Metropolitan elites style themselves as grand protectors, even as they enact or enable calamitous violence. They deny the vast harms that their military-industrial behemoth unleashes upon millions, just as they exaggerate their capacity to deliver peace and prosperity: In the US support of Israel’s war in Gaza—a war purported to protect the Jewish people through the extermination or dispossession of their Palestinian neighbors—we see a twisted reflection of Hussein’s own prejudices and murderous delusions.

Lyle Jeremy Rubin in The Nation. The “Cascade of Errors” That Led to America’s War on Terror

Steve Coll’s new book looks at the hubris and delusions of American foreign-policy makers and counterparts in the Middle East that led to a war that still haunts the globe.

The Achilles Trap Written by: Steve CollI

ran-Iraq War Wikipedia

#american foreign policy #book #steve coll #iran #iraq #history

protoslacker

lccn.loc.gov

Israeli military says Iran has launched drones at Israel, will take hours to arrive

Joseph Federman, Associated Press at PBS.

Earlier today Reuters reported that Jordan had closed it airspace:

Al-Mamlaka quoted Haitham Misto, the chairman of Jordan's Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission, as saying interference in Jordanian air traffic had affected its GPS system, prompting planes in the area to use alternative navigation systems.

Rebecca Picciotto at CNBC. Iran has launched drone attacks at Israel, U.S. officials say

Picciotto points to Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz' post at twitter.com that Israel will attack in Iran.

#israell #iran #american foreign policy

protoslacker

The calculation did not have much to do with any dent, which is likely to be short-term and minimal, that loss of the IRGC officers would make in Iranian capabilities. Rather, the attack was part of an effort to escalate Israel’s way out of a situation in which its declared objective of “destroying Hamas” is out of reach, the worldwide isolation of Israel because of its actions in Gaza is becoming undeniable, and even its habitually automatic U.S. backing has patently softened. For Netanyahu personally, escalating and expanding the war, insofar as this also means continuing it indefinitely, is also his only apparent hope for staving off his political and legal difficulties.

Paul Pillar in Responsible Statecraft. Is Israel's plan to draw the US into a war with Iran?

Netanyahu must know Tehran will respond militarily to the attack on its embassy in Syria, the question is whether American troops will be a target

#american foreign policy #israel #iran

protoslacker

What threatens Pompeo is not war. It’s peace. He is doing everything he can to ensure that tensions with Iran don’t get resolved. For him, the “war” to start a war with Iran started when the U.S. embarked on a path of resolving its tensions with Iran.

Trita Parsi at Responsible Statecraft. Trump Faces Swift Backlash for Killing Soleimani as Iraqi Parliament Votes to Expel U.S. Troops

#american foreign poilicy #war #iran #iraq

protoslacker reblogged

protoslacker

These new national security officials are extremists in the same sense that the NRA is. Pompeo has had full-throated support from the NRA since his first congressional campaign in 2010, when he was elected as a Tea Party supporter. Bolton is such a determined extremist gun supporter that he served on the NRA’s international committee and even taped a video calling on the Russians to do what the NRA has done in America—try to put an unregulated gun in the hands of every Russian citizen. But for both, the endorsement of violence goes beyond gun ownership. Both advocate the use of lethal military force to solve international problems, the way they seem to think more guns would solve our domestic ones.

Gordon Adams at Lobelog. And A Little Child Shall Lead Them (via protoslacker)

#american foreign policy #trump #war #iran #redemptive violence #myth

protoslacker

The Trump Administration has no Congressional authorization to launch hostilities against Iran, yet that's exactly what the US has done by assassinating one of that country's most senior military decision-makers

— Tony Karon (@TonyKaron) January 3, 2020

#iran #iraq #american foreign poilicy #war

protoslacker

Oh No :(

#iraq #iran #heartsick

protoslacker

Iranian Short film(just over 1 min)

My Channel

This film won an award in luxor film festival .The film maker is only 20 years old

#film #love #iran

protoslacker

The jury is still out on President Trump’s prowess in the challenging landscape and bunkers of the Middle East. Trump appears to have honed his short game when it comes to the prudent decision of withdrawing U.S. forces from northeastern Syria. The question remains whether he can combine his short game with his long game to achieve a victory—containing Iran and negotiating a new nuclear deal.

Eric Bordenkircher at Lobe Log. Can Donald Trump Make His Short And Long Game Work In The Middle East?

#americna foreign policy #donald trump #syria #greater middle east #iran

protoslacker

Although some in Congress have recognized that Trump has put the United States back on the path to war, the alarm bells aren’t as loud as they should be. And that recalls Kent Conrad’s disturbing warning: “If the president of the United States wants to take this nation to war, he can take this nation to war. And stopping that is incredibly difficult.”

