|
Post by jdd2 on Jan 3, 2020 9:14:51 GMT -5
The US pretty much rolled out the welcome mat for iran when it invaded and toppled saddam.
|
|
|
Post by brucemacneill on Jan 3, 2020 9:23:15 GMT -5
So was the attack on the Baghdad embassy. I’m not sure why you can’t differentiate between a attack ordered by the leader of a country and a attack by a pissed off mob. Mike Nothing was attacked by a pissed off mob that I know of.
|
|
|
Post by Cornflake on Jan 3, 2020 9:41:39 GMT -5
This is worrying. I can think of few things that would be more foolish and more immoral than armed conflict with Iran.
|
|
|
Post by TKennedy on Jan 3, 2020 11:06:43 GMT -5
If this was a LeCarre novel or Netflix miniseries it would probably end after Trump's second term in the penthouse suite of the new Trump Moscow Hotel.
Putin congratulates his brilliant strategy and incredibly large brain in his staging an embassy attack, starting a war with Iran, defusing impeachment, and assuming the mantel of the greatest American president in history.
Trump replies " It was nothing, I just did what you suggested".
They repair to the map room to continue their work dividing up the Middle East followed by a quick dip in the money bin.
|
|
|
Post by fauxmaha on Jan 3, 2020 11:08:43 GMT -5
Damn.
I guess the 50 years of peace and tranquility in the Middle East had to come to an end eventually, but it's still sad to see.
|
|
|
Post by majorminor on Jan 3, 2020 11:12:09 GMT -5
Note to self: don't go boating in the Gulf of Oman anytime soon....
|
|
|
Post by Marshall on Jan 3, 2020 11:21:13 GMT -5
Note to self: don't go boating in the Gulf of Oman anytime soon.... Or sell any doors to the Baghdad Hilton. (Actually that could be a good thing. Back in the 70s the company I worked for designed electric transmission lines amongst other things engineerical. And they had a contract for a new transmission line with the Shah of Iran. Things were a little dicey over there so they negotiated 100% of the fee up front for the design. When I got hired, there was a pile of drawings and specifications sitting on the floor of the engineering manager's office. The Shah had gotten disposed and the drawings sat there for a couple of years until somebody eventually threw them out.)
|
|
|
Post by aquaduct on Jan 3, 2020 11:35:49 GMT -5
If this was a LeCarre novel or Netflix miniseries it would probably end after Trump's second term in the penthouse suite of the new Trump Moscow Hotel. Putin congratulates his brilliant strategy and incredibly large brain in his staging an embassy attack, starting a war with Iran, defusing impeachment, and assuming the mantel of the greatest American president in history. Trump replies " It was nothing, I just did what you suggested". They repair to the map room to continue their work dividing up the Middle East followed by a quick dip in the money bin. But of course, it isn't.
|
|
|
Post by fauxmaha on Jan 3, 2020 12:16:10 GMT -5
I once saw a demonstration of a very interesting game. The player was given a paddle...something like 6" wide and 8" long, plus a handle. The paddle was made of clear plastic about 1/8" thick. It had a grid of holes in it, maybe 1/2" in diameter. Like this: The game includes a large bin filled with marbles, half of them red, half of them blue, fully mixed together. The objective of the game is to dip the paddle into the bin and fill it (sort of like a Chinese Checkers board) with marbles of only one color. During a move, the player is only allowed to keep one hand on the handle of the paddle. The other hand must be held behind his back. Oh, and the player is blindfolded. The game is played with teams of four players each. After the teams are divided up, one player reaches to the bottom of the bin by hand and pulls a marble. Whatever color was selected became that team's color. In that way, "Team Red" and "Team Blue" are selected. When a team member makes a move, filling the paddle with marbles, a count is made: One point scored for each marble of his team's color. Therefore, a perfect score is 88 points. Anything less than a perfect score (ie, if even a single red marble rests on the paddle of a Team Blue member after his move), then it is the other team's turn. Back and forth it goes, until a total of 16 moves have been made, eight by each team, two by each player. Then the scores are tabulated: The total number of marbles of their own color fetched by each respective team is tallied up, and the winning team declared. Some people claim that this is a meaningless game. They claim that it is entirely a test of luck, and no skill could possibly be involved. But the players on the teams know better. Particularly the players on the winning team. They know full well that it was their skill and precision that made the difference. The name of this game is "Middle East Policy.
|
|
|
Post by millring on Jan 3, 2020 12:19:50 GMT -5
88? It could be played on a piano then.
|
|
|
Post by casualplayerpaul on Jan 3, 2020 12:41:07 GMT -5
Does any serious person think that Trump has given ANY thought at all to what comes next?
|
|
|
Post by aquaduct on Jan 3, 2020 12:45:15 GMT -5
Does any serious person think that Trump has given ANY thought at all to what comes next? I'm sure he has. Simple equation really. They storm the embassy, we start killing them until they stop doing stupid shit to us. We're bigger and have better weapons. Now sit down and shut up.Kind of refreshing after years of apologizing for our existence.
|
|
|
Post by Chesapeake on Jan 3, 2020 13:01:57 GMT -5
If this was a LeCarre novel or Netflix miniseries it would probably end after Trump's second term in the penthouse suite of the new Trump Moscow Hotel. Putin congratulates his brilliant strategy and incredibly large brain in his staging an embassy attack, starting a war with Iran, defusing impeachment, and assuming the mantel of the greatest American president in history. Trump replies " It was nothing, I just did what you suggested". They repair to the map room to continue their work dividing up the Middle East followed by a quick dip in the money bin. to once again enjoy the videotape of Donald and his special friend that Putin has locked up in his desk drawer. There.
|
|
|
Post by Chesapeake on Jan 3, 2020 13:06:35 GMT -5
Does any serious person think the timing of this dramatic escalation of Mideast strife has nothing to do with the impending impeachment trial? Oh, right. It's just one helluva coincidence.
|
|
|
Post by Russell Letson on Jan 3, 2020 13:07:01 GMT -5
I suppose it might be reasonable to wonder how well the dynamics of the playground scale up and how well they play out in the long run. (Also where the thresholds are for "stupid shit" and "killing them" and whether feeling refreshed is a good reason for the killing-them part.)
|
|
|
Post by millring on Jan 3, 2020 13:07:09 GMT -5
So we're headed for war? Last year we were headed for war with Syria. At some point "headed for war" is starting to sound an awful lot like "Wolf".
|
|
|
Post by millring on Jan 3, 2020 13:08:19 GMT -5
Does any serious person think the timing of this dramatic escalation of Mideast strife has nothing to do with the impending impeachment trial? Oh, right. It's just one helluva coincidence. You think they stormed the American Embassy because they were upset with the impeachment?
|
|
|
Post by fauxmaha on Jan 3, 2020 13:12:30 GMT -5
Does any serious person think that Trump has given ANY thought at all to what comes next? Washington is filled with bureaucrats and media talking heads who all think they have all the answers. Fortunately for us, top Artificial Intelligence engineers fed their profiles into the most sophisticated computers and generated this composite image:
|
|
|
Post by millring on Jan 3, 2020 13:15:03 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by fauxmaha on Jan 3, 2020 13:16:11 GMT -5
Here's a tell: Watch for the phase "most revered military leader".
|
|