put pressure enough of the GOP to fight for some time.

      The Dow is getting shakier — that may help too. But we’re close to a Guns of August situation, with a bunch of weak, stupid elites in charge and afraid of looking as small as they actually are.

      • I don’t think people who think Trump is smart will be convinced he’s not at this point. I do hope that everyone feels shitty about being at war. It’s not like the good ol’ days of 2003 when everyone was ready to kick some ass as 9/11 revenge.

        • Exactly. Like, WHY are we in this in the first place? I know Trump’s idiots have been trying to gin up justifications for it, and presumably some of his base are buying that, but… that still has to be a minority of people, right?

      • “Netanyahu and MBS have both signalled to Iran that they don’t want to get involved. They may get backed into a corner, but their attitude changes when they’re not playing with house money (i.e. somebody besides the US is putting their lives on the line).”

        But *don’t* forget that Bibi is now under indictment for corruption/etc,and has an election coming up soon.

        That adds a wildcard element to the whole issue & the actions he might take🙃

        • I definitely think we’re in a Guns of August scenario, where one modern day Gavrilo Princip can tip the balance to war.

          It’s not a certain thing, but we’re looking at brake pads that are nearly worn out and we can’t be sure the GOP wants to shell out even $300 for a trip to Midas.

  5. …the GSV Unfortunate Conflict of Evidence sends their regards & suggests that you take the matter up with the Ethics Gradient

    – Experiencing A Severe Gravitas Shortfall

  7. My hope is this motivates the Iranians to hack our election for the dems to counter act the hacking the Russians are doing for GOP. Maybe when they count the votes & 5 million more votes are counted than live in the district these idiots will see the system has failed. I can dream, right?

    • See all those tweets and reddit hot takes about how if they REALLY wanted to destabilize America, they could hack banks and erase major debts for the middle class on down?

      Either banks have better security than the fucking Pentagon (realistic) or They capital T don’t actually want to destabilize American politics TOO much because They benefit from the same military-industrial complex that the American ruling class does. I’ll be over here with some tinfoil making hats if you want one too.

  8. “This is what his buddies who sell war want. They are ready to destroy the world.”

    Yep,you have Erik (Eric?) Prince,Mercenary Extraordinaire, who’s been trying to convince the Admin to sub-contract out fighting,since before the Blackwater, and then Xe Corp nemesis became toxic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academi)

    And then ya have the Christian-Fundy/Radicals/Evangeliban crowd, who are *desperately* hoping for a widespread war in the middle east,so that there will “finally” be a war which wipes out/converts all the Jewish folks in Israel.

    Because the folks who want that (Michelle Bachmann & her ilk), want to try to force the Rapture.

    And there are *also* te Q-anonsorts, who think that, rather than being the bumbling ignoramus that he *is,* “Trump has a plan to thwart ‘the deep state!”

    There are asshats ALL over the Admin, just salivating over the ideas of how much they can profit & push their own agendas.

    • Yeah exactly. I have lost a patience with people on the left wringing their hands about how stupid the whole thing is without paying any mind to the fact that the actors involved ARE acting in their own best interests according to their own motivations. There is no conversation about this war that should exclude the fact there are people profiting immensely. When our more skeptical politicians say war is expensive, they are still leaving out any comment about where does that money go? It’s not all food for troops and shit.

      • I think the problem is that most war profiteers have become like modern financial speculators — they can easily quantify the risks of the entire system, but are deluded into thinking they are the smart ones who have properly hedged their bets.

        We’re in a world like the housing bubble in 2007. Too many galaxy brains convinced they are immune from the laws of chance. We don’t have to have a crash like in 2007, but we need to start with people stop being in denial about what happens when we finally roll snake eyes.

  9. For those of you who aren’t up on the semi-recent history of the region (the last hundred years, basically), I highly recommend watching the Frontline two-parter from last February that looks at tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. It touches on US involvement as well as the religious disagreement that underpins much of the conflict between the countries. It helps to give some context to current events.

    https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/bitter-rivals-iran-and-saudi-arabia/

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