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Mattis almost ordered the Navy to board an Iranian ship in February

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A

aeolist

Banned
https://theintercept.com/2017/03/01...y-has-already-brought-us-to-the-brink-of-war/

So much for the "responsible adult" in the administration:

Defense Secretary James Mattis, according to the paper, had wanted the U.S. Navy to ”intercept and board an Iranian ship to look for contraband weapons possibly headed to Houthi fighters in Yemen. ... But the ship was in international waters in the Arabian Sea, according to two officials. Mr. Mattis ultimately decided to set the operation aside, at least for now. White House officials said that was because news of the impending operation leaked."
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”Boarding an Iranian ship is a shortcut" to confrontation, says Seyyed Hossein Mousavian, former member of Iran's National Security Council and a close ally of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Even if a firefight in international waters were avoided, the Islamic Republic, Mousavian tells me, ”would retaliate" and has ”many other options for retaliation."

Trita Parsi, head of the National Iranian American Council and author of the forthcoming book ”Losing an Enemy — Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy," agrees. Such acts of ”escalation" by the Trump administration, he tells me, ”significantly increases the risk of war."
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Mattis, too, is obsessed with Iran. He has hyperbolically called the Islamic Republic ”the single most enduring threat to stability and peace in the Middle East" and — in a Trump-esque descent into the world of conspiracy theories — suggested Tehran is working with ISIS. ”Iran is not an enemy of ISIS," Mattis declaimed in 2012, because ”the one country in the Middle East that has not been attacked" by ISIS ”is Iran. That is more than happenstance, I'm sure."

According to the Washington Post, in the run-up to the talks over Iran's nuclear program, ”Israelis may have questioned Obama's willingness to use force against Iran. ... But they believed Mattis was serious." The general, in his capacity as head of U.S. Central Command, even proposed launching ”dead of night" airstrikes on Iranian soil in 2011, in retaliation for Tehran's support for anti-American militias in Iraq — a proposal rejected by White House officials who were worried that it ”risked starting yet another war in the Middle East."
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Everyone in the Trump administration wants to go to war with Iran. Congressional Republicans want to go to war with Iran.

We are going to be at war with Iran soon.
 
N

Netherscourge

Banned
That would be the Franz Ferdinand incident that triggers WW3.

I have no doubt that certain mid-east nations would immediately attack Israel if the US unloads on Iran. And once that happens, the rest of the dominoes will fall.
 
B

Byakuya769

Member
Netherscourge said:
That would be the Franz Ferdinand incident that triggers WW3.

I have no doubt that certain mid-east nations would immediately attack Israel if the US unloads on Iran. And once that happens, the rest of the dominoes will fall.
Click to expand...

Like with Iraq?

Not that I agree with the sort of aggression that Matthis considered, but your post is incredibly alarmist.
 
D

djplaeskool

Member
"Mr. Mattis ultimately decided to set the operation aside, at least for now. White House officials said that was because news of the impending operation leaked."
Click to expand...

I swear this administration is like a damn colander.
 
C

ClosingADoor

Member
Netherscourge said:
That would be the Franz Ferdinand incident that triggers WW3.

I have no doubt that certain mid-east nations would immediately attack Israel if the US unloads on Iran. And once that happens, the rest of the dominoes will fall.
Click to expand...
Which ones exactly? Not Iraq. Not Turkey. Saudis have nothing to gain. Syria is a mess. Egypt isn't stupid. Jordan doesn't want it. Lebanon has its own issues. Yemen is in a civil war.
 
F

Fuzzery

Member
Netherscourge said:
That would be the Franz Ferdinand incident that triggers WW3.

I have no doubt that certain mid-east nations would immediately attack Israel if the US unloads on Iran. And once that happens, the rest of the dominoes will fall.
Click to expand...
lol there's no way, their military is too strong and they also have nukes
 
A

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
If leaks are the only thing that are saving the US from starting wars and/or committing war crimes, then please fucking keep the leaks going.

Whoever leaks the stuff that actually stops this shitshow should get the Nobel Peace Prize.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
Netherscourge said:
That would be the Franz Ferdinand incident that triggers WW3.

I have no doubt that certain mid-east nations would immediately attack Israel if the US unloads on Iran. And once that happens, the rest of the dominoes will fall.
Click to expand...

Most middle eastern countries have strained relationships with Iran. It might create some regional unity but it's not a clear situation. At all.
 
S

Sijil

Member
Mattis is a moron? If it weren't for the IRGC and Quds Force, ISIS would've have penetrated Baghdad. Iran was the first to respond in aiding the beleaguered Iraqi forces while the Obama administration was holding back and watching as ISIS swept through, waiting until Nouri al Maliki resigned.

The only reason why the US even aided the Iraqi government in the end was to prevent total loss of influence in Iraq to Iran.
 
Mohonky

Mohonky

Member
Iran aiding ISIS? And his sole reasoning for this is becauae Iran hasnt had an incident?

You cant make this shit up....unless of course your a Republican, then you can make any old shit up.
 
A

aeolist

Banned
Mohonky said:
Iran aiding ISIS? And his sole reasoning for this is becauae Iran hasnt had an incident?

You cant make this shit up....unless of course your a Republican, then you can make any old shit up.
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most americans (even those who should know better like mattis) don't really understand the factional conflicts and rivalries among middle eastern states and sects. the fact that ISIS is a sunni extremist group and iran is 95% shia either doesn't register or they think it's unimportant.
 
K

Kusagari

Member
Mattis is probably the best pick you could get out of Trump but his massive hard-on for war with Iran is a problem.
 
S

Saya

Member
Wasn't Mattis also the one pushing Trump to approve the Yemen raid? And he's one of the sane ones?
 
A

aeolist

Banned
Saya said:
Wasn't Mattis also the one pushing Trump to approve the Yemen raid? And he's one of the sane ones?
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that's the way he's been portrayed in the media and even by democrats. every senator except gillibrand voted to confirm him.
 
K

kmax

Member
aeolist said:
Everyone in the Trump administration wants to go to war with Iran. Congressional Republicans want to go to war with Iran.

We are going to be at war with Iran soon.
Click to expand...

The reason is because Israel and Netanyahu wants the U.S to go to war with Iran. It's one of the main reasons why Netanyahu hated Obama. Instead of going to war, he made a deal with them instead.

With Trump however, who the hell knows what will happen. Netanyahu is certainly happy though.
 
G

GameAddict411

Member
A war with Iran would be devastating to the whole region. The first thing will happen is that Iran would attack and invade the UAE one of the US allies. They are well armed and have a well trained military. If the Trump administration manages to fuck things up, Iraq and Afghanistan will look like child play and incredible amount of people will die.
 
A

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
GameAddict411 said:
If the Trump administration manages to fuck things up, Iraq and Afghanistan will look like child play and incredible amount of people will die.
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That's not even a question at this point. He is SURE to fuck it up.

This is a guy who kept bragging about being able to push soldiers into committing war crimes for him until someone finally explained to him what a war crime was.
 
R

RinsFury

Member
This guy is named "Mad Dog" for fucks sake, I expected nothing less that a general foaming at the mouth to go to war.
 
P

Parch

Member
I imagine that Iranian ships in international waters is fairly commonplace. It's only a matter time.
 
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