Bolton asked Pentagon for options to strike Iran: report

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill



BY BRETT SAMUELS - 01/13/19 08:20 AM EST

The Trump administration's National Security Council sought military options to strike Iran last September after a group aligned with Tehran fired mortars near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

The newspaper reported that national security adviser John Bolton asked the Pentagon for military options in the aftermath of the mortar strikes, which did not hit the embassy or injure anyone. The Pentagon reportedly complied with Bolton's request, though it's unclear if a serious plan was developed or if President Trump was aware of the request.

“We continue to review the status of our personnel following attempted attacks on our embassy in Baghdad and our Basra consulate, and we will consider a full range of options to preserve their safety and our interests,” Garrett Marquis, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told the Journal.

The Trump administration has taken a hardline approach to Iran, ratcheting up tensions between the two countries.



Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/425075-bolton-asked-pentagon-for-options-to-strike-iran-report

[Iliyah]

1. OMG, here we go.

[brush]

2. That warmonger Bolton is probably whispering in trump's ear about this...

and trump will spring it when the heat really gets hot on him, reasoning that the country won't be in the mood to get rid of a "war president", as W would say.

[olegramps]

3. I have written about their plans several times on this board.

Bolton was a charter member of the PNAC neo-cons who dominated the Bush administration and engineered the invasion of Iraq and called for the invasion of Iran. I noted that Pompeo published a piece in the journal, Foreign Affairs, Nov.-Dec, last month rehashing the same propaganda. Trump is totally under their control and pushed for pulling out the multi-nation nuclear agreement with Iran and imposing additional trade sanctions. This is nothing more than the enactment of a plan designed to force Iran into non-compliance and the necessary excuse to take military action. Will they succeed in their long determined goal?

[BlueMTexpat]

7. Let us hope not!

I have despised Bolton for YEARS - beginning in 1982. If anything, he has gotten worse since then.

[turbinetree]

4. SO this psychopath wants to help the other psychopath to deflect from TREASON

after all 5 times behind close doors...................and then telling the linguists for the papers after the meetings with his handler Putin..................

I hate traitors...............................

[YessirAtsaFact]

5. Wag to the Dog, full on.

[Blues Heron]

6. Hurry up Muellmas!!

Time for the Marshals to do some handcuffin!

[PJMcK]

8. Is this really wrong?

I'm no fan of Bolton's but this is a serious question.

Why wouldn't the National Security Advisor want to have every option provided in order to make a considered decision? He would want to know if there were military options available. What isn't reported here is whether Bolton asked the State Department about their views. I mean, he might even get weather reports and that would go unreported.

Again, I think Bolton is a dangerous ideologue who should be no where near the levers of power. However, in a normal administration, I would expect the Advisor to get as much varied information as possible in order to make an objective proposal to the president.

[EarthFirst]

11. Contingencies are pretty common standard operating procedures

I agree; this is not necessarily out of the ordinary activity.

[louis-t]

9. He never stopped wanting it.

He's been wanting that for 20 years. He'll do anything in his power to force that upon the world. This man needs to be locked up.

[akraven]

10. Typical of the Republicans.

"If all is going to shit, start a war."