Who talked Trump into killing Soleimani?

[Darwin2019]

Trump is not smart enough to know who Soleimani was.

Someone must have talked him into it. Who was it and why?

Some Hawk willing to create chaos?

A political hack just wanting to make Trump look strong?

[Botany]

1. Putin

n/t

[FakeNoose]

16. Oh yeah!

It was Pootie for sure.

[samplegirl]

2. Liz Cheney

[dem4decades]

3. He didn't know who the fuck he was, he just knew Obama would't do it.

[dhol82]

4. Bolton?

He seems to be the one with a major hard on at this time.

[pangaia]

5. Pompeo

[Thomas Hurt]

6. This is typical faux conservative alpha dog, cowboy, badass leadership.

eye for an eye, fuck them before they fuck us, stupidity.

Trump didn't need to be convinced. He thinks this makes him a big man.

Thinks it will get him re-elected and the mouth breathers dig this behavior.

[Sewa]

7. MBS

Retaliation for oil field drone attack

[2naSalit]

21. +1

[FM123]

28. I think it was MBS too, he never forgets.

In what’s believed to be one of Iran’s first major cyber attacks, in 2012 its hackers knocked out more than 30,000 computers of what is now the most valuable business in the world, the Saudi state oil company Saudi Aramco, preventing it from exporting its crude in one of the costliest hacks ever at the time.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/v74mx9/we-talked-to-experts-about-irans-cyberwar-capabilities

[Darwin2019]

8. worries me that the intelligence agencies bought into this

They have to know the blow back that could happen.

Why even tell Trump?

[Eyeball_Kid]

30. The IC isn't a policy-making organization.

The IC presents the intelligence as a tool for the executives to use in decision-making. But we know that Trumpy doesn't want intelligence to interfere with his re-election chances. Yes, he conflates everything to his presumed advantage.

[Baked Potato]

9. It was just a decision point in the flow chart

[Captain Zero]

29. And it said KILL so immediately it got his attention.

Squirrel. Squirrel, squirrel, squirrel. KILL. OH THAT ONE.

[Leghorn21]

10. Well, my money's on that new best friend of his, war criminal Eddie Gallagher. Lil Donnie

seriously admires this guy, and, just as importantly, wants Eddie to think well of him. He’s hoping to bond with Gallagher over some murder and bloodshed.

Yep.

[Eyeball_Kid]

31. That's a fascinating notion.

Trumpy loves ruthless people and wants to model himself after people who kill with impunity. KJU is one of them. Duterte is another. Now he has his own ruthless murderer in his hip pocket: Gallagher. Now, Trumpy is all in with modeling himself after these monsters, and he believes that his murdering will endear him with the US public.

When a majority of the US public wants Trumpy removed from office, and a vast majority of those people intensely disapprove of Trumpy, he won't enjoy what he thinks is a "rallying around the flag" for his monstrous nonsense.

[CanonRay]

11. He wasn't a refugee, so not Stephen Miller

[moondust]

12. MIC bosses?

Running low on wars and profits?

[doc03]

13. He wasn't talked into it they failed

to talk him out of it.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. Right.

[kurtcagle]

15. Options Table

It is fairly typical, when putting together a presentation to a manager about potential options for actions, to include the "This is so crazy that nobody in their right mind would think about doing it" option, primarily as a way to make the preferred options look, well, preferable. What they didn't anticipate was that Trump would take the biggest, splashiest option, regardless of its impact, because he wanted to 1) Rack up another big kill in his one-upmanship list against Obama, 2) Send out the red meat to his reactionary base and maybe try to reel in the neocons in the election, 3) to distract from the upcoming Senate trial and the stain of impeachment, and 4) to give him a war in which he could suspend the Constitution via martial law.

I think he believed that people would rally together as they always do in times of war, not taking into account the fact that the public is, frankly, exhausted by war. They've seen two pointless wars in as many decades, they've become very skeptical about the reasons for the wars in the first place, and to be honest, they see no reason to get up in arms. Iran is halfway around the world, and everyone is pretty much convinced that the Iranians will not retaliate against them personally - there will be no 9/11 - and they're probably right.

