Did Trump just get checkmated?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

So Trump kills the Iranian general on Iraqi soil.

That angers both the Iranians as well as the Iraqis.

The Iraqi PM and parliament demand US troops leave the country.

The Madman sends off some vague worded tweet threatening to sanction Iraq if we have to leave.

Then there’s that letter to Iraq saying we are leaving—but no, no, it was only a draft.

Then Iran launches missiles at a base in Iraq housing US troops. Reports are there were no major casualties, so there was little risk for Iran at the time being.

However, if the US were actually planning on leaving Iraq as that country had demanded, now it looks like a cut and run due to the missile attacks.

And that’s a major propaganda coup for Iran, without even really escalating things.

So Trump could either keep troops in Iraq against that country’s will, further angering then, and/or further escalate acts against Iran, threatening an all out war.

Or he sticks to the original plan, and leaves. And now looks like he retreated because of Iran.

No win scenario for the Madman.

The only plausible way to save face is to claim “mission accomplished” by killing the Iranian general and therefore there was no more reason to stay in Iraq.

And I’m sure George W. Bush could point Trump in the direction of an aircraft carrier and a banner store if that’s what he wants to do.

[samnsara]

1. he will say he stopped a war and that Iran called him begging not to bomb them..

..some how he will make this ALL ABOUT HIM...

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. That would seem to be a pathetic transparent lie on his part

And yet his followers would undoubtedly still buy it.

[llmart]

12. Well, we all know his followers will buy anything he throws out there.

So, I tend to not worry about their reaction at all. They are lost causes.

[Cosmocat]

7. That is exactly what is going to happen

If this is it, Iran found a way to do something that gives the asshole a way to claim victory. There was already a BS articles in the Washington Post A FEW HOURS AFTER THE ATTACK with admin officials CLAIMING that 45 said this is exactly what would happen - that they would take him killing their general and do something nominal about it.

They will pull out and claim victory, and the country will fall for it.

NOW, they have LONG memories, and I find it hard to believe they won't at some point find a way to do something that will not be feasibly traceable to them that exacts actual revenge. Probably will happen AFTER these assholes leave office, with a dem in office, so Rs will use it to pile on him or her.

[regnaD kciN]

31. This was Iran's OFFICIAL response...

Remember, Khamani had demanded that the country make a direct response to the assassination. Something that clearly came from the Iranian military.

They have now made that response, in a way that grabbed world headlines without causing the casualties that would make further conflict inevitable, and given themselves the “last word” on open military hostilities (“if Trump stops, we stop; if he persists in military action, we’ll strike on American soil next”). However, even if Trump does stand down, Iran won’t be done with this…but any further measures will be hidden behind proxies in a way that insulates them from direct responsibility.

[Always Randy]

14. an addition to your signature line could be

that a man can say whatever he wants to his woman when his hands are in the dishwater-----see it's like a "safe" zone ---this from a 74 year old man that continues to do dishes since 1949

[RVN VET71]

41. The American right wing is already claiming victory!

They are saying that the missiles didn't kill anyone because either a) the Iranian weaponry just isn't very good and/or b) the cowardly Iranians knew if they killed an American, Mighty Trump would declare war and crush them.

Seriously, that's what they're telling their audiences.

Trump apparently agrees -- and that's a good thing. Otherwise he'd have to retaliate yet again and then Iran would retaliate, etc., etc.

Actually, Iran probably will not overtly attack again. But it has enough client militias and hackers to do damage while maintaining plausible deniability.

[Skidmore]

2. Putin checked everyone.

He advises all sides.

[2naSalit]

15. +1

[AllyCat]

17. You know, I'm gonna go with this scenario

Putin has won all.

[gab13by13]

23. Putin will tell Trump what to do.

By the way, Putin was in Damascus last night meeting with Assad, he was then going to Turkey to meet with Erdogan. My guess is that Putin told Assad and Erdogan that he won't allow Trump to go to war with Iran.

[AllyCat]

38. Of course. He is our actual leader.

Drumpf is a figurehead.

