Fuck me.
New York Times reporting that a military strike against Iran was ordered for this evening (US time, pre-dawn in Iran), then abruptly rescinded with planes in the air. Sorry, no link, hearing it on MSNBC right now.
Trump dithering, White House hawks beating the drums for war, SecDef vacant…yeah, this is gonna go swimmingly.
We wish
The Daily Beast has a short article about it: Trump: We Were ‘Cocked & Loaded’ Before I Scuttled Iran Strike. The NYT has a longer, paywalled article up too.
This is the kind of steady leadership we need in these troubled times.
Who leaked this and why?
Why?
Plausibly, it was a quasi-official leak, to warn Iran.
It might be a leak from Bolton (or another Hawk), angry that his attack was called off by Trump and wanting to make him look weak, so he wouldn’t want to back down again.
It might be a leak from someone who suspects that Trump has compromising factors* that limit his ability to go ahead with certain policies, and making him look like a wimp makes it harder for him to back down again in the future.
Safest bet is that it was someone who was pissed off that the attack was called off.
The bigger question is; what was airing on Fox News when he changed his mind?
To send a message to Iran, “Don’t mess with this guy, he’s crazy” ?
I don’t think that’s what Tehran is hearing, though.
Could be that lodestar person crying for help.
Or some military guy pissed off that they didn’t get to go blow shit up and kill people.
Curious as to whether it was an internal person who is concerned with what is going on and leaked it without permission or whether this is an internal person who was told to leak this in order to send some message to someone. It matters who leaked it to frame the story.
And, this morning, our national burdentook credit for calling off the strike because it would kill too many people. Why that information was not taken into account BEFORE ordering the strike is unclear. But, seems to follow the similar pattern of screwing something up, fixing the screw up and then begging for credit for solving the problem.
Assuming this particular problem really existed in the first place rather than being made up after the fact in an attempt to make him look better.
Perhaps Iran will reflect on what almost happened when they consider shooting something else down.
It could be a brilliant plan, or it could be a regular Presidential Screw Up.
Something Donald missed because he was taking an irate call from Moscow.
I was thinking along the same lines – Trump may have stumbled into the perfect response: the fake-out. Hah! Made ya flinch!
Assuming that the explanation is true (and Trump gets no benefit of the doubt where truth is involved) there are 2 reasons, both bad:
(1) Either no one asked about civilian casualties until the planes were ready to launch; or
(2) Civilian casualties were discussed; Trump gave the green light; Trump changed his mind.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders being given a Farewell Party by some reporters
It reminds me of the old line – “If we give you a Farewell party, would you go away?”
Now I’m even more confused than I was earlier today:
From The Hill:
*Iranian officials said Friday that they were warned by President Trump to expect an imminent attack shortly before the U.S. ordered forces preparing a tactical strike on the country to stand down.
Officials speaking under the promise of anonymity told Reuters on Friday that the Trump administration informed them of the attack a “short period” before they were set to occur, only to watch as U.S. forces were called off moments later.
“In his message, Trump said he was against any war with Iran and wanted to talk to Tehran about various issues,” one Iranian official told Reuters.*
SHS: “Who took a shit in the punch bowl?”
Reporter: “I did! Before the party started.”
Reporter 2: “Hey Sarah, want me to get you another cup of - oh, guess not.”
Immediately following that article: Time magazine: Trump threatened reporter with prison time.