Moreover, the Iranians know this as well. Khameini and Rouhani have been doing this for a long time, and they know that while they are expected to retaliate, that retaliation may very well come through diplomatic channels.

Several generals resigned late in December, and my suspicion (albeit with no proof) is that they did so to express their opposition to this decision. Having done so, they put themselves into a position where they could potentially be called before the House and that testimony may very well open up another avenue for impeachment. Pompeo has already admitted that the decision was made without a clear, credible threat at the time if what I heard was correct.

[Strelnikov_]

19. Fully agree.

. . . putting together a presentation to a manager about potential options for actions, to include the "This is so crazy that nobody in their right mind would think about doing it" option, primarily as a way to make the preferred options look, well, preferable. What they didn't anticipate was that Trump would take the biggest, splashiest option, regardless of its impact, . . .

Pretty much what the NYT reporting indicates.

[RobinA]

20. Oh Hell No

 » What they didn't anticipate was that Trump would take the biggest, splashiest option, regardless« ?????

If decision makers running this country are this stupid, there truly is no hope. How long have they had to observe this guy? You don’t give this idiot extreme options thinking he won’t pick them. It’s what he DOES!

[Darwin2019]

24. all good points, but....

Trump is not smart enough to do this on his own. Someone is steering him to do much of what he does... Who are his handlers in the White House?

[sarcasmo]

17. Vlad then Pompeo confirmed with Lavrov.

[lunasun]

18. Probably this

[BadGimp]

22. He has been informed as to who Soleimani was.

Many times. Soleimani was always considered as a high-risk target (for obvious reasons) and as such was always down near the bottom of any list the experts would bring forward for consideration.

Once he made a decision to take major action, he already knew what his advisors would start suggesting in the way of target/objective options.

Like you Darwin I to am interested in knowing the answer to your question.

The big question I have is WHAT was the trigger. What set him off?

[jmowreader]

23. Netanyahu has long wanted to get rid of Soleimani, and he's one of Trump's best buddies

If I had to pin it on anyone, the Israelis are my first choice.

I really don't think it was Russia. Iran is a strong ally of Russia.

I also don't think it was Eddie Gallagher, because greasing a politician as important as Soleimani was is not what SEALs do.

[Skya Rhen]

25. Lindsay Graham.

https://www.statedepartmentwatch.org/2020/01/01/lindsey-graham-trump-has-world-on-notice-there-will-be-no-benghazis-on-his-watch/



“We strongly responded, and always will,” the president tweeted. “Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible.”

President Trump’s comments drew praise from Graham, who said his remarks put the “world on notice,” signaling that “there will be no Benghazis on his watch,” a reference to the 2012 terror attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, which resulted in the deaths of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Officer Sean Smith.

In a subsequent tweet, Graham issued a stern warning to Iran: “Be careful what you wish for — a country that depends on the ability to refine oil for its existence needs to be cautious. President Trump, unlike President Obama, will hold you accountable for threats against Americans and hit you where it hurts the most. Choose your battles wisely.”

[kentuck]

26. General Mark Milley

would be my guess.

[duforsure]

27. Putin did this

And you know it by Putin claiming and saying our intel was trying to set trump up, and by the huge spike in oil prices for him. It also directs attention from his impeachment dominating the news cycle.

[walkingman]

32. Like Iraq - this entire thing is based upon lies.

[Gothmog]

33. Putin

trump is Putin's puppet and would not take this action without instructions from his master

[Bummfuzzle]

34. I think this was all Trump. He didn't want to look weak, didn't want image of Benghazi.

Wanted to look tough and took the most extreme action. I think it is all Trump because I do not think anyone with a thinking brain would have suggested this.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

35. Plenty of suspects: Putin, MBS, Israel, and there's a faction of neocons and extremists

who have been itching for war with Iran for years. Congress needs to press DoD for answers.

[Amaryllis]

36. https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212840015

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212840015 Explained here.

[herding cats]

37. Reporting says when Trump chose the retaliation bombing on December 29, killing Soleimani...

was also offered up as an "extreme" option. After the incident at the embassy he then chose to go that route. The extreme route. It took some time because Soleimani's location was not known exactly at the time. The rest is history.

This could very well be a case of Trump having a god complex moment and deciding to do it his way.