Winds of war amid a global pandemic! Trump is a useful idiot and falling for the trap set for him by the neocons he has surrounded himself with. While I still expect things to blow up and turn into a shooting war, there are those (e.g. Pompeo) who have been pushing Trump in a direction that will make a war all but inevitable. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-says-iran-planning-sneak-attack-on-us-troops-assets-in-iraq Trump says Iran planning 'sneak attack' on US troops, assets in Iraq https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/04/01/world/middleeast/ap-ml-iraq-politics.html Iran General Visits Baghdad, Tries to Forge Political Unity https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/iran-warns-patriot-missile-deployment-iraq-200401105644716.html Iran warns US after Patriot missile deployment to Iraq United States reportedly deploying Patriot missiles in Iraq to counter possible Iranian rocket attacks.
Yawn.... don't send rocket attacks into Iraq then we wouldn't need the Patriots there.. Should be a no brainer.
Patriots are designed to defend against rocket attacks being launched by the Iraqi militia, but the kind of ballistic missiles Iran can fire at US bases in case the US take another one of those kind of actions which the pro war crowd are whispering into Trump's ears. Not that those Patriots will actually do much good, but they are an indication of the kind of steps the US would take if it anticipated doing something to warrant another overt retaliation by Iran. Trump is being badly misled as I don't think he is the driver behind the policies that are making a war -- even in the midst of a pandemic no less -- conceivable.
A war during a pandemic is not unprecedented historically at all. The Hundred Years War was fought while the Black Death was killing millions.
A few days ago the Coronvirus guy I follow 'Peak Prosperity' mentioned that the US was whatever the word is when you get your military prepared for a project, getting 160,000 US Military organised. He did not know whether this was for something intended at home to do with the virus or something else. I hope they (the US and Israel) are not so mad but they may think no one will really notice due to the Pandemic. (mind you the US is also having trouble with its one of its boats gaining 100 people per day sick from the Pandemic and demanding they be allowed off the ship to isolate 'as they are not at war')
I am sorry to say I think Trump is worse than just a heartless Narcissist, I think he is psychotic. I believe that because he just opens his mouth and says lies and the next day opens his mouth and says the opposite of what he said before. It is a very dangerous position for the world to be in. That being said I remembered that the US is in deep trouble continuing its sanctions on Iran during the Pandemic. I have heard a UN speaker talk about the US committing crimes against humanity in its treatment of both Venezuela and Iran even before the Pandemic but upping it now likely to be guilty of genocide and the intent to make the US pay at the ICC. In such a situation we would expect the US to try a little drama in its belief that it can get people off it's tale. The below video was posted before Trump found some secret plans that Iran had against its military in Iraq. In this they are again threatening Iran this time claiming Iran deliberately started the Coronavirus Epidemic. The guy on it says it would not surprise him if the US had done this itself - he was somewhat kind, suggesting it may have been a mistake, but I was listening to some left wing Americans pointing out that only last year the US did do a test of how a very similar virus would work around the world. - you can get the details on Youtube. That is not made up. The US's claim of Iran intending something though almost certainly is. The US is I think without question the most dangerous country the world has seen since WW2.
After ww2 we never saw the peace dividend due to the USSR and the communist revolution . And we became the world's police force The intentions of our leaders were good imo back then. But it also created the mmilitary industrial congressional complex that set bad foreign policy Ike saw the danger of this and warned us . Jfk was cognizant of this danger too including the too powerful CIA that was expanded into covert military machine that served banking and corporations So while our intentions were good given we were for democtacy and decent capitalism it went to hell in a hand basket. Fdr was gonna reel back in the power of corporations after the war but his death stopped that and they ended up with too much power and influe upon our govt. Our govt became corrupt but so did the govt of Iran . Iran meddles in the business of other nations and are not content to mind their own business and look after their people Plus they are a theocracy with a dictator more or less . They want control outside of their borders and power. Eventually they will bbe taken down and that is only a matter of time. Trump wont do it but the next neocon ppresident will do it. It is unavoidable unless we lose the pnac foreign policy . Slim chance of that imo . Even with the decline of our empire Iran will lose in a pissing contest with the US. And the good Iranian people will suffer badly because of the madmen who reign over the people of Iran in their quest for power in the region.