I pray for his safe return as I pray for all who are in peril because of the madness and insanity of this administration.
I would immediately order an offensive ceasefire in Iran, an end to the Cuban blockade, violent and cruel ICE tactics, and the extra-judicial killings of non-combatants everywhere.
I am embarrassed, disgusted and terribly sad about what our Country is doing to Iran and to Cuba. A war for no just cause is murder just as is killing non-combatants on the oceans. Morally bankrupt, insane, murder. Equally, I am also terribly sad about extra judicial killings and repression in these same countries. Thousands in Iran, and that picture of the high school athletes, tortured and hanged, will not leave me.
No Act of Congress, No Declaration of War, Trump has started a war with Iran. We were not attacked. Some kind of negotiations were on going. A war of choice not of necessity. Just because Trump wanted a war. A tragic, senseless and needless loss of life. I do believe as our forefathers and founders, all men are created equal (regardless of nationality) and are entitles to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
As president I would not have started this war. Certainly not in the middle of negotiations (as the Japanese did to us at Pearl Harbor.) Certainly not without a declaration of war by congress. And certainly not allow Israel to push me into it.
I am deeply troubled by any government killing its own people, with estimates in Iran between 7,000 and over 30,000. Maduro was doing the same.
And I am equally troubled by the contradictions of the Middle East. Was Iran about to build an intercontinental ballistic missile, not any time soon. Was Iran developing nuclear weapons, they wanted to do but had not as yet. Were they about to attack the United State or our people in the area, no evidence of that. Was Iran a sponsor of international terrorism, yes, I think they were. Why? In my opinion it was driven by religious extremism. Will it change. In my opinion probably not unless we are prepared to fully occupy the country as we did Japan after WWII.
What would I do right now today? Stop the killing.
All over the news, we may be going to war with Iran. Why? Is it about the nukes ….. so the means the previous bunker buster bombs did not work, as suspected by some military analysis at the time. Or is about the Iran killing dissident demonstrators? Will more killing stop that? Or is it about Donald Trump feeling emboldened by his Venezuela action.
President (47) Trump began his second term trying to deny citizenship to millions of children born in this country. In his first term he wanted to shoot refugees arriving at the southern boarder and his deputy Steven Miller wanted to rocket boatloads of Haitian refugees escaping that country. Now Trump is actually rocketing boats and killing men suspected of carrying drugs, while non-lethal options are available. He has fired without cause thousands of givernment employees. He has created a paramilitary force (ICE) which is killing and terrorizing people in the streets. He is breaking up families. He is threatening U.S. citizens and foreign nations. He wants to take control of voting across the country.
The common theme of this president is cruelty, unfathomable cruelty, virulent racism, fraud and corruption.
Wiser minds appear to have prevailed at Davos over Trump’s desire to take Greenland. Trump appeared to have backed down but Greenlanders are still worried and I can’t blame them. If Venezuela was about the oil, Greenland is about the minerals. Meanwhile continued vendetta in all directions, Canada, Jack Smith and immense cruelty in Minnesota.
Obviously, I would tell ICE to temporarily “stand down” all across the Country while I make major course corrections in the operation.
The Iranian government is killing its own people, reports of 2500 dead and many more arrested facing execution. Should the U.S intervene with military force? This was a tough question for me. Trump threatened military force and now says the killings have stopped. We hope that is correct. Maybe force is the only language Iran understands. I would have first tried to ridicule Iran to the world, as barbaric and uncivilized behavior, like ISIS beheading and crucifying people. If it came to force, we would defeat Iran militarily, shoot down all their planes, sink all their ships, but then what happens to the country without our continued involvement. Lessons from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe we could take out the leadership. Question remains the same.
Meanwhile cruelty continues in this country and toward other nations.
This morning the United States attacked Venezuela and captured Venezuelan President Maduro and his wife. It is believe they are on their way to the United States to face charges related to drug trafficking. I have deleted a previous post about the Venezuelan situation.
I am not at all sad about the departure of Maduro. He had driven the country into poverty to enrich himself and his followers. The question is what happens to Venezuela now? When we took out Saddam Hussain, far worse things (ISIS) arose in the aftermath.
I doubt we would have done this were it not for Venezuelan oil, the largest undeveloped reserves in the world. Drug trafficking, a very serious problem, could have been addressed through aggressive drug interdiction and I don’t think capturing Maduro will stop drug trafficking. As I mentioned before, we don’t need to be murdering non-combatants on the ocean. There are many non-lethal ways to stop and capture these boats.
Now, 24 hours later some things are clear. The Maduro regime, his loyalists, are still running the country. Maduro himself was kidnapped but there is no U.S. military on the ground in Venezuela. Trump’s statement that we would be running the country and rebuilding the oil infrastructure cannot happen without a full scale invasion and maybe not then. Completely missing from the U.S. narrative is any call for a free and fair election in Venezuela and restoration of democracy in that country. The people of Venezuela do not matter. Democracy does not matter, somehow Trump or those controlling him think they can get the oil. I believe it was first and foremost about the oil.
Of course I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Trump’s kissy-poo with Putin has something to do with the Epstein files.
And of course anything to cause distraction, murdering alleged drug runners, military threats to Venezuela, fake emergencies, accusations of sedition and treason
against political adversaries. One could look at the sell out “peace plan” in Ukraine in that light. Maybe thinks he’ll get the Nobel Peace prize ….. good luck!
Food prices continue to rise and healthcare becomes unaffordable.
Do not abandon Ukraine!!
Seems like the Nobel Peace wannabe is determined to start a war in Venezuela, maybe actually starting already. Trump administration has been murdering alleged drug traffickers in International Waters for weeks. I’m disappointed that the U.S. military has not refused …. we don’t use lethal force against non-combatants even if they are running drugs. So many better options. The man wants to kill.
Of course it is mostly wag the dog. A distraction from the Epstein papers and other failures.