June 20th, 2019 a US Navy Surveillance drone was shot down near the southern coast of Iran. “I don’t know, I find it hard to believe it was intentional. You want to know the truth, I think it could’ve been somebody who was loose and stupid.” said President Trump when questioned by reporters on the attack that afternoon.
The following morning, Trump had sent out a tweet that read, “…On Monday they shot down an unmanned drone flying in International waters, we were cocked & loaded to retaliate on three different sights when I asked, how many will die. 150 people, sir, was the answer from a General. Ten minutes before the strike I stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. I am in no hurry, our military is rebuilt, new, and ready to go. By far the best in the world. Sanctions are biting & more added last night. Iran can never have Nuclear Weapons, not against the USA and not against the WORLD!”
According to Robert Pape, a political science professor at the University of Chicago in the Washington Post’s YouTube video, “Where Was The Drone When Iran Shot It Down.” this drone was likely updating reconnaissance information in order to facilitate strategic advantage in the event of a Presidential decision to make an attack. According to maps provided by both the US and Iranian governments, the drone flew around the strait of Hormuz and continued along Iran’s Southern border toward the Gulf of Oman. The Iranian government claims that the drone swerved and headed straight for Iran before they shot it down just inside of Iranian airspace, whereas the United States claims that the drone had maintained its course over international waters.
It’s unclear exactly whose story is accurate, but Professor Pape described this incident as “a witch’s brew, where miscalculation of some kind is just quite likely to happen…” Whether The United States had made a mistake flying over poorly defined lines, or whether the Iranians had miscalculated the direction in which the drone was headed, I think, especially amid the growing tensions between the US and Iran that this certainly solicits no justification for any escalation of this conflict, and the loss of human life should be unthinkable as a consequence.
So it is in this spirit that I had to say I was relieved by Trump’s decision, and I suppose at this point that America ought to take what it can get. Even if that means that we have a president so morally deficient that he feels it’s necessary to brag on his twitter about his ability to make even the most basic moral judgments. It is disturbing to note that Trump first decided to order the strike, make all arrangements, and waste the time of the military knowing full well that this attack would kill humans, and knowing that downed drone was likely a miscalculation, he waited all the way up until ten minutes before the attack is carried out to ask how many lives his actions might cost, and only when told that 150 people would die, abruptly changed his mind. That is unacceptable behavior for a US President.
So, Mr. Trump, how many lives WOULD an accident cost, if your mood had been different that day? Is that military spy vessel, updating your attack plans on a country much smaller and weaker than the one you preside over, that was flying by all accounts dangerously close to Iranian territory being shot down by a country whom the President has endlessly harassed and criticized, and escalated tensions with, whom the US has just pulled out of a Nuclear Arms Agreement with, is that worth even a single human life? I think not. And, thanks to Trump’s anecdote, I’m not sure I can count on his agreement.
On 6/25/2019 the Iranian President characterized Trump as “mentally retarded” after Trump introduced further sanctions on Iran as a result of the downed drone. This insult prompted Trump to tweet his feelings again.
“..Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality. Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration. No more John Kerry & Obama!”
Looks like Trump’s ego is the only thing standing between our military and war with Iran.
What’s your idea of a stable leader?
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