{"id":200585,"date":"2020-01-10T08:48:53","date_gmt":"2020-01-10T08:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=200585"},"modified":"2020-01-13T08:44:03","modified_gmt":"2020-01-13T08:44:03","slug":"another-stupid-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=200585","title":{"rendered":"Another Stupid War"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Michael Krieger \u2013 Liberty Blitzkrieg Jan 7, 2020<\/h1>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/us_military_bases_surrounding_iran_jpg-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-51670\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/us_military_bases_surrounding_iran_jpg-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"437\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>First off, we need to understand the U.S. is now at war with Iran.<\/strong> It\u2019s an undeclared, insane and unconstitutional war, but it is war nonetheless. There is no world in which one government intentionally assassinates the top general of another government and that not be warfare. You can argue the U.S. and Iran were already engaged in low-level proxy wars, and that\u2019s a fair assessment, but you can\u2019t say we aren\u2019t currently in a far more serious a state of war. We are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Soleimani was not only a powerful general, he was <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WideAsleepNima\/status\/1212961374051147777\">a popular figure<\/a><\/strong><\/span> within Iran. Unlike other blows the U.S. and Iran have inflicted upon one another, this cannot be walked back. There\u2019s no deescalation from here, only escalation. Even if you want to pretend this didn\u2019t happen and turn back the clock, it\u2019s impossible. This is a major event of historical proportions and should be seen as such. Everything has been turned up a notch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Before discussing what happens next and the big picture implications, it\u2019s worth pointing out the incredible number of blatant lies and overall clownishness that emerged from U.S. officials in the assassination\u2019s aftermath. It started with <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/American-Politics\/Trump-says-Soleimani-plotted-imminent-attacks-critics-challenge-that-613046\">claims from Trump<\/a><\/strong><\/span> that Soleimani was plotting imminent attacks on Americans and was caught in the act. Mass media did its job and uncritically parroted this line, which was quickly exposed as a complete falsehood.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">CNN anchor uncritically repeating government lies.<br \/>This is what mass media does to get wars going. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QK1JET7TIj\">https:\/\/t.co\/QK1JET7TIj<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LibertyBlitz\/status\/1214240715963633664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">It\u2019s incredibly telling that CNN would swallow this fact-free claim with total credulity within weeks of discovering the extent of the lies told about <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@caityjohnstone\/the-hugely-important-opcw-scandal-keeps-unfolding-heres-why-no-one-s-talking-about-it-3632903f22a2\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Syrian chemical attacks<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2019\/dec\/09\/afghan-papers-reveal-us-public-were-misled-about-unwinnable-war\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>the Afghanistan war<\/strong><\/span><\/a>. Meanwhile, when a reporter asked a state department official for some clarification on what sorts of attacks were imminent, this is what transpired.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">When asked by a reporter for details about what kinds of imminent attacks Soleimani was planning, the State Dept. responds with:<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Jesus, do we have to explain why we do these things?&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Totally normal. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FDWtpfItEp\">pic.twitter.com\/FDWtpfItEp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LibertyBlitz\/status\/1214237427323133952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Naturally, we learned soon after from the Iraqi PM himself that Soleimani was in Iraq as part of a diplomatic effort to de-escalate tensions. In other words, he was apparently lured to Baghdad under false pretenses so he\u2019d be a sitting duck for a U.S. strike. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Iraqi Prime Minister AbdulMahdi accuses Trump of deceiving him in order to assassinate Suleimani. Trump, according to P.M. lied about wanting a diplomatic solution in order to get Suleimani on a plane to Baghdad in the open, where he was summarily executed. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HKjyQqXNqP\">https:\/\/t.co\/HKjyQqXNqP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshua_landis\/status\/1213862027426447361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">As you\u2019d expect, some of the most ridiculous propaganda came from Mike Pompeo, a man who genuinely loves deception and considers it his craft.. For example:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Pompeo on CNN says US has \u201cevery expectation\u201d that people \u201cin Iran will view the American action last night as giving them freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoshNBCNews\/status\/1213090486187155456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Then there\u2019s what actually happened.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/sonofnariman\/status\/1213792565075550208<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Iran&#39;s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Qassem Soleimani&#39;s daughter Zeinab were among the hundreds of thousands mourning Soleimani in Tehran today. Iranian state TV put the crowd size at &#39;millions,&#39; though that number could not be verified. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R6EbKh6Gow\">https:\/\/t.co\/R6EbKh6Gow<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBCAlerts\/status\/1214145987863818241?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Moving on to the really big question: what does this assassination mean for the future role of the U.S. in the Middle East and American global hegemony generally? A few important things have already occurred. For starters, the Iraqi parliament <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/iraq-parliament-expulsion-us-troops-drone-attack\">passed a resolution<\/a><\/strong><\/span> calling for U.S. troops to leave. Even more important are the comments and actions of Muqtada al-Sadr.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">WOW, <\/p>\n<p>Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr orders the return of &quot;Mahdi Army&quot; in response the American strike that killed Suleimani. <\/p>\n<p>Mahdi Army fought against the US troops during the invasion in 2003. Sadr disbanded the group in 2008.