All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[Kirby101]

Iran was the main beneficiary of our war on Iraq.

[Trey Strain]

Iran was the main beneficiary of our war on Iraq.

We did it on Israel's behalf, not on Iran's.

If Americans were going to die fighting for Israel and Israel wasn't going to fight alongside us, they could have at least helped pay for that catastrophe. They didn't even do that. We fought that war and we paid for it, after Dubya had promised that we'd seize some of Iraq's oil wells to pay for it.

What a swindle that was!

[Trey Strain]

Oh, and did I mention that it resulted in the creation of the Islamic State?

The Middle East is a hellhole. We should not have one soldier stationed there, and we should not give one damn about it.

[Tendrin]

We did it on Israel's behalf, not on Iran's.
!

We did for our own reasons. It's easy to pretend Israel was a bigger reason. it was just an excuse. PNAC was the reason.

Just like we have our own (insane) reasons to let Israel do whatever it wants.

[Dalak]

And if you point that out, you're a bad person.

Those are simply facts. You can't make them go away with name calling.

If this were a serious attempt at a cost-benefit analysis I might be interested in the results, but when "Israel Told Us To" is bandied about by someone who advocates against reporting Nazi's who break the rules of twitter I know it really isn't serious.

[Kusanagi]

Jason Spencer drops the n-word several times, also drops his pants, on episode 2 of Who's America

Bright side, well at least he's gone after November at the latest...

[Tendrin]

Jason Spencer drops the n-word several times, also drops his pants, on episode 2 of Who's America

Bright side, well at least he's gone after November at the latest...

….yeah. Next time WBE gets to right him up will probably be quite fun for him, for a change.

[JCAll]

Iran was the main beneficiary of our war on Iraq.

I would have assumed the biggest beneficiary was the military industrial complex.

[Tendrin]

I would have assumed the biggest beneficiary was the military industrial complex.

Well, domestically yes, but when talking about Geo-Politics... xD

[Tendrin]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury said on Monday that it will no longer require certain tax-exempt organizations including politically active nonprofit groups, such as the National Rifle Association and Planned Parenthood, to identify their financial donors to U.S. tax authorities.
The policy change, heralded by conservatives as an advance for free speech, maintains donor disclosure requirements for traditional charity groups organized to receive tax-exempt donations under a section of the Internal Revenue code known as 501(c)(3), the Treasury said.
But the move frees labor unions, issue advocacy organizations, veterans groups and other nonprofits that do not receive tax-exempt money from meeting confidential disclosure requirements set in place decades ago.

Yikes.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0fd5c73bebb3d

[Tazirai]

Gilibrand ghas become a convert lol.

Progressivism is the future, not that silly GOP lite Centrism.

[Malvolio]

Gilibrand ghas become a convert lol.

Progressivism is the future, not that silly GOP lite Centrism.

This makes me proud to live in New York.

[Tendrin]

More accurately, Spencer will r emain in congress until January when the new class of congressmen is seated.

[Coin Biter]

Oh, and did I mention that it resulted in the creation of the Islamic State?

The Middle East is a hellhole. We should not have one soldier stationed there, and we should not give one damn about it.

There were a huge number of reasons the US (and sadly the UK and others) intervened in Iraq:

1. To address the sentiment that Saddam Hussein's regime should have been toppled in the first Iraq War.

2. As part of a geo-political strategy to remake the Middle East by increasing the number of US-friendly regimes.

3. To free up a significant part of the world's oil supply to Western commercial exploitation.

4. Because Saddam Hussein was a repulsive dictator and getting rid of him was a Good Thing (a sentiment felt perhaps most by centre left proponents of the Iraq War, such as Nick Cohen and Christopher Hitchens).

5. Because while the notion of Saddam Hussein rapidly being able to acquire WMDs may have been built up purely to try to swing a UN resolution, there were those in government who half-persuaded themselves that the threat was imminent, and in any event Hussein's previous military adventurism against Iran and Kuwait caused many people concern.

Now, I opposed the Iraq War at the time, I thought it a monumental act of recklessness and folly prosecuted by dishonest means, but there's no doubt there were a large number of reasons why the Bush administration chose to remake the Middle East.

One of those reasons might have been to support Israel, certainly Hussein had supported the second Palestinian intafada and had attempted to draw Israel into the first Iraq War and break the coalition of forces against him by firing Scud missiles.

But to treat it as the primary reason is absurd. (There's not much doubt that Netanyahu wanted and wants US action against Iran, and was delighted by Trump's election, though.)

It's also a little dispiriting to read of the Middle East being a "hellhole" and abdicating any responsibility for its current situation. I'm certainly not going to argue that the US and the UK are the only responsible actors in the area. I'm not arguing either that further military intervention would be in any way a good idea.

However the Second Iraq War, and its consequences, both intended and unintended, are the responsibility of those countries that participated, and to wash their hands of responsibility and pretend that they are inveigled into intervention by the crazy fanaticism of the region is not only far too benign a view of Western policy in the region, but is also a refusal to acknowledge the moral obligations that we owe.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump ‘Looking Into’ Revoking Security Clearances Of Former Officials Critical Of Him

The president is considering changes that would affect former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey, among others. Revenge for a thin-skinned demagogue who can't handle ANY amount of criticism. Pathetic!

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The Michael Cohen Raid Led To 12 Tapes For Prosecutors. The Trump Recording Was Just One Of Them.

It’s unclear what the other tapes contain. Well, I hope they'll contain juicy stuff that will make Trump look VERY bad.

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders Defends Trump’s ‘Hoax’ Tweet About Russian Interference

The White House press secretary had some explaining to do after the president’s latest flip-flop. Well, of course Baghdad Betty defended her boss. When you have no morals, protecting a serial liar like Trump is surprisingly easy.

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Ari Fleischer Calls On U.S. To Destabilize Iran, Because What Could Go Wrong?

He may want to brush up on how things shook out for Iran’s neighbor Iraq. To quote the esteemed Bugs Bunny....wotta maroon!

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The Hilarious Reason Fox News Booked The Wrong Guest And Aired Trump Criticisms

“So much for due diligence,” said Massachusetts Democrat Barbara L’Italien, who duped the network. HAHAHAHA! That was a riot! Kudos to Rep. L’Italien who made fools of the fools on Faux News.