Trump discusses Iran, names Military Industrial Complex; doesn't want war.

[shakey1]

Seems to all be building up to something tho.

[RonZeplin]

I am not saying he should be taken to Guantanamo bay but if that is what is takes to rid this country of traitorous globalist shylls? then so be it.

+rep

[Zippyjuan]

https://s.abcnews.com/images/Interna...n_16x9_992.jpg

Trump Orders An Additional 1,500 Troops To The Middle East

President Trump has ordered some 1,500 troops to the Gulf region to serve a "mostly protective" purpose for American forces and interests.

Trump made the announcement to reporters on the White House lawn before boarding Marine One.

In a Pentagon briefing on Friday, Director of the Joint Staff Vice Adm. Michael Gilday would not say where the additional troops would be sent, other than that they would not be heading to Iraq and Syria.

Some of the forces have already arrived. A defense system designed to track and destroy incoming missiles, called a Patriot battery, is already in the region, staffed with about 600 troops.

The remaining 900 troops will operate intelligence surveillance radar and drones. A fighter squadron will also be deployed, though no specifics were provided.

The deployment of additional troops comes with the Pentagon's announcement that attacks on four oil tankers, carried out two weeks ago in the Persian Gulf, were the work of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Gilday said the attackers used limpet mines, a type of mine that is attached to a vessel and then detonated.

He also blamed a rocket fired at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad earlier this week on an Iranian proxy. Iran supports Shia militias in Iraq, but the Pentagon did not identify which group had fired the rocket.

There were no reported injuries in either incident.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told The Washington Post Thursday that the deployments were about deterrence, "not war."

Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord a year ago, and the rhetoric between Tehran and Washington been increasingly belligerent. Iran recently announced that it would accelerate uranium enrichment if other countries don't help it mitigate economic sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.

Also on Friday, members of Congress said the Trump administration is selling more arms to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates without the usual congressional approval.

Sen. Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey who is the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the administration informed Congress that it was invoking an obscure provision to avoid the congressional approval usually required.

"In trying to explain this move, the Administration failed to even identify which legal mechanism it thinks it is using," Menendez said in a statement.

Arms sales to both countries have been criticized as supporting the war in Yemen, in which the Saudi-led coalition has repeatedly killed civilians and stands accused of indiscriminate air strikes.

In his remarks Friday, Trump also discussed the possibility of pardoning military service members charged with war crimes. He told reporters that he hasn't "done anything yet" and was considering issuing pardons for some service members after their courts-martial.

[Swordsmyth]

https://s.abcnews.com/images/Interna...n_16x9_992.jpg

The Pentagon wanted 10,000.

[TheCount]

The Pentagon wanted 10,000.

Hillary wanted 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.


If you do the math, this is actually a negative increase of troops.

[Swordsmyth]

In perhaps the best sign thus far that a potential US war with Iran has been averted (at least for the near term), given the possibility that both heightened saber-rattling and the potential for an "accidental" deadly encounter between IRGC forces and the recent build-up of American deployments could have led to a major conflict, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton himself appears to now be fast climbing down the escalation ladder.
According to Reuters on Thursday Bolton is singing a different tune compared to the war rhetoric of the past weeks since the crisis began: "The threat from Iran is not over but quick action from the United States has helped deter it." This echoes a prior Pentagon statement essentially saying the "clear" Iran threat intelligence against US forces was accurate but that the US carrier and other extra force deployments to the Persian Gulf region thwarted Iran's intentions.
“I don’t think this threat is over, but I do think you can make at least a conditional claim that the quick response and the deployment and other steps that we took did serve as a deterrent,” Bolton told reporters during a visit to London on Thursday.


When pressed over whether he was at odds with President Trump who has repeatedly stated the US is not looking for regime change in Tehran, Bolton responded:

“The policy we’re pursuing is not a policy of regime change. That’s the fact and everybody should understand it that way.”

Bolton even seemed to have backed away from prior statements of defense officials which accused Iran's leaders of having "ordered" attacks on oil tankers near the Strait of Hormuz as well as a Saudi oil pipeline in the past weeks.
Late last week an official Pentagon statement said "the leadership of Iran at the highest level" ordered a spate of disruptive attacks.

But now Bolton seems have have introduced more ambiguity, identifying Iran's "surrogates" - and stopping short of prior direct and more aggressive "top leadership" accusations - as possibly behind the attacks. Per Reuters:

Bolton said there was some prospect that evidence Iran was behind attacks this month on oil tankers in the Gulf would be presented to the United Nations Security Council next week.
“I don’t think anybody who is familiar with the situation in the region, whether they have examined the evidence or not, has come to any conclusion other than that these attacks were carried out by Iran or their surrogates,” he said.

Over the past week, following Trump's extended hand for Iran's leaders to "call me," we've seen a consistent deescalation following weeks of dangerous escalation, including threats and counter-threats of military action by both sides.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani reportedly said this week that the "road is not closed" on talks with the US if Washington drops the sanctions and returns to upholding the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) - something not at all likely to happen.


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...eterred-threat