As I understand it, the Trump rationale for the assassination of Soleimani amounts to "he had

[Atticus]

the blood of Americans and our allies on his hands and we think it likely he would attack us in the future."

If this is the new "Trump Doctrine", I have a question: when are we going to kill Putin?

[babylonsister]

1. And what about the blood of Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi?

Was his blood not pure enough to avenge? Selective. Hypocritical. Typical.

[Firestorm49]

6. My thoughts exactly.

[gab13by13]

15. The latest news out,

Trump owes Putin, his 2 billion dollar loan from Deutche Bank is backed by Russian government controlled VTB Bank.

The Saudis own a lot of floor space in Trump Tower. Maybe if Iran would rent some floor space Trump would be nice to them?

[DFW]

2. Trump is pretty transparent. The inner workings of the Iranian regime less so.

I posted this on another thread on the subject:

Coming on the heels of the embassy attack, which Soleimani had to have been in on, sending him physically to Iraq, where he became fair game as an outside foreign agitator instead of an untouchable on his home territory, might have been the plan of someone inside the Iranian regime who found him uncomfortable for reasons (personal?) unknown to us. A gung-ho fanatic, definitely a major obstacle in getting sanctions removed, is eliminated and we are the bad guys. Rival eliminated (maybe even had us tipped off as to where and when?) and blame lies solely with us. It's an offer Trump couldn't refuse, as the bait would have been too tempting, and Soleiman's enemies inside of Iran would have known that.

It would have been just as easy to get word to Soleiman the second he landed in Iraq, and let him know we knew exactly where he was, and if he wanted to have breakfast the next morning, he should take the next plane home. The same people who ordered him blown up knew that, too, and chose the more drastic option--no doubt, just as any Iranian with half a brain would have known they would.

[panfluteman]

4. Interesting Post - and Food for Thought

All the world leaders have figured out by now that Trump can be played like a fiddle.

[panfluteman]

3. Great! Kill the Puppetmaster!

I was recently talking with some friends who were also in despair over the Trump presidency like I was. They then shrugged their shoulders and hoped that something would happen to Putin - that he would either die, be assassinated or somehow lose power. Without his Russian puppetmaster, Trump would be totally clueless.

[rocktivity]

5. Bush The Younger called them "pre-emptive strikes."

Not even my memory is that bad.


rocktivity

[defacto7]

7. Nothing like crystal ball diplomacy.

[greenman3610]

8. Eisenhower had it right

"Possibly my hatred of war blinds me so that I cannot comprehend the arguments they adduce. But, in my opinion, there is no such thing as a preventive war. Although this suggestion is repeatedly made, none has yet explained how war prevents war. Worse than this, no one has been able to explain away the fact that war creates the conditions that beget war."

- Remarks at Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 19, 1950 [DDE's Pre-Presidential Papers, Principal File, Box 196, Carnegie Institute]

[Farmer-Rick]

9. Trump has the kingly power to murder anyone he wants to

Democracy in action?

[grantcart]

10. Every Iranian action is magnified, every Saudi action minimized

and when we kill Iranian non combatants its just a big oopsie

We could have become the honest broker to find a way to bring Saudi Arabia and Iran together but instead we have become the tools of Saudi Arabia.

Here is a reminder of when the US killed 290 Iranians.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/10/16/the-forgotten-story-of-iran-air-flight-655/

The number, 655, is a flight number: Iran Air 655. If you've never heard of it, you're far from alone. But you should know the story if you want to better understand why the United States and Iran so badly distrust one another and why it will be so difficult to strike a nuclear deal, as they're attempting to do at a summit in Switzerland this week.

Vincennes was exchanging fire with small Iranian ships in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Navy kept ships there, and still does, to protect oil trade routes. As the American and Iranian ships skirmished, Iran Air Flight 655 took off from nearby Bandar Abbas International Airport, bound for Dubai. The airport was used by both civilian and military aircraft. The Vincennes mistook the lumbering Airbus A300 civilian airliner for a much smaller and faster F-14 fighter jet, perhaps in the heat of battle or perhaps because the flight allegedly did not identify itself. It fired two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 290 passengers and crew members on board

[mudstump]

11. The rationale?....he needs a war to distract from his impeachment....

and to be re-elected. Period.

[not fooled]

14. +++++++++

And yesterday, on MSNBC, IIRC Rachel, Lawrence, Kornacki (standing in for Williams) were all-Iran/Iraq, not a peep about red don's impeachment or crimes.

I realize that the military action was Big News and Had Just Happened, but nevertheless the coverage made me think Mission Accomplished! for red don's latest successful attempt to spin the news.

[NCjack]

12. Moscow Mitch's fault. He stands in the way of Trump' removal. nt

[Crowman2009]

13. When in reality, the orange fuckwit started this shit in the first place.

That embassy siege didn't happen out of fuckin thin air.