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rag\u0131p Soylu (@ragipsoylu) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ragipsoylu\/status\/1212998141982720000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Unmentioned in the above tweet, but extremely significant, is the fact al-Sadr has been a vocal critic of both the American and Iranian presence in Iraq. He doesn\u2019t want either country meddling in the affairs of Iraqis, but the Soleimani assassination clearly pushed him to focus on the U.S. presence. This is a very big deal and ensures Iraq will be far more dangerous for U.S. troops than it already was.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Going forward, Iran\u2019s response will be influenced to a great degree by what\u2019s already transpired. There are three things worth noting. First, although many Trump supporters are cheering the assassination, Americans are certainly<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/administration\/476971-poll-43-percent-approve-of-trump-strike-on-soleimani\"> nowhere near united on this<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, with many including myself viewing it as a gigantic strategic blunder. Second, it ratcheted up anti-American sentiment in Iraq to a huge degree without Iran having to do anything, as highlighted above. Third, hardliners within Iran have been given an enormous gift. With one drone strike, the situation went from grumblings and protests on the ground to a scene where any sort of dissent in the air has been extinguished for the time being.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Exactly right, which is why Iran will go more hardline if anything and more united.<br \/>If China admitted to taking out Trump even Maddow wouldn\u2019t cheer. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zqaEDIoWH1\">https:\/\/t.co\/zqaEDIoWH1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LibertyBlitz\/status\/1214259777204674561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Iranian leadership will see these developments as important victories in their own right and will likely craft a response taking stock of this much improved position. This means a total focus on making the experience of American troops in the region untenable, which will be far easier to achieve now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">If that\u2019s right, you can expect less shock and awe in the near-term, and more consolidation of the various parties that were on the fence but have since shifted to a more anti-American stance following Soleimani\u2019s death. Iran will start with the easy pickings, which consists of consolidating its stronger position in Iraq and making dissidents feel shameful at home. That said, Iran will have to publicly respond with some sort of a counterattack, but that event will be carefully considered with Iran\u2019s primary objective in mind \u2014 getting U.S. troops out of the region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">This means no attacks on U.S. or European soil, and no attacks targeting civilians either. Such a move would be as strategically counterproductive as Assad gassing Syrian cities after he was winning the war (which is why many of us doubted the narrative) since it would merely inflame American public opinion and give an excuse to attack Iran in Iran. There is no way Iranian leadership is that stupid, so any such attack must be treated with the utmost skepticism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">It\u2019s impossible to know exactly what will happen in the short-term, but in the much bigger picture I have a strong view of what this means. The assassination of Soleimani kicks off the beginning of the final chapter in the decline of U.S. imperial dominance. It will likely play out over the course of the first part of this decade (2020-2025), and by the time it\u2019s over it\u2019ll be undeniable that the U.S. is no longer the global hegemon it once was. The world at that stage will be unmistakably multi-polar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The signs are everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Welcome to America\u2019s two political parties:<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a Democrat you must become brain dead about Russia and blame everything bad on it.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a Republican you must become brain dead about Iran and blame everything bad on it.<\/p>\n<p>This is what empire in decline looks like.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LibertyBlitz\/status\/1214571186710953984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 7, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Do empires fall because a superior military force beats them in a conventional war, or do they fall due to decades of debt, corruption and military entanglements on the periphery.<\/p>\n<p>Worth contemplating.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Michael Krieger (@LibertyBlitz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LibertyBlitz\/status\/1213145602562723840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 3, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Death to America this, Death to America that. The arrogance of the Iranians is astounding. They will never be as good at destroying America as America.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Starfish Who Just Wants To Grill (@IRHotTakes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IRHotTakes\/status\/1213918143917236225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 5, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>T<span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">his is not a time for despair, as there can be a huge silver lining to all of this. A singular focus on imperial hegemony has been terrible for most Americans. It has made us weak, it has destroyed the middle class, and it has entrenched a small subset of sociopaths into positions of total, unaccountable power.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The energy and spirit of the American people have been pushed aside and smothered so a bunch of defense contractors, politicians and finance criminals can play a game of RISK at the public\u2019s expense. The transition is likely to be quite traumatic and fraught with danger, but empire has been a curse and has hollowed out the country. Shaking off empire at least gives us a shot at a revival.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><em><strong>Liberty Blitzkrieg is an ad-free website. If you enjoyed this post and my work in general, visit the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/libertyblitzkrieg.com\/support-liberty-blitzkrieg\/\">Support\u00a0Page<\/a><\/span> where you can donate and contribute to my efforts.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/libertyblitzkrieg.com\/2020\/01\/07\/another-stupid-war\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When asked by details about what kinds of imminent attacks Soleimani was planning, the State Dept. responded: &#8220;Jesus, do we have to explain why we do these things?&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[51,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Iran","category-Iraq"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=200585"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200588,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200585\/revisions\/200588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=200585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=200585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=200585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}