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On April 22nd, US President Donald Trump said that he had instructed the US Navy to shoot down any Iranian boats and ships that harass US warships.
I have instructed the United States Navy to shoot down and destroy any and all Iranian gunboats if they harass our ships at sea.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 22, 2020
In a clarification on what he meant, Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten said that, by now, the Navy commanders have learned the different in meaning Trump puts in his claims.
This was simply a threat to Iran, but not an actual order to carry out any attacks.
“If you come across and you are at a safe distance and you are waving, that’s one thing. If you have a gun and you point it at me, that’s another thing,” Hyten said. “We know what that line is and we will respond.”
“The president’s message was crystal clear,” he said.
David L. Norquist, the deputy defense secretary, said Trump’s statement on Twitter was more of a warning to the Iranians than a change to the current rules of engagement.
“The president issued an important warning to the Iranians. What he was emphasizing is that all of our ships retain the right of self-defense,” Norquist said. “The president is describing and responding to poor behavior of the Iranians.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking at the State Department, dismissed the importance of Trump’s tweet about sinking Iranian fast boats for harassing U.S. naval ships, noting that the president had previously given senior American officials authority to “take whatever action is necessary to make sure you can defend and keep our people safe.”
An Iranian armed forces spokesman responded to the tweet by suggesting the U.S. government should focus on saving its service members from coronavirus.
“Today, instead of bullying others, the Americans should put all their efforts toward saving those members of their forces who are infected with coronavirus,” Abolfazl Shekarchi said.
Retired Vice Adm. John Miller, former commander of the U.S. 5th Fleet, said the president’s tweet was likely designed to send a message to Iran and should not change existing rules of engagement for Navy ships defending themselves in the Gulf.
“Navy commanders are more than capable of understanding when the president says something, that’s meant for an outside audience as opposed to direction to them,” Miller told POLITICO. “It’s the president’s way, which isn’t always as smooth as we’d like it to be, of telling Iran, ‘Hey, stay away from our ships.”
Former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the tweet likely does not change the rules of engagement because the Pentagon requires formal orders rather than “orders from Tweets.”
He said that the president is “trying to distract from Covid-19.”
The justification of Trump’s words is then: he’s just distracting people from coronavirus, “we know what to do, despite what he says” and that “it’s just a threat to Iran, not an order,” but what happens if a US Navy captain deems it an order and sinks an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) boat?
Does Tehran, then, just assume that it was all just an “honest mistake”, Trump wasn’t serious and that Navy captain should just be disowned and sent back home?
This isn’t the first time he’s made such claims, during his presidential campaign he said that if Iran harassed US warships, they would be “shot out of the water,” but nothing has come out of it.
This warning to Iranian conduct came just days after the IRGC successfully launched the first ever Iranian military satellite into orbit.
And according to the New York Times, both these things are evidence that the standoff between Washington and Iran is ramping up.
And according to the outlet, this isn’t so much owed to any specific action, but is used as a way to make people concentrate less on COVID-19, even though it appears to be much more under control in Iran, than in the US.
“At home, the Iranian government and Mr. Trump’s administration have been criticized for mismanaging the response to the virus, and leaders in both nations may calculate that there is an advantage to reigniting confrontations with old adversaries.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed the launch and noted that the government in Tehran had always claimed its satellite launches were only for commercial purposes and had no military use.
“I think today’s launch proves what we’ve been saying all along here in the United States,” Pompeo told reporters. “I think Iran needs to be held accountable for what it’s done.”
This was a warning, of sorts, because earlier Iran used fixed sites to launch its satellites and primarily failed, but now it used a mobile launcher and succeeded, “similar to what the North Koreans have increasingly used. The system reduces warning time, and thus makes it harder to pre-empt a launch.”
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The dumbass moron Trump also wants even dumber Americunts to inject bleach in their dumb lardass. Trump is just an old senile queer and can’t be taken seriously. Americunt loser military is not about to commit suicide.
Trump Suggests Injecting Disinfectant, Shining UV Light Inside Patients rectums to Kill Coronavirus in Bizarre, Rambling Tangent that has WHO and medical professionