Trump drops the F-bomb on Iran on the Rush Limbaugh show. “If you fuck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are gonna do things to you that have never been done before.” And the media ignore his latest threat to go to war.
Robert Draper’s ‘To Start A War: How the Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq’ is a stunning, thorough account that is not only historically indispensable, but is also an up-to-date warning that the U.S. could be tricked into a war with Iran, with some of the same culprits responsible.
The Bahrain-Israel deal is significant because the kingdom is a virtual protectorate of the Saudis. There are serious concerns that a Saudi involvement with Israel will only lead to further tightening of measures against the Palestinian cause. And Iran will rise in prestige in Palestinian global affairs.
The normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel, facilitated by the U.S., serves to prop up three repressive leaders — Trump, Netanyahu, and bin Zayed — and will cause further harm to Palestinians. It is both a shame and a sham.
Trump reportedly berated Sheldon Adelson for not giving more millions to his flagging campaign. That’s good news. Trump is less likely to deliver to Adelson, and nuke Iran. Not that the New York Times even explores the foreign policy ramifications of the report.
The danger that Benjamin Netanyahu will provoke Donald Trump into attacking Iran is not over. In fact, the risk of conflict just increased.
Thomas Friedman, the foreign affairs writer with the largest potential influence on earth, has taken his intellectual cowardice to a new level.
Maybe the 153 signatories to that now famous “cancel culture” letter could draft another epistle, one that appeals for an end to suppressing free discussion about Israel and Palestine.
On July 2, 2020, two explosions erupted in Iran, and both seem to have been ignited by Israel. Neither explosion attracted much reporting, and what reporting there has been remains thin and confused.
Donald Trump disappointed John Bolton las tyear by refusing to strike Iranian bases in response to Iran destroying an American drone, because the strike would likely kill 150. “Disproportionate… Too many body bags,” Trump said. Bolton writes, “This was the most irrational thing I ever witnessed any president do,” and says he nearly resigned. The author doesn’t understand how frightening this story is, about Bolton himself.