Ben Armbruster at Lobe Log. Trump Has Put US On Path To War With Iran While Nobody is Paying Attention

#iran #war #donald trump #american foreign policy

protoslacker

Invading Iran without considering the regional realities is the height of insanity. If Trump ventures further down this slippery slope of war against Iran, it behooves US military leaders, senior US senators, and major corporate executives to persuade him to change course and seek real negotiations with Iran, driven not by presidential bravado but by mutual interests and regional and global stability.

Emile Nakhleh at Lobe Log. Trump’s War Hysteria Against Iran Ignores Middle East Realities

#donald trump #iran #war mongering #american foreign policy

protoslacker

The absence of American leadership in the world will mean that the Europeans – principally the main powers of the UK, Germany and France – will have to work reluctantly with Russia and China to uphold the agreement. This will require protection for firms and banks engaged in trade and financial transactions with Iran. Without Washington’s support this may mean resorting to non-dollar deals to evade US sanctions. Like his rejection of the Paris climate deal, Mr Trump opposed the Iranian nuclear deal not because he understood the details and consequences of a complex agreement’s terms but because he wanted, scandalously, to signal that former US president Barack Obama did not necessarily have US interests at heart when he negotiated the agreement. When international agreements are not insulated from partisanship by constitutional principle, then deals are likely to be stop-gap solutions. North Korea will understand this lesson only too well.

The Editors of The Guardian (US edition). The Guardian view on Iran’s nuclear deal: Trump creates a narrative for war

The US president’s invective is dangerous but should surprise no one. He relies on assertions that reinforce prejudices but have no basis in fact

#iran #donald trump #american foreign policy #nuclear deterrence

protoslacker

Pushing Iran into China’s waiting arms was unlikely to have been a major US policy goal in the Middle East, but that is what seems likely to happen now that America has started trying to unravel the JCPA agreement that was keeping a lid on tensions in the region.

Neil Thompson at Informed Comment. The Dragon and the Lion: How China will Win Big from Trump’s Scrapping of Iran Deal

#iran #donald tump #american foreign policy #nuclear deterrence

protoslacker

The JCPOA faces an uncertain future. What is not uncertain is that Trump’s decision is dumb. The United States has ceded leverage to Iran, is at odds with its closest allies, and has deprived itself of tools to monitor Iran’s nuclear program. The JCPOA was constructed to prevent Iran’s violation of terms and ensure that Iran would be caught and punished if it cheated. The text was clearly written with Iran’s history of clandestine behavior in mind. It was not intended to protect against American stupidity. But that is what has just happened. And this fact cannot be “fixed.”

Aaron Stein at War on the Rocks. TRUMP’S DUMB DECISION TO WITHDRAW FROM THE DEAL GAVE IRAN THE ADVANTAGE

#iran #donald trump #american foreign policy #nuclear weapons

protoslacker

President Trump’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) comes as the culmination of years of flawed conversations about Iran’s involvement in the Middle East. Yesterday, he stated that the deal was “defective at its core.” In reality, the actual core defect lies in the political narrative on Iran in the United States, which predictably has resulted in the failure of the nuclear deal.

Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet at Lobelog. Narrative On Iran Defective At Its Core

#iran #american foreign policy #nuclear weapons #donald trump

protoslacker

Between them, the three billionaires account for over $40 million in pro-Trump political money. In the 2016 cycle, the three were also the source of 44% of individual contributions to the CLF and 47% of those received by the SLF, the biggest spending campaign finance vehicles for House and Senate Republicans. Trump and the GOP are deeply indebted to anti-Iran deal billionaires who aren’t afraid to advocate for policies that push the country closer to another war in the Middle East.

Eli Clifton at Lobelog, Follow The Money: Three Billionaires Paved Way For Trump’s Iran Deal Withdrawal

#donald trump #iran #american foreign policy #oligarchy #ban nuclear weapons #republicans

protoslacker

At least President Trump’s statement today about Iran made clear exactly what step he was taking: an outright material breach of U.S. obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the multilateral agreement that restricts Iran’s nuclear activities. Trump said that he will pile new sanctions on Iran, contrary to the commitment that was the U.S. side of the bargain that the JCPOA embodies and the United Nations Security Council has endorsed, even though Iran has scrupulously observed its side of the bargain. Trump made no attempt, as some speculated he might, to dress up this blatant violation through some maneuver such as not waiving sanctions but not immediately enforcing them either.

Paul Pillar at Lobelog. Hold The Deal-Killers Accountable

#international agreements #honor #iran #ban nuclear weapons