Scott Adams on the situation in Iran:
It’s a thread, and I urge you to read the whole thing.
Putting an Obama-era template – or even a Bush or Reagan-era template – on the situation might be a huge mistake for everyone.
49 thoughts on “The Peace Filter”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Fragging a muzzy doesn’t bother me but there is something fishy about this. We have plenty of assets in Iraq that could have handled this quietly, but Trump decided to blow the shit out of this guy; very messy, very public. Why? What message was being sent?
Trump owes everyone an explanation, and if
Israeli intelligence “our allies in the region” are mentioned I’m gonna be really pissed off.damn. broken tag
Trump, by using drone, simply did what his predecessor did–launch the attack from 50,000 feet instead of risking infantrymen trying to get close enough to make a shot. I think that’s fine.
And if the Mossad discreetly fed Trump the information that enabled the attack, my only objection is that apparently the CIA isn’t as good as the Mossad. That should be remedied. All in all, though, my thought is that leading terrorism efforts is a capital crime and ought to be treated as such.
You want a real breach of protocol, let’s talk about going into a sovereign nation where we don’t currently have operations to off another terrorist leader–a move I fully support, except for the fact that it might have been possible to capture Osama and see what he’d tell us after being waterboarded.
We are not “on the brink of war” with Iran.
The Iranian failure to respond to the death of Soleimani is an indictment not only of the mullahs, but the career intelligence people & Obama holdovers who were predicting doom if we took this guy out. Yet another demonstration that our elites are idiots.
We know what the “brink of war” would look like. Military assets would be reconfigured to strike a death blow to the mullahs and the mullahs’ terrorist armies.
They aren’t.
It’s like our journalists are a bunch of girl liberal arts majors.
Oh, wait. they are.
^^ I guess Iran’s biggest impact is on 96% of the media.
So far the death toll of Iran’s terrible revenge = 56 Soleimani supporting Iraqi’s:
“At least 56 killed in stampede at general’s funeral, as Iran vows revenge on U.S.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security/at-least-50-killed-in-stampede-at-iranian-generals-funeral-tehran-weighs-response-to-u-s-attack-idUSKBN1Z60NL
“And if the Mossad discreetly fed Trump the information that enabled the attack…”
Not worried about what enabled it, BB. I wanna know what precipitated it.
I suppose what precipitated Soleimani’s killing was the attack on the American embassy in Baghdad by Iranian partisans.
If we leave Iraq now, it will become an Iranian satrapy. If we are willing to accept that, we should leave. Trump has isolationist tendencies, but I suppose that even he does not want to labeled as the man who “Lost Iraq.”
That would be a legit reason, I think, MP. Especially in light of what happened in Benghazi and the fact that the damn Iraqis did nothing to stop them.
But that’s not what Trump is saying.
Don’t ever put the words “Trump” and “strategy” in the same sentence.
Really, Emery?! Is that because you can’t comprehend anything beyond “Trump bad”?
I have a couple of friends of Iranian ancestry that still have family there. They told me that Trump rid the world of a “despicable butcher” by taking Soleimeni out. He was literally the Mullah’s equivalent of their Gestapo chief. Further, both Iranians and Iraqis have celebrated his demise.
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/video/4374204-iranian-americans-celebrate-death-of-general/
https://www.jihadwatch.org/2020/01/iranians-iraqis-celebrate-soleimanis-death-thank-trump-tnxpotus4soleimani
I know that this is wasted on you, but it might be a good idea to get the back story before you make your inane and ignorant statements.
That can’t be, BossHoss -Krugman wrote an entire column today explaining how the Iranian people were weeping for Soleimani, who, for some reason, was in neighboring Iraq when he was blown to smithereens by a US drone: https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2020/01/07/opinion/trump-the-intimidator-fails-again/
Don’t we know how angry we have made the people of this tiny, backward nation on the other side of the world? We are doomed!
So sayeth Paul Krugman, PhD.
As seen on Twitter: Folks clutching their pearls that Trump may be leading us to war were awfully quiet when Droney McPeaceprize dropped 26,000 bombs in 2016 and had military actions in 7 nations….
MP
mpr is pushing the story today that Soleimani was in Iraq on a Diplomatic Peace Mission(they provide no evidence) and that Trump killing a diplomat is a war crime requiring further impeachment. They want to see him tried in The Hague before the ICC.
Really, Emery?!
I appreciate the comments and especially the work you guys do to deal with the Little Weasel (et al). I usually end up learning something from what I think is one of the most astute collection of commenters on the internet.
On the other hand, some days, no, many – aw hell, most days I just find him too tiresome. He’s a classic gamma whose “absolute priority is maintaining the integrity of his delusion bubble. Now, every man is capable of being similarly stubborn and stupid about any idea to which he is emotionally attached, but what separates the gamma pattern of behavior from those of other male behaviors is the way that the gamma applies this instinctive response to everything, especially anything that has the potential to threaten his precious self-esteem.”
