Anyone with one brain cell to rub up against the next knows that, whatever your political predilections, going to war with Iran is a fuck-up beyond belief. This isn’t about the rightness or wrongness of colonial attitudes or of capitalism. It’s not even about the humanity or inhumanity of our actions or intentions. It’s about a delusion heaped upon delusion that we can successfully impose our will.[1]
THREAD: Over the past few days, I’ve spoken extensively with career U.S. government officials as they’ve worked around the clock to try and mitigate the damage from Trump’s ineptitude on Iran. With their permission, I’m sharing a small taste from our lengthy conversations. Enjoy.
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“We have no functional national security decision-making process in place. We have no plan for what comes next. They are woefully unprepared for what’s about to pop off, and they’re too stupid to realize it. People here are freaking out, and rightfully so.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“We’re still trying to dig out from underneath the last war of choice, and now they’re trying to start a new one. I finally cracked open the bottle of scotch you gave me that I’ve been keeping stashed away in my desk drawer.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“I’m gonna call you later tonight to talk through this so I can go into meetings tomorrow armed with some sane talking points to insert into this clusterfuck.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“When did most of us find out about killing Soleimani? After it already happened. Since then, we’ve been trying to cobble together contingency planning on the fly, but these charlatans ignore most of it, and then Trump does more stupid shit that puts us back at square one.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“All Trump cares about is shitting on Obama’s legacy, sucking up to donors, and distracting from impeachment. None of this is about American interests or security. He’s surrounded by ideological lunatic sycophants like Pence and Pompeo. But they’re far from the only ones.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“So many of Trump’s top advisors on Iran are military vets who served multiple tours of duty in our wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They believe to their core that Iran is the reason why they lost those wars, and they’re dead set on payback – no matter what it takes.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“They’ve been pushing to kill Soleimani for years, and they finally baited Trump into it. They think war with Iran is long overdue, so for them, this was a means to an end. When Iran responds, they’ll tell Trump to hit the Iranians harder. You see where this could go.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“They know the Iraqis are gonna kick them out now, so they’re gonna try to kill as many as possible on their way out. Iranians, Iraqis, whoever. Some of them are advising Trump to tell the Iraqi government to fuck off and dare them to make us leave. I shit you not. Insanity.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“When I used your points about Soleimani’s murder being a catalyst for Iranians to rally around the flag, they said that was ‘Obama apologist bullshit,’ and the Soviet Union forced people against their will into public displays of support. So apparently Iran is a superpower now.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“Trump is threatening war crimes against Iran, and none of his top advisors have the courage to publicly oppose it. Instead, they act like cowards and go on background with journalists to express their opposition. They should all resign. They don’t deserve to serve this country.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“We have friends that are getting deployed into war zones, but for what? Trump has deployed 14,000 troops over the past 6 months, and it didn’t prevent the current crisis. At what point do we start asking whether deploying troops is part of the problem rather than the solution?”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“The scariest part is that they’re just making shit up to justify their preferred course of action. When we point out inaccuracies or question logic, we’re at best yelled at or at worst cut out of the process. Most of the political appointees are paranoid, unqualified, or both.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“Last year, if you would’ve asked me whether American institutions are durable enough to prevent a Trump-led war with Iran, I would’ve said absolutely. Today, I’m not so sure. For as bad as it looks to you all on the outside, it’s even worse when you see it from the inside.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
“One of Trump’s top Iran advisors got suckered into a honey trap, had their laptop/iPhone stolen and hacked before they woke up, and the White House refused to take precautionary measures regarding their security clearance. Ladies and gents, I give you the Trump administration.”
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
In conclusion: Yes, folks. It really is that bad. I am but a humble messenger of truth. The voice of the voiceless. That is all. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.
— Reza Marashi (@rezamarashi) January 6, 2020
In response to Iraq’s move to expel U.S. troops, Donald Trump is threatening severe sanctions.[2] Those with any memory at all will recall that the last round killed hundreds of thousands of children, especially under five years of age,[3] these were the sanctions of which Madeleine Albright infamously said, “This is a very hard choice, but the price, we think the price is worth it,”[4] and that this was one reason cited by Osama bin Laden for the 9/11 attacks.[5] Which is to say, we’re asking for it all, all of it, every disastrous bit of it, to happen again. There simply are no words for how absolutely fucking disastrously stupid this is.
And for what?
But critics inside and outside the administration have questioned [Mike] Pompeo’s justification for the strike [that killed Qasem Soleimani] based on his claims that “dozens if not hundreds” of American lives were at risk.
Lawmakers left classified briefings with U.S. intelligence officials on Friday saying they heard nothing to suggest that the threat posed by the proxy forces guided by Soleimani had changed substantially in recent months.[6]
It seems Mike Pompeo is simply obsessed with Iran and just doesn’t really give a damn about anything else.[7]
And I guess I’m just clueless: I can’t even fathom the value of attacking Islamic shrines, as Trump has now repeatedly threatened to do.[8]
This has got to be at least as stupid as World War I. At least.
- [1]See my blog post from yesterday: David Benfell, “Tit for tat and the path to war, raging narcissist-in-chief style,” Not Housebroken, January 5, 2020, https://disunitedstates.org/2020/01/05/tit-for-tat-and-the-path-to-war-raging-narcissist-in-chief-style/↩
- [2]Erin Cunningham, “Iran announces it is suspending its commitments to the 2015 nuclear deal,” Washington Post, January 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/body-of-commander-slain-by-us-strike-arrives-in-iran-to-crowds-of-mourners/2020/01/05/4ca3281a-2f17-11ea-bffe-020c88b3f120_story.html↩
- [3]Mohamed M. Ali and Iqbal H. Shah, “Sanctions and childhood mortality in Iraq,” Lancet 355, no. 9218 (May 27, 2000), doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)02289-3↩
- [4]Madeleine Albright, quoted in David Rieff, “Were Sanctions Right?” New York Times, July 27, 2003, https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/magazine/were-sanctions-right.html↩
- [5]I am no longer able to locate this interview. It was translated by CNN. Osama bin Laden also cited the one-sided U.S. policy in support of Israel and the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia.↩
- [6]John Hudson et al., “Killing of Soleimani follows long push from Pompeo for aggressive action against Iran, but airstrike brings serious risks,” Washington Post, January 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/killing-of-soleimani-follows-long-push-from-pompeo-for-aggressive-action-against-iran-but-airstrike-brings-serious-risks/2020/01/05/092a8e00-2f7d-11ea-be79-83e793dbcaef_story.html↩
- [7]John Hudson et al., “Killing of Soleimani follows long push from Pompeo for aggressive action against Iran, but airstrike brings serious risks,” Washington Post, January 5, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/killing-of-soleimani-follows-long-push-from-pompeo-for-aggressive-action-against-iran-but-airstrike-brings-serious-risks/2020/01/05/092a8e00-2f7d-11ea-be79-83e793dbcaef_story.html↩
- [8]David Smith, “Suleimani killing: Donald Trump defends threat to target cultural sites in Iran,” Guardian, January 6, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/06/suleimani-killing-donald-trump-defends-threat-to-hit-cultural-sites-in-iran↩