[uponit7771]

26. +1, oil prices are up ... Putin is happy

[cwydro]

4. It certainly looks like it.

He’s a moron. My dog could checkmate him.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

9. You're telling me the guy behind Trump Airlines and Trump Vodka...

...is actually bad at negotiating and making deals and succeeding in things?

That’s crazy talk!

[ProfessorGAC]

27. Well, It's A Possibility

People are saying...

[Prosper]

5. Nothing new.

“64 Years Later, CIA Finally Releases Details of Iranian Coup
New documents reveal how the CIA attempted to call off the failing coup — only to be salvaged at the last minute by an insubordinate spy.
BY BETHANY ALLEN-EBRAHIMIAN | JUNE 20, 2017, 1:43 PM
Declassified documents released last week shed light on the Central Intelligence Agency’s central role in the 1953 coup that brought down Iranian Prime Minister Muhammad Mossadegh, fueling a surge of nationalism which culminated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution and poisoning U.S.-Iran relations into the 21st century.”

“US and British Support for Hussein Regime. Picture: Donald Rumsfeld, then special US envoy, shaking hands with Saddam Hussein during a visit to Iraq in December, 1983. US intelligence helped Saddam's Ba`ath Party seize power for the first time in 1963”


The US has toyed with Iran since before it was called Iran.

[Dennis Donovan]

6. This one action by Iran, lobbing missiles, won't be all...

Trump can declare "mission accomplished" all he wants, but chucking 12 missiles and, perhaps purposely, missing US servicemen will NOT be their only response to Soleimani's assassination. He was their Mike Pence / JCOS commander rolled into one.

The missile attack was a message from Iran - "we can strike back with conventional weapons from within Iran anytime we want". But, Iran's response to Soleimani's whacking will be more "proportional" (something that equals the assassination of their #2 man).

Maybe Pence should find Dick Cheney's "undisclosed location" and hide for the duration...

On edit: Yashur Ali tweeted last night about Iranian responses of the past: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212851814

[Cosmocat]

8. I agree, but whatever they do will take time and likely will be something

they will have some level of plausible deniability.

They have L O N G memories, and based on what they did there is a good chance what happens will occur years from now.

[NewJeffCT]

21. Hitting Trump properties

would be more likley to get under Donny's thin skin than Pence. He's itching to replace Pence with Haley or Ivanka.

[Dennis Donovan]

33. Probably that too

[uponit7771]

28. +1, there's nothing from Iran saying this is all they're going to do

[sarisataka]

34. You are overestimating

Gen Soleimani's role in Iran's government/ military.

He held no position in the political hierarchy, no more than any other Iranian general, certainly not equivalent to Pense. Apparently he refused an offer to be a candidate to run in their Presidential election and stated he had no political aspirations.

He was also not the chief of the Iranian military. He commanded the Quds force of the IRGC, a branch of the Iranian armed forces. His position would be more akin to Lt. General Scott Howell, the commander of Joint Special Operations Command.

[Dennis Donovan]

35. Hope you're right... n/t

[wnylib]

10. I agree that this was not proportional. Looks

like a message, e.g. "Get out of Iraq. We let you off with a warning this time. But we can reach you if you do not leave."

A proportional attack would be the killing of a US military leader.

Iran will probably make an attack in a way that gives them public deniability, but sends a message to the right people.

[Hankee]

11. Trump is now saying troops aren't leaving

That would be a grave mistake.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

13. So the Americans are viewed as occupiers again.

Well, that certainly worked well for us before, right?

[Maeve]

16. I think you are right that he's boxed himself in

Expect to see more cartoons of him painting himself in a corner and then trying to draw a door on the wall to get out.

[uponit7771]

29. +1, for the US and the Iraq leadership since they publicly asked the US to leave. Now a "no, we're

... not going anywhere" from the US sounds like occupation not "help".

[gopiscrap]

39. welcome to DU

[ECL213]

18. This assumes Trump understands Chess (strategy)...

I doubt he even understands Checkers.

[regnaD kciN]

32. He never needed to...

With his Daddy’s money, he grew up thinking that the way to play checkers is to overturn the board and declare himself the victor.

[moonseller66]

19. Uh oh! The kids...

I imagine new security measures will be in effect for the little "nepotips" of donny.