Is it somehow possible to trade up for a better class of troll? I’d like to think that Duelfer, Dilfer fella over at Powerline might pose a nice challenge to you guys.
Trump has achieved the impossible. Iran and Iraq are now united against him.
Uh . . . you mean the Iran and the Shi’ite Iraqis who support Iran.
Again I ask: where is the considered opinion from “Emery” who pretends to know more than the rest of us.
Iraq is a majority Shi’ite nation. Under democratic reforms since Saddam was overthrown, the Shi’ites, sympathetic to, or completely controlled by Iran, have frozen out the Kurds and Sunnis. This is a serious problem. emery gives you . . . snark.
Woolly wrote: . “This is a serious problem. emery gives you . . . snark.”
This from the man who told me if I voted for Clinton thousands more troops would be deployed to the Middle East..
The killing of Soleimani will not fix our problem with Iran, any more than the removal of Saddam fixed the problem with Iraq. The experience of Iraq and Libya does not suggest that we will necessarily like the aftermath.
I guess this is where discussion about Iran continues… I find it interesting that there are more and more reports coming out from the not-so MSM indicating that Trump probably played this kerfuffle correctly (Mitch’s 48-hour rule always applies). And also that some, many, most? Iranians are happy about that general’s death.
Iran never had all that many cards to play anyway which reminds me of Monty Python’s Holy Grail Now, go away or I shall taunt you a second time.
Moreover, an earthquake near an Iranian nuclear power plant and it is looking quite possible that Iran shot down a Ukrainian commercial airliner that was flying just when the rockets were blowing up sand dunes. 2020 is not looking like Iran’s most favorite year.
The Boeing 737-800 was taking off from Tehran — you may want to reconsider your assessment regarding that fact.
Personally I don’t thing this was a retaliative…
Launching 12 odd missiles near an airbase — is that really a strike on America?
I have several point of views around this strike:
1) This was done just to score points with the Iranian domestic population.
2) This was just the start of something — as we know Iran utilizes asymmetric warfare, so that would be something for US allies in the region such as UAE and KSA and perhaps be considered the real retaliative strike.
3) The regime in Tehran can’t predict Trump’s response — so Trump has that working for him.
This tweet linking a short video of received tweets is interesting.
I had heard on NPR this morning that Jordan was saying the airliner was shot down by a missile.
“This from the man who told me if I voted for Clinton thousands more troops would be deployed to the Middle East.”
I said nothing of the sort. Your voting for Clinton caused so no such deployment.
I’m simply copying the contents of this blog post but not the links. You can follow them yourself.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Iran Appears to be Standing Down. A friend on Facebook comments: “Trump is giving Iran an exit here with his remarks this morning. They know he will hold the line if they try to escalate further. Excellent strategy.” Weird that a guy everyone in DC thinks is an angry toddler can somehow hit just the right note, when prevous administrations have all failed.
Related: Don Surber: Why the Media Got Iran Wrong. Well for starters, because they wanted to. Quoth Surber: “They dug a hole and keep digging. That so many used the off ramp analogy informs me Ben Rhodes likely decided on that spin. He’s the brother of the head of CBS News and the Obama flunky who sold the Iranian deal to reporters.”
Also: Iran Blinks: Point to Trump: Maybe it’s time to help him, instead of hindering him. Not going to happen. The press and the foreign policy establishment are far more afraid of him succeeding than of him failing.
Once again, the arsonist masquerading as a fireman, swoops in to solve a problem of his own creation.
Listen to what the MSM has been telling you the past few days.
-President Trump’s foolish assassination of Soleimani has brought us to the brink of World War Three, or at least a major war in the ME.
-President Trump’s foolish assassination of Soleimani has put not only the lives of American servicemen overseas at risk, but the lives of American civilians in the US at risk.
-Iran has a network of “sleeper cells” in the US, and that, due to Trump’s foolishness in assassinating Soleimani, these sleeper cells may be activated & used to commit terror attacks inside the US.
None of this was true, and sensible people knew that it was not true, but the MSM filled told you that it was true.
So, if the targeted killing of Soleimani in Iraq was an act of war, what do you call Iran firing missiles at US bases in Iraq from within Iran?
Given that the Iranians pulled their punches by having their missiles deliberately near miss, I’d say that they provided Trump with an off-ramp that he could take without losing face. They didn’t fold, they just decided to act with sanity.
This kind of restraint is respectable and appropriate — it feels like someone delivered some very wise advice about how to handle the situation and Trump accepted the advice.
Today reminds me of how Trump nonsensically declared victory after the government shutdown.
When you see a gentle breeze blow the petals from a dandelion, or hear the delicate sound of a dragonfly’s wings, it likely “reminds [you] of how Trump nonsensically declared victory after the government shutdown.”
I had heard on NPR this morning that Jordan was saying the airliner was shot down by a missile.
