Iran Retaliates - Hits US Air Bases in Iraq with More Than a Dozen Ballistic Missiles

What you left out of your timeline is that the US put on punishing sanctions and that the US and US allies also seized Iranian tankers.
Iran isn't innocent and is an American adversary there is a range though of actions between doing nothing and assassinating their leading general.

Two years ago we weren't exactly at peace with Iran but we weren't in outright conflict. As of today we're putting more blood and treasure into a region that Trump had promised we would get out of.

 

This is technically true...all 5 incumbents that ran for re-election during wartime were re-elected.

However, that’s a small sample size and it doesn’t count the two presidents (Truman and LBJ) that decided not to run during wars due to unpopularity.

This might be a push by Trump to try to increase popularity, but I’m not sure he’s going to sway those that are already against him. I’m also not sure that this will turn into a full blown war.

 

Trump said it himself in 2011 that a president facing election with lagging poll numbers would start a war with Iran.


Everything that Trump and his supporters accuse Obama of doing Trump does. it's the way he thinks. He projects.

 

Yeah after taking a step back, and letting this simmer a bit, I think what happened was Trump saw Soleimani's name on a list and just assumed it was going to be treated like a Bin Laden, or Baghdaddi kill to Americans and would be good politics.

However, Pompeo, Pence, etc. all knew better. They want a more direct war with Iran. Donald is kind of a Dove at heart even though he loves the North Korea style bombastic propaganda. What he does as times shows that he at the very least understands the politics of war from a campaigning perspective. If he didn't he wouldn't have run against getting into the Iraq war for years, or said Obama would start a war with Iran. He knows its unpopular to start a war, but he also signals that he knows if the US views you as a wartime president, and you can sell the war, its good politics.

So does Donald want a war with Iran??... thats the ultimate question. My take is that he absolutely understands that its bad politics for him to take the step to put the US into another war IF the media presents it that way, BUT.... he also understands the benefit politically of being attacked first, and then responding with force which ABSOLUTELY I believe he would welcome in a heartbeat, and is likely trying to goad the Iranians into doing which it seems like they are strategic enough to not do.

I think he knew that pulling out of the nuclear agreement, and sanctioning the crap out of North Korea might lead to war (since I'm sure folks like Mattis and Kelly told him that all the time) but he believes that the US people are dumb and will shower him with praise and glory as long as it's technically the Iranians who kill Americans first in a major escalation. I don't believe for a minute now that he thought killing Soleimani was the escalation to war that it really was.

Every move he makes seems to be done in the consideration of how the media will react, and how they'll sell his actions to the ignorant voters. Even assassinating Soleimani which didn't have the outcome I think he thought it would have.

 

Trump should tweet out... AIRBALLLLL...AIRBALLLLL

 

We wouldn't be over there if we were putting America first...

 

That isn't really non-conventional anymore. Most battles with foreign adversaries aren't occurring on the front lines anymore.

 

God damn pogs and fobbits

 

that's quite an assumption

 

AP - BREAKING NEWS

A live look of President Trump personally riding and guiding a missile attack on Iranian World Heritage site Arg e Bam.

 

Not sure if anybody's posted this. Live remarks from Donnie coming soon. Usually watching him talk makes me want to punch him in the face, so I try and avoid it, but I'll steel myself and tune in. It was supposed to start at 8am but I guess they are running late.

 

From the demeanor of his initial reactions, it seems he's going to take a level headed approach for once here and hopefully not retaliate and use less aggressive rhetoric.

 

So after the “maximum pressure” Trump strategy to prevent Iranian nukes, what’s next?

 

Team American - Hypersonic missiles confirmed, **** YEA!

 

Iran's campaign of terror will not be tollerized any more!
-Donald Trum

New drinking game - watch Trump press conference, every time he says I, me, or my you have to drink.

Liver failure to follow.

 

I thought that the tone was appropriate and the speech was acceptable (until he lied about ISIS and his accomplishments). It appears that the issue is closed from the perspective of the President.

 

I’d bet you this fobbit can kick sands in your fake tough guy Marine face paint.

 

I assumed right I guess

 

Did he ever get us into any wars like W” the Texas chainsaw massacre” or Barry”the Kenyan muslim commie”?

 

Why yes he just deployed infantry battalions of 3000 troops total just a couple of days back in the region.