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Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again (Read 1374 times)
Mattyfisk
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Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Sep 13th, 2019 at 12:19pm
 
Trump’s Iran policy takes a head-shaking turn toward incoherence[

09/12/19 10:51 AM—UPDATED 09/12/19 11:03 AM
By Steve Benen

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke at a media briefing this week and argued that he, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Donald Trump are “completely aligned on our ‘maximum pressure’ campaign” against Iran. Mnuchin added that the policy is “absolutely working.”

The policy is absolutely not working. After the president walked away from the international nuclear agreement with Iran, the foreign adversary has become more dangerous, not less, As the Associated Press reported this week, “The United Nations’ atomic watchdog confirmed Monday that Iran is preparing to use more advanced centrifuges, another breach of limits set in the country’s slowly unraveling nuclear deal with major powers.”

There’s no great mystery behind the broader dynamic: Trump took a policy that was working as intended and abandoned it for reasons he struggled to explain. Iran responded, as expected, by accelerating the nuclear program that the JCPOA policy had kept in check. As Colin Kahl, an Obama administration veteran, recently explained, “Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign was supposed to induce Iran to scrap its nuclear program (which was already contained by the 2015 nuclear deal). Instead, Trump’s actions have incentivized Iran to restart it, creating a completely unnecessary crisis.”

Trump’s plan – to the extent that his whims can be credibly characterized as a “plan” – has been to use sanctions to force Iran to the negotiating table in order to reach a deal to limit its nuclear program. Once that happens, Trump believes, he can offer Iranian officials economic incentives to entice them into an agreement.

Or put another way, the Republican hopes to do what Barack Obama already did several years ago, striking a deal that Trump rejected.

Yesterday, as the New York Times reported, Trump sent an entirely different kind of signal.

President Trump appeared to take a step back from his administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran on Wednesday, leaving open the possibility of easing economic sanctions before starting new nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Although he also warned Iran against restarting production of the material necessary to make a nuclear bomb – as the clerical government in Tehran has threatened – Mr. Trump made clear he was ready for diplomatic talks.

After the American president referenced sanctions on Iran, a reporter asked whether he’d consider easing the sanctions as part of a diplomatic olive branch. Trump didn’t rule it out, saying, “We’ll see what happens.”


Meanwhile, France has explored a $15 billion package that would effectively buy Iran’s compliance with the international nuclear agreement – dramatically undermining the White House’s “maximum pressure” gambit – and according to a Daily Beast report published yesterday, Trump “has left the impression with foreign officials, members of his administration, and others involved in Iranian negotiations that he is actively considering” the French plan.

Bloomberg News added that Trump has also already discussed easing sanctions on Iran – a move then-National Security Advisor John Bolton argued against shortly before he parted ways with the White House.

It may seem fairly routine for the Trump administration’s foreign policies to seem incoherent, but this is a dramatic example of the broader problem. As Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) noted via Twitter, “So Trump is going to give Iran $15 billion to come back into compliance with the agreement he tore up because it was the worst deal he had ever seen? My head hurts.”

Senator, you’re not alone.

The United States’ position started with sanctions, which forced Iran to the negotiating table. That led to a deal: Iran received economic relief; the United States and our partners received on-the-ground inspections and a curtailed nuclear threat.

Trump trashed that deal.

The Republican then adopted a “maximum pressure” campaign, featuring sanctions, which he thought would force Iran to the negotiating table, where Trump would offer economic relief in exchange for on-the-ground inspections and a curtailed nuclear threat.

The current U.S. president is now, however, prepared to undermine his own failing policy, eyeing financial support to Iran, which he hopes will entice Iran to the table, where Trump can offer more economic relief, which is the same thing he opposed when Obama struck the deal that was working before Trump tried to kill it.

Josh Barro added, “I don’t understand the point of withdrawing from the Iran deal and sanctioning Iran but then giving Iran financial aid to offset the effects of the sanctions in order to induce them to stay in the deal.”