If that’s true, the worst Iranian response to the execution of their terror general is (a) to let 56 of their own radical Muslims be killed in a stampede and (b) shoot down an airliner that didn’t even have any Americans on it, ticking off a country they just might want to do business with. Then they (c) launched 15 desperately needed missiles, of which four went off course and failed to hit any target, demonstrating their own strategic impotence.
I.am.shaking.in.my.boots. What’s next? Maybe they’ll blow up the Shah Mosque in Teheran or something.
Dow is +213 today. With my mix of investments, I am up about $2300 in the last week. Remarkable, since Trump apparently started WW3 last Friday.
I guess Emery is posting from a cardboard box in the street these days.
Note also, bike, that last I heard Iran wouldn’t release the black box.
So, here’s a question. In that comment of mine above (January 8, 2020 at 11:14 am), the text referenced an article by Don Surber (one of the most underrated journalists today). In the Surber article/post, he wrote
That so many [journalists] used the off ramp analogy informs me Ben Rhodes likely decided on that spin. He’s the brother of the head of CBS News and the Obama flunky who sold the Iranian deal to reporters.
And, lo and behold, the Little Weasel used that analogy too (1:23 pm). So, here’s my question, do you think tLW gets emails directly from Ben Rhodes along with all the others or that he has to ferret that info out (ha-ha, I kill me) from various other sources?
He shoots. He scores! Moderation.
Woolly wrote: “Dow is +213 today. With my mix of investments, I am up about $2300 in the last week.”
The 2019 returns in my Roth 401K Vanguard VFIAX fund were pretty satisfying as well.
I’d be happier if the fed was raising rates, the government was paying down the debt and deficit instead of spending money like drunk sailors, but I will take the gains in the meantime.
Emery would have you believe that although he believes Trump is driving the nation to war and economic ruin, he is heavily vested in a 401k that allows him to choose the details of the mutual funds he invests in, and that he invests in a high growth index fund.
You can file this next to the comment where where Emery says he put all of his money into MS when it was at its historic low.
^^ Some people just can’t take yes as an answer. Sigh….
Every single person with a 401K is better off as a result of this past years stock market performance. Some will have done better than others depending on the amount of risk they are comfortable with.
Did you take your 2019 profits or roll them over and hope for the best? Remember this — the stock market will fluctuate. The only number that truly matters is what your investments are worth the day you start drawing from them. 😉
You predicted Brexit would be an economic disaster for Britain.
You are a bad joke, Emery. To make money in the market, you have to be right once in a while.
^^ You may also want to consider Vanguard’s VOO — it would appear your picks are underperforming.
US intelligence are now saying it appears Iranian missiles took down Ukrainian civilian airliner by accident. Such a tragedy. Ukraine caught in the crossfire yet again.
Emery unintentionally raises an interesting point (blind squirrel).
If the US has sanctions on Iran, and also on everyone who does business with Iran (secondary boycott), then why are ANY airlines flying out of Tehran? Okay, Kuwait Air, maybe they don’t serve the US. But British Airways does. Lufthansa, Air France, KLM, I’m thinking maybe Trump might want to look at who our friends have for friends.
Might be nice for US air carriers to pick up some additional international traffic, if sanctioned airlines can’t fly here anymore.
Did I ever tell you guys that I bough t10,000 shares of Amazon at its IPO? Also, I borrowed the money to do it at 1.5%. Not over prime, 1.5%.
That how mad my finance skilz are.
Pelosi should hold onto the impeachment articles for a little longer, I am going to make my year in the first month with this massive pump by the Fed, our treasury and 4 banks.
Between that and the trade war, who thinks this market is based on real numbers and fundamentals?
“Between that and the trade war, who thinks this market is based on real numbers and fundamentals?”
If you feel that way, you should sell. If you’ve got anything left after the November 10, 2016 selloff.
With all time highs happening daily, why is the Fed still intervening? Why are we doing QE (just not calling it that) and why are we not raising interest rates?
I know this has been said previously and more eloquently but: Trump’s real gift to this nation has been exposing all the crazies on the left by the way they react to his actions i.e. calling the Iranian shootdown of an international flight from their OWN airport ‘crossfire’ – that’s not real clear thinking there. And yet Media Matters’ (Lis Power) director of media intelligence can’t believe Bret Baier is referring to TDS “as a real thing” ?? LMAO
Embarrassing, yes — but nevertheless it’s a ‘Fog of War’ mistake/error on the part of the Iranians. It is a terrible tragedy but I respect Iran for at least owning up to it. Russia is still lying and making up BS about the 2014 Malaysian airliner their proxies shot down.
Our good friends, the Saudis, never admitted that the killing of Kashoggi was ordered by the government. And again — the Russians to this day deny shooting down the Malaysian aircraft.
“Trump Derangement Syndrome” is something that goes back to Charles
Krauthammer’s “Bush Derangement Syndrome,” a fake diagnosis he created to mock people who thought we shouldn’t go to war with Iraq.