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Trump risks credibility with policy that veers between threats and inaction
The Washington Post ^ | May 17, 2019 at 7:36 PM | Karen DeYoung , Liz Sly and Josh Dawsey

Posted on 05/17/2019 7:59:52 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum

As Iran girds for possible war with the United States, President Trump may turn out to be the best friend it has.

Despite the saber-rattling of senior aides and Trump’s own tweets, when push has come to shove over the past two years, the president has repeatedly backed away from the threatened use of military force.

Whether the target has been North Korea, with which warnings of “fire and fury” have become little more than an exchange of “beautiful” letters between Trump and Kim Jong Un, or Venezuela, where the threat of “all options” has failed to upset the status quo, the president has blinked. With Iran, the dispatch of a U.S. aircraft carrier and a bomber task force, as well as reported plans to deploy 120,000 troops, were quickly followed by Trump’s insistence that he only wants to talk to Iranian leaders.

Trump has said that there is no inconsistency in his administration’s messaging but that the image of incoherence can be useful. “At least Iran doesn’t know what to think, which at this point may very well be a good thing!” he tweeted Friday.

But as he moves more deeply into the second half of his term with major foreign policy issues unresolved, Trump’s credibility has suffered, and his options have narrowed.

“If you make threats and then people decide you aren’t going to follow through, if you’re looking for the reaction and you stop getting the reaction, the options are either to make larger threats or to stop going down that road at all,” said Jon B. Alterman, Middle East Program director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Cuba; Japan; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: cuba; defundnpr; defundpbs; districtofcolumbia; djibouti; domesticenemies; enemiesofthepeople; eritrea; fakenews; gcc; hassannasrallah; hezbollah; houthi; iran; jeffbezos; joshdawsey; karendeyoung; korea; lebanon; lizsly; maga; mediawingofthednc; morefakenews; nevertrumper; nicaragua; npr; partisanmediashills; patbuchanan; patrickbuchanan; patrickjbuchanan; pbs; pitchforkpat; presstitutes; putinsbuttboys; pyongyang; republicofkorea; russia; saudiarabia; smearmachine; sudan; uae; unitedarabemirates; venezuela; wapo; washingtoncompost; washingtonpost; whataretheirfrnicks; yemen
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To: E. Pluribus Unum
Because this person was a paragon of credibility and integrity in the eyes of the Daily Bezos, wasn't he?
21 posted on 05/18/2019 4:08:46 AM PDT by OttawaFreeper ("The Gardens was founded by men-sportsmen-who fought for their country" Conn Smythe, 1966)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

In the past, frightened, weak Presidents worried about what anti-American dictators might do.

Now, every anti-American dictator worries about what Trump might do !

These “great diplomats” at the WP think that certainty and predictability are the best way to deal with hostile dictators.

They are such fools !

With Trump, the dictators worry every day: “Who knows what Trump might do ? This guy is capable of anything.”

That’s what we want. We want foreign dictators to worry !


22 posted on 05/18/2019 4:36:33 AM PDT by Reverend Wright (TAX the WOKE !)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

He has repeatedly stated he was releasing the classified records during the past year;...... we’re waiting.


23 posted on 05/18/2019 5:12:49 AM PDT by kenmcg (tHE WHOLE)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Bahrain asks its citizens to leave Iran, Iraq ‘immediately’ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-bahrain/bahrain-asks-its-citizens-to-leave-iran-iraq-immediately-idUSKCN1SO0BN


24 posted on 05/18/2019 5:54:26 AM PDT by PghBaldy (12/14 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15 - 1030am - Obama's advance team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: lurk

President Trump is bleeding them dry. Slowly and methodically. His supposed inaction is itself an action. If he gets a second term the mullahs will fall, and the Iranian people (who for the most part are free thinking western values oriented people, notwithstanding the autocratic regime they are forced to live under) will be free. If so, history will judge this as his greatest achievement.


25 posted on 05/18/2019 5:59:59 AM PDT by ExpatCanuck
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

WaPo and NYT desperately want Trump to go to war with Iran ...


26 posted on 05/18/2019 6:03:48 AM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Trump is smart enough that he probably realizes if he did the opposite of everything WaPo said he should do, he’d have a pretty darn sound set of policies!


27 posted on 05/18/2019 6:05:40 AM PDT by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: ExpatCanuck

Chances are, if the Mullahs fall, another bunch of tyrants will take over. Most countries in the world are not like Western “Democracies.”


28 posted on 05/18/2019 6:10:22 AM PDT by PghBaldy (12/14 - 930am -rampage begins... 12/15 - 1030am - Obama's advance team scouts photo-op locations.)
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To: PghBaldy

Perhaps. And I hope you’re wrong. I know a number of Iranian expats who feel the same way. If President Trump can plant the seeds of a second ‘revolution’ there, then may whatever God one believes in give him power.


29 posted on 05/18/2019 6:31:18 AM PDT by ExpatCanuck
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To: ZOOKER

Don’t be silly!

DiFi called the Iranian Ambassador to ask him to recommend a “new” driver for her..


30 posted on 05/18/2019 7:26:01 AM PDT by pfony1 (Put Up or Shut Up!)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Sending carrier fleets IS use of military force.


31 posted on 05/18/2019 8:20:31 AM PDT by dp0622 (The Left should know if.. Trump is kicked out of office, it is WAR)
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To: ExpatCanuck

“...Iranian people (who for the most part are free thinking western values oriented people, notwithstanding the autocratic regime they are forced to live under...”

I have had the pleasure of Iranian friends and will welcome the day these people are free to once again become a great American friend and ally.


32 posted on 05/18/2019 9:46:49 AM PDT by Sir Bangaz Cracka (Sweet Saint Skittles bounced dat ole white Craka head off da sidewalk causin he was real skeered.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

I just flushed a big pile that was of greater value than the Washington comPost.


33 posted on 05/18/2019 9:48:07 AM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Keep ‘em confused. Wow, the Amazon Post is still confused and hasn’t figured out that Trump always keeps his adversaries confused.

If the Bezos Post is worried about Trump’s credibility, that credibility will be strengthened with an indictment or two. Preferably before the election.


34 posted on 05/18/2019 2:22:43 PM PDT by rhombus10
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Why are we interested in what the WaPost says about President Trump ?????


35 posted on 05/18/2019 7:18:59 PM PDT by Texan4Life
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

Go to war to give Donald street cred. Right. Brilliant idea./s

If he doesn’t bomb them into the stone age, will the author be flapping his arms and making chicken noises?

He’s stepping up to Iran, but if there’s to be war, let them start it, if they’re feeling lucky. That’s exactly what he should be doing.


36 posted on 05/19/2019 1:29:35 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

As soon as I saw the title in the sidebar, I was wondering which gang of fools and morons it was coming from...


37 posted on 05/19/2019 5:56:11 AM PDT by BigEdLB (BigEdLB, Russian BOT, At your service)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
Note: this topic is from 05/17/2019. Thanks E. Pluribus Unum.
Some selections from among the 1529 topics in the UAE keyword.

38 posted on 08/17/2020 11:06:20 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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