Pompeo and his lies got us into this mess with Iran

Just a few days ago SoS Mike Pompeo said that we assassinated General Soleimani to stop an 'imminent attack' on Americans.
No evidence was presented to back up this claim. We are just supposed to believe it.

It turns out that Pompeo and VP Pence had pushed Trump hard to do this assassination.

Well, guess what? It turns out that Pompeo was a big fat liar.
The opposite was true. Soleimani was in Baghdad on a mission of peace.

The acting Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi addressed Parliament today with a recommendation for U.S. troops to be removed from the country. That speech has been widely covered and quoted in the U.S. media but its most explosive revelations have been omitted or buried.

In the address, Abdul-Mahdi revealed that Soleimani had traveled to Baghdad to deliver a message back from Iran to Saudi Arabia about a proposal to lower tensions in the region, that Soleimani was to meet with the Prime Minister the very morning he was assassinated, and — most crucially — that days prior Trump had asked the Iraqi Prime Minister to “play the mediator’s role” between the U.S. and Iran.
...There can be no doubt that the Trump administration would have known in detail about Iran’s ongoing secret negotiations with Saudi Arabia, one of its closest allies, which were mediated by an Iraqi government, which was also operating closely and communicating frequently with Washington.

This means the Pentagon and the White House fully knew, when they ordered the airstrike to kill him, that Soleimani was traveling to Baghdad in a diplomatic capacity as an emissary of Iran, and that he had a meeting planned with the Prime Minister to discuss broader de-escalation.

So simply put: The entire Trump Administration is a bunch of big, fat liars that took a fig leaf of peace as an opportunity to start a war, and then told us the opposite.

So you already know Trump's lie about this, and you already know Pompeo's lie.
What about Pence's lie?

Pence, in a wide-ranging Twitter thread detailing Soleimani’s alleged crimes against America, claimed Soleimani “assisted in the clandestine travel of 10 of 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks.”

The tweet drew immediate criticism, in part because it is factually incorrect. Pence wrote that there were 12 terrorists who attacked the US on 9/11, but there were actually 19 hijackers.
...Similarly, the 9/11 Commission Report found “8 to 10 of the 14 Saudi “muscle” operatives [those assigned physical tasks in the hijackings] traveled into or out of Iran between October 2000 and February 2001,” but clearly states that neither the Iranian government nor Hezbollah helped facilitate the attack. Page 241 of the report reads:

We have found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack. At the time of their travel through Iran, the Al Qaeda operatives themselves were probably not aware of the specific details of their future operation.

For those people who think impeaching Trump will fix everything, Pence would be even worse.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

But the response of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was particularly striking, as he has been one of Trump’s staunchest supporters on the world stage.

He told a meeting of his security cabinet on Monday: “The assassination of Suleimani isn’t an Israeli event but an American event. We were not involved and should not be dragged into it.”

Uh huh.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@Not Henry Kissinger
But I can understand his efforts to distance himself.
It shows more smarts than what Trump has been doing.

The patient way the Iranians are preparing to respond is scaring them.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@gjohnsit

Bibi for Soleimani is looking more and more like the appropriate 'proportional' response for all concerned.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

@gjohnsit
normally this would be big news

"Seven aircraft and three military vehicles were destroyed in the attack," said the statement, which included photos of aircraft ablaze and an al Shabaab militant standing nearby. In a tweet, the US Africa Command confirmed an attack on the Manda Bay Airfield had occurred.

3 americans killed

One US military service member and two contractors were killed in an Islamist attack on a military base in Kenya.

Islamist militant group al-Shabab attacked the base, used by Kenyan and US forces, in the popular coastal region of Lamu on Sunday.
The US military said in a statement that two others from the Department of Defense were wounded.

"The wounded Americans are currently in stable condition and being evacuated," the US military's Africa Command said.

63 airstrikes in Somalia this year

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Raggedy Ann's picture

@Not Henry Kissinger
Here we go - a pissing contest about to begin!