They may get tired of watching their backs and where they travel. But I'm sure we will get a much higher bill from the Treasury Department now...and unfortunately, after he leaves office since we are required to provide protections for ex dictators and some of his family.

People trip and fall, get bad (glowing) colds, cross streets against lights and planes fall out of the sky. Just ask Paul.

[SayItLoud]

20. Iran misdirection.

Look over here at these 12 little missiles. While you're looking there we, via our proxies will be getting true revenge. Iran plays the long game.

If anyone believes that last night was all the revenge for a lost brother of the revolution Iran wants and plans to get you are sadly mistaken. What they will do will be subtle in some instances and violent in others. Iran will leave few and difficult tracks and tRUMP and team will be fighting fires on multiple fronts; including on US soil and in the air on US carriers.

Iran KNOWS tRUMP ordered the assassination. They KNOW he loves his Less Educated at his rallies and they KNOW where those rallies are held is far less secure then the Oral Office! Even the Cult45 should think about attending the rallies of a guy with a price on his head.

[Texin]

22. Welp, W would have a hard time finding a flight suit big enough to fit tRump,

not to mention anything in the fleet that could stay afloat with him onboard.

[greymattermom]

24. I'm hoping for a cyber attack

on Trump properties and Trump financials. Focus the harm on the harmer.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

25. Here's the danger that frightens this American.

This area of the Middle East is awash with militant groups of every stripe and loyalty - more loyal to clerics than politicians. Any of these hundreds of wildcat militias could attack Western interests in thousands of locations without direction or even approval of any government. And, a large number of them are very pissed off. Moqtada Sadr is reactivating his notorious Mahdi Army in Iraq.

See this article from Jordon for details about this issue: http://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/iraqi-armed-factions-call-meeting-begin-anti-us-fight

And, it's not just an issue with militants in Iraq - - there's hundreds of them spread across Syria, Lebanon, India and even Saudi Arabia.

My fear is that these militias will attack somewhere totally on their own and kill a bunch of Americans and light Trump off in a rage, then all hell breaks loose. Trump will blame Iran regardless of who's at fault.

I certainly hope I'm wrong and my fears unfounded.....

[dalton99a]

30. The Iranian people know their enemy is Donald Trump, and helping Trump get reelected is not revenge.

They want to take action on their own terms - when Trump is not expecting action, and when the world is not looking

[Hermit-The-Prog]

36. Dumbass Donnie will do whatever the Saudis and Putin paid him to do

[Enoki33]

37. There is a reason Iran released a list of tRump properties and

another that their problem is with tRump, not the American people. The immediate danger is that Iran may not have as much control of their proxy militias as they think. Religious fanatics are not prone to playing the long game, especially when they have existing capacities to execute revenge. My guess is that one of those militias will target a tRump property somewhere very soon.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

40. After watching the speech, I really think he did. nt

[IcyPeas]

42. I think you left out an important fact

trump met with Saudi Arabia's deputy defense minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman on Tuesday:

-- Prince Khalid, a former ambassador to Washington, also met yesterday with Secretary of State Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Esper.

-- Pompeo told him the U.S. does not seek war with Iran and remains committed to de-escalation, a State Department statement said.

-- According to a report in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Pompeo and Esper discussed with the Saudi official the U.S. plans to secure American embassies and American interests in the region from an Iranian retaliation.

there is no official transcript from this meeting so we don't know all that was discussed.

https://www.axios.com/saudi-arabia-donald-trump-meeting-iran-tensions-1d2548b1-adc9-40a0-a00f-3b6c9f01f3fc.html

[AncientGeezer]

43. No. Simple as that.

[11 Bravo]

44. Trump doesn't play chess. But he did just draw the "Go back to the gumdrops" Candyland card.

[live love laugh]

45. The FTC should be tracking traders

I believe he DGAF about being checkmated or actually weakening the country’s international position. He only cares to make $$$ and the off-again-on-again nonsense with tariffs and now with this have the stock market affect in common.

[pecosbob]

46. He just experienced what happens when a four year old argues with an adult

The Iranians made a deliberate controlled response even warning everybody two days before the attack. They did not take the bait and give the neo-cons their next oil war.