Well, sure, when one puts it that way, it seems as if Trump’s entire policy is an incoherent joke.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trumps-iran-policy-takes-head-shaking-tu...
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aquascoot
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #1 - Sep 13th, 2019 at 12:34pm
 
trump


keeping his enemies confused and bewildered as always.

sun tzu  would be proud
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greggerypeccary
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #2 - Sep 13th, 2019 at 2:23pm
 



"Well, sure, when one puts it that way, it seems as if Trump’s entire policy existence is an incoherent joke."


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Mattyfisk
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #3 - Sep 13th, 2019 at 2:35pm
 
aquascoot wrote on Sep 13th, 2019 at 12:34pm:
trump


keeping his enemies confused and bewildered as always.

sun tzu  would be proud


Good point. Here, Mr Trump scrapped Obama's deal with Iran, saw Iran start their nuclear program again, and now plans to drop the sanctions he reimposed - with a $15 billion compensation package.

Ah, the art of the deal, eh?

Yes, dear, Mr Trump certainly leaves his enemies guessing. What will Mr Trump do? They say.

Then they get all riled up and give Fat Steve and Janeen a headache.

A master stroke. Whoever would have thought Mr Trump would play games with nukes? And whoever thought he'd do a worse deal with Iran?

Cometh the hour, dear, cometh the man. And that man is reality-TV star, Mr Trump.
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Laugh till you cry
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #4 - Sep 13th, 2019 at 6:00pm
 
aquascoot wrote on Sep 13th, 2019 at 12:34pm:
trump


keeping his enemies confused and bewildered as always.

sun tzu  would be proud


Trump's friends are more confused than his enemies.

Predicting the flip-flopping machinations of Trump's gut is beyond human capabilities.
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Please don't thank me. Effusive fawning and obeisance of disciples, mendicants, and foot-kissers embarrass me.
 
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aquascoot
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #5 - Sep 13th, 2019 at 6:13pm
 
Laugh till you cry wrote on Sep 13th, 2019 at 6:00pm:
aquascoot wrote on Sep 13th, 2019 at 12:34pm:
trump


keeping his enemies confused and bewildered as always.

sun tzu  would be proud


Trump's friends are more confused than his enemies.

Predicting the flip-flopping machinations of Trump's gut is beyond human capabilities.



enigmatic
difficult to predict
lots of plot changes
characters dissappearing
intrigue
uncertainty
what will happen tomorrow?


thats trump.


now if you look at what the public really love,
say a show like "game of thrones"
what do we see?


enigmatic
difficult to predict
lots of plot changes
characters dissappearing
intrigue
uncertainty
what will happen tomorrow.?
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longweekend58
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #6 - Sep 13th, 2019 at 6:48pm
 
Trumps Iran 'plan' explains all his bankruptcies and failures. Everything he touches turns to crap and now we see why. Ona scale of 1 to 10, his ideas are a -5
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AUSSIE: "Speaking for myself, I could not care less about 298 human beings having their life snuffed out in a nano-second, or what impact that loss has on Members of their family, their parents..."
 
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SadKangaroo
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #7 - Sep 14th, 2019 at 7:24am
 
aquascoot wrote on Sep 13th, 2019 at 12:34pm:
trump


keeping his enemies confused and bewildered as always.

sun tzu  would be proud


If Trump were a master tactician and this bumbling grandpa persona was just that, sure.
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Johnnie
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #8 - Sep 14th, 2019 at 9:59am
 
Unless Trump stops Iran the pic below shows the result.

If anybody else CAN stop Iran speak now or forever hold your peace.
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bomb.jpg (61 KB | 9 )
bomb.jpg
 
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Mattyfisk
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #9 - Sep 14th, 2019 at 10:10pm
 
Johnnie wrote on Sep 14th, 2019 at 9:59am:
Unless Trump stops Iran the pic below shows the result.

If anybody else CAN stop Iran speak now or forever hold your peace.