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

snoopydawg's picture

We need to impeach 99% of the game government to do that. This current crop of protectors of robber barons are corrupt beyond any chance of repair. Democrats are whining about Trump not informing them of the hit, but democrats have been voting for sanctions on Iran and a few including Schumer were agreed against the Iran deal from the beginning. And I'd take them more seriously about trying to stop Trump from warring on Iran if they hadn't voted for the NDAA after the amendment to do just that had been stripped out of it. As was the one Tulsi wrote.

Edited typos...good grief I sounded like an imbecile.

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There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Creosote.'s picture

@snoopydawg
that may be of interest:
First - video of Gabbard speaking: http://thesaker.is/tulsi-gabbard-we-must-demand-with-one-voice-bring-our...
Second: http://thesaker.is/the-usa-is-now-at-war-de-facto-and-de-jure-with-both-...
Much more interesting material there as well.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Creosote.

Thanks for posting the link to it. Highly recommended.

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There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

Bollox Ref's picture

that they had to scramble to find the whereabouts of Suleimani to carry out Trump's wishes/needs.

If the threat was 'imminent', wouldn't that already be known?

Lies, lies, more lies, and then Trump.

(Edited)

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

is an attack on a Trump property an attack on the US?

putting your life at risk from worlds worst terrorists to stay in a Trump tower would reduce people staying there

someone else made this comment and I am passing it on

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@DonMidwest
It's hard to argue with

The slogan “Death to America” is directed against the “evil” US President Donald Trump and his associates, not the American people, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said.

Speaking to a gathering of Iranian Air Force officers, Khamenei hit back at Trump’s State of the Union address, which included an attack on the Iranian “regime that chants ‘Death to America.’”

“The US is the embodiment of evil, but still complains when you chant ‘Death to America,’” Khamenei said. He then explained that those chants specifically target the people ruling the country, not “the American nation.”

Death to America means death to Trump, John Bolton, and Pompeo.

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Not Henry Kissinger's picture

@DonMidwest

to ask for advice, but Salman won't pick up.

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The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?

edg's picture

@DonMidwest

Is Mar-a-Lago a US cultural site? Wait, just looked it up -- it's a national historic landmark. Since Iran obeys international law, it can't be on their list of 35 Best Places to Attack. Trump Tower on the other hand....

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Or the Kennedy Assassination.

I have long since given up any expectation that I am going to be told the truth by any one in our government, regardless of party.

Wars would probably be a lot shorter if generals and political leaders were killed first.

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@davidgmillsatty to know the truth, maybe even disclose it publicly. But they get scared off. Schumer's "the CIA has 6 ways to Sunday to get back at you" is the operative mindset.

So, yes, you are far more likely to get full disclosure about Roswell 1947 than the truth about JFK's assass'n or 9-11. And disclosure about Roswell isn't happening either.

But towards the end of this century, in our next lifetimes, maybe some partial disclosure. Modified limited hangout type.

On any important issue where full disclosure would go against the interests of powerful governmental entities, you can rely on gubmint to cover up and lie, straight down the line. Knowing this, the expectations are eliminated and frustration goes away.

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is probably how the Deep State looks at this.

If there is a war then win or lose the arms makers cash in.

The US could prevail militarily and still suffer enough damage and generate enough revulsion in the process to sink Trump.

Accomplish that and the prospect being held accountable for the CIA's and FBI's abuses under the Obama administration (morphed into an outright coup attempt under Trump) or the decades of lies about the Afghan war pretty much evaporates.

And in the really unlikely event that Trump were to pull of
something like defeating Iran with minimal losses materially or to his popularity...

Then the agendas of Israel and the Saudis are advanced, which appears to be a higher priority for the DS/PTB than advancing American interests or averting mass death and destruction.

Not saying Trump isn't culpable, but I strongly suspect he's being played.

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