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Breaking: Trump Tweet!
Late Sunday night, President Trump tweeted the following:
To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018
The question is simple, Ricochetti: What do you make of it?
Published in Foreign Policy, Politics
The context, beyond the obvious conflict between our two countries, is that Rouhani earlier today publicly said, “Mr Trump, don’t play with the lion’s tail, this would only lead to regret” and that “America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.” The leaders of Iran also, of course, routinely call for “death to America” and “death to Israel.” Oh, and they’re developing nuclear weapons with the billions of dollars in cash that Obama gave them.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also been tweeting in Farsi today:
Rouhani may begin learning that there’s a new sheriff in town.
Just remember: when Iranian leaders threaten the U.S. or Israel, we all need to take a deep breath, relax, and ignore their heated rhetoric because in reality they are rational actors pursuing their national interest.
Whereas whenever Trump tweets, it’s time to freak out because the words reveal a window into his madness…
If you’re gonna grab a lion by the tail, you’d better have a plan for dealing with the claws.
In the words of James Taranto, I think, “Whoa if true.”
This is why it is hard to sleep…
Wait, was President Trump’s tweet in all CAPS?
Yes, it was. POTUS has a Trump-level Ricochet membership, the only level that allows all caps, in spite of the CoC.
I don’t have a good feeling about this…
Ha!
I’m sure the Iranians will serve attitude back, but politely. (Which will be their point.)
This is better than Miss Congeniality III!!
(What am I saying? This totally is Miss….)
I would be concerned about the Russian response to a nuclear attack on Iran.
My guess is that Trump’s line in the sand is not same-same as Obama’s ‘red line.’
I’m almost hoping that we find out.
Rouhani is flirting with learning what smoking ruins of his nuclear facilities look like IMHO. So we’ll see just how reasonable he really is I think.
The Dems killed our robust nuclear earth penetrator. We can’t touch their underground facilities.
The same consideration applies to Iran that applies to Venezuela. For too long our policy has been to discourage bloody revolutions by potential allies against the world’s worst dictators.
Our policy here has to be that we don’t care (and frankly prefer) that the regime be killed along with their followers. No trials needed.
Our potential allies can’t be allowed to worry that we will cut them off and leave them vulnerable to a countercoup.
To add some context which is lacking in the OP, the president’s tweet is a response to the Iranians, not a tweet out of the blue.
What I like about Trump is that he says what needs to have been said for decades. There’s never been a reason we should have put up with Iran. We had them bracketed between Iraq and Afghanistan and they were quaking in their little boots until Condoleezza and W announced that we would not threaten them. Reagan was too soft on them. He should have begun the bombing as retribution on his Inauguration Day after the hostages were released. We have repeatedly let them announce death to us as though they didn’t mean it.
I joined the Marines in the hope of getting to go to Iran to punish them and overthrow their government. I waited a very long time. I only wish I could still go there with 900 of my best friends with heavy machine guns and mortars.
For too long we have followed the rules of “diplomacy” and we’ve allowed even the smallest of countries to push us around. I don’t think we should abuse others with our power, but we also should not allow others to abuse us.
Three cheers for Trump!!!
Absolutely. I agree completely with him.
Hip hip Hooray!
Hip hip Hooray!
Hip hip Hooray!!!!!
The hour makes me wonder if he did this without input from the Cabinet. If so I find it unfathomable. If not and they agreed, it’s interesting. Does it help the green movement or shore up the government?
As I noted above, the tweet isn’t just out of the blue. The OP ought to give some context. @ricocheteditorsdesk
From the Times of Israel.
Damn right! Bombing starts in five minutes.
Take some Maalox.
I’ve been told by many on Ricochet to ignore Trump’s tweets, so I normally do.
I prefer my standby – drop arms. The Iranian people want to rebel, but they lack the means – every time they try to revolt, the armed thugs of the regime gun them down.
We can airdrop millions of handguns and rounds of ammo, over Iranian cities. Cheap, easy, and it should be oh-so-effective.
In general, they do not need the arms as much as the courage/confidence.
For decades we’ve told prospective anti-communist and anti-islamist forces that they had to fight by the Marquis of Queensbury rules or we’d cut them off.
As the old saying goes, if you strike at the king, you’d better kill him.
We have to tell the rebels that we are ok with them doing whatever is required to to permanently end the rule of the Ayatollahs.
But we have little influence on foreign governments, despite claims to the contrary. Saddam Hussein stayed in power despite furious attempts to get rid of him. Castro and clan are still in Cuba. We wanted the Shah to stay in power in Iran. A people are solely responsible for the people they allow to rule them and only they can fix their problems, except for a massive invasion by us.
Oh. My. G-d.
We have unilaterally escalated from mixed-case to all-caps.
If that isn’t a “WAR CRIME,” it might at least be a “war crime.” Finally, grounds for impeachment.
But we did not let the Shah or anti-Castro rebels (or Battista) do what was needed. Castro also had backing of the Soviets. It’s not clear whether Russia or China will similarly back the Ayatollahs.
See my comment #1.
Thanks! Don’t know how I missed that!
I love that Pompeo’s tweeting in Farsi. (It’s Funny in Farsi is a fun book, by the way.)