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Seven Questions That Need Answers Before Any Attack on Iran
President Trumps threats of retaliation for strikes on Saudi oil facilities seem premature.
President Donald Trump says the United States is locked and loaded to retaliate against whoever struck Saudi Arabias oil refineries on Saturday. But before American forces rain fire and fury on Iran, some urgent questions must be answered.
Are we quite sure that Iran is the culprit?
Iranian culpability certainly seems the most plausible explanation for the refinery attack. But given the utter untrustworthiness of both the Trump presidency and Mohammed bin Salmans Saudi government, it seems wise to demand certainty, not plausibility. How confident are U.S. analysts that the attack was ordered from Tehran, rather than by an Iranian proxy acting for its own motives?
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Whats the angle?
The Trump Organization and members of the presidents family have been trousering streams of payments from the Persian Gulf since November 2016. Nobody can intelligently believe that U.S. policy is being made only with national interests in mind. That the Trump presidency may be for saleor leaseis not everything that is going on, but its enough to reaffirm the first rule of foreign policy in the Trump years: No wars under this president.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/seven-questions-iran/598096/
Stuart G
(38,445 posts)Last edited Mon Sep 16, 2019, 12:19 PM - Edit history (2)
DemocratSinceBirth
(99,711 posts)I learned that China is the number one importer of Saudi oil. Iran and its proxies need to factor that in.
Stuart G
(38,445 posts)...Going to war about Iran or Saudi Arabia would be a total waste of human life. Trump starting a war would also be a total mistake.
superpatriotman
(6,252 posts)Do they benefit? No.