Trump officials admit the strike on Iranian military leader was a strategic failure
rawstory.com/2020/03/trump-officials-admit-th...
rawstory.comPosted Mar 21, 2020, 8:14 PM UTC
020
rawstory.com"Rawstory," why are these sources allowed?
7
Nice to see you didn't click the link, didn't even read the first sentence, but just looked at the headline and decided from there.
"On Saturday, The New York Times reported that some government officials now acknowledge that the strike that took out Iranian General Qassim Suleimani did not achieve the strategic objective that President Donald Trump was hoping for."
-4
Actually I did click the link and I did read that part. Still, it's low-quality "media" that is selective with the information they share, takes things out of context, and then creates dumb headlines like the one above and parades it as "honest" reporting. Take a look at the website and judge for yourself. You really shouldn't be getting your info from Rawstory.com
7
I wasn't commenting about rawstory, the source is NYT, not rawstory.
1
[deleted]
5
Qods Force got its act together and brought secrecy, ambiguity and resiliency back to its modus operandi.
Soleimani might have been a highly competent official who was a major threat to the US but what he primarily demonstrated was a strategic-minded and well-functioning Iranian security establishment that is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of its own system and that of its competitors/enemies.
Soleimani's death revealed operational laxity on the side of the Qods Force, and they paid a price for it, but the organization is capable enough to adapt to the situation and bring about changes to its way of functioning. Combined with the organizational urge to take up revenge and confront the US with more zeal than ever and you would understand why some US officials think that his assassination might have been a strategic mistake.
11
Plus the US has weakened its position in Iraq as a result
6
You forget Qods shot down a civilian airliner and suffered reputational damage w/in Iran itself.
1
I forgot nothing.
The Qods Force does not control Iran's air space, and subsequently did not shoot that civilian airliner down.
Get your facts straight.
1
It didnt slow Iran and actually legitimized it. Their position in Iraq is worse than it was before.
7
The supposed benefits of it did not come to fruition, Iran rather than have their network paralyzed for example, simply found another person to head it
3
Trump thought it was the equivalent of taking out Osama but failed to realize there was an entire working organization unlike Al Qaeda was so fragmented when Osama was killed.
5
If anything AQ greatly expanded their strength and reach after Osama was killed.
5
On one hand no, the rise of IS as a entity, and their departure from AQ, would never have happened had Bin Laden still been alive in 2013.
On the other hand though, they did greatly expand their capabilities for the "near enemies", while also having a blanket to shield their expanding capabilities with the rise of IS. It will certainly be an interesting thing to watch over the next 20 years and see what the long term effect of Bin Laden's killing was
7
Ultimately the growth of al-Qaeda (and ISIS) after Osama bin Laden's death was primarily possible due to weakened state authority in places like Iraq, Syria, and Libya, though (instability which the United States contributed to in varying degrees, it should be noted). Doubtful al-Qaeda would have experienced much of renewal in strength if they hadn't found such safe havens to operate from.
3
There is this tendency in americans to think that their adversaries wil just collapse after the dead of one important leader or figure. Like Hitler in 1941 "kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down". Like non liberal regimes were the borg, and with killing the "queen" the whole hive mind will just collapse. Like if liberal regimes were the "normal" and "natural" form of government every society just tends to and any deviation from this was the result of "unnatural" imposition of a few ev0l dudes that just need to be killed by the murican "good guys" or the "freedom fighters" (choosed by USA) for the "whole rotten structure will come crashing down".
Most of muricans foreing policy mistakes came from the fact they systematically refuse to consider their adversaries perspectives or that their values and interests could have any legitimacy. After all, why learn other peoples ideas when you aleady know yours are perfect? Those who disagree just need to knell and let the "civilising crusade" of USA show them the "better way". After this the only thing left to do is getting surpised every single time that after forcing yourself over others they reject you, resist you and even hate you.
3
they should revive him as an apology.
3
All the times when you see these "unofficial official contradicts Trump administrations stance" its usually false, and i dont get why the mods let these stay up..
2
Fake news
1
I think Iran will see this differently
1
"Trump aides and/or anon sources say" should automatically be labelled as "likely false" until substantiated by actual sources.