Oh, for fck's sake, Matty, Obama stopped Iran. Are you really that stupid? They're now back to the same nuclear weapons program thanks to you-know-who, and they're going leaps and bounds. You-know-who's now considering going back to the Obama deal and compensating them 15 billion.

Fake news, is it? Fake Trump quotes, eh?

No worries. So when he was asked about this (before he ducked into his conveniently-waiting chopper, the only place he takes questions now), why did he say we'll have to wait and see?

You're right though. Only Mr Trump can unwind his own sanctions. Genius.

Create a problem and find a solution. Aquascoot's right.

A master tactician, clearly.
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Johnnie
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #10 - Sep 15th, 2019 at 1:38am
 
The Obama (your hero) deal had run out not long after he left office, it was only a temporary patch up anyway so he could go on the Oprah show and tell everyone how he saved the world.

Why is it up to Trump to now save the world and why does the US have to be the worlds cops.

Iran wants nuclear arms and considering they are currently the worlds leading exporter of terrorism this will not end well.

They should call up your hero to see if he can patch things over again.
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« Last Edit: Sep 15th, 2019 at 1:56am by Johnnie »  
 
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Richdude
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #11 - Sep 15th, 2019 at 1:57am
 
  I think what karnal is trying to say in simpler terms is. "The harder you push the harder they push back". Threats, sanctions ..... just galvanizes the population to resist more.

Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again!

Yes he has and will continue to do so until the tentacles of the deep state are gone.

Sacking Bolton was the latest good news. And now Trump wants an unconditional meeting with the heads of Iran.

So we have according to our Western news, Iran one of the oldest if not the oldest civilization on Earth that wants to nuke the rest of the World! What's their beef? Trump is doing what a REAL leader does - sitting down for discussions.

How are you haters going to spin this? eh!
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« Last Edit: Sep 15th, 2019 at 2:11am by Richdude »  

The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.”
 
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Mattyfisk
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #12 - Sep 15th, 2019 at 2:14am
 
Johnnie wrote on Sep 15th, 2019 at 1:38am:
The Obama (your hero) deal had run out not long after he left office


Oh? So why did Europe stick to it and blame you-know-who for rescinding a binding deal?

Don't answer this, you're only going to make more stuff up. Why do you do it?

Answer that instead, dear.
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Mattyfisk
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #13 - Sep 15th, 2019 at 2:19am
 
Richdude wrote on Sep 15th, 2019 at 1:57am:
  I think what karnal is trying to say in simpler terms is. "The harder you push the harder they push back". Threats, sanctions ..... just galvanizes the population to resist more.

Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again!

Yes he has and will continue to do so until the tentacles of the deep state are gone.

Sacking Bolton was the latest good news. And now Trump wants an unconditional meeting with the heads of Iran.

So we have according to our Western news, Iran one of the oldest if not the oldest civilization on Earth that wants to nuke the rest of the World! What's their beef? Trump is doing what a REAL leader does - sitting down for discussions.

How are you haters going to spin this? eh!



Is he? So when the Iranian president turned up at the G7 with France and said he was happy to meet Mr Trump, did they?

No, Mr Trump was out the door after 1 night and back at Bedminster for a few holes the following day.

The secret service must have said it was all too hard, eh?

Bad traffic, too wet for his helicopter, security concerns. Oh, Mr Trump wanted to, but they wouldn't let him do it.

Deep State, innit.
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Johnnie
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Re: Oh, Mr Trump, you've done it again
Reply #14 - Sep 15th, 2019 at 2:25am
 
Mattyfisk wrote on Sep 15th, 2019 at 2:14am:
Johnnie wrote on Sep 15th, 2019 at 1:38am:
The Obama (your hero) deal had run out not long after he left office


Oh? So why did Europe stick to it and blame you-know-who for rescinding a binding deal?

Don't answer this, you're only going to make more stuff up. Why do you do it?

Answer that instead, dear.

Europe hasn't done anything and the A bombs will be flying around everywhere unless Trump sorts out Iran for good.'

What did Trump say to Iran? something along the line of, no nuclear for you and no deals until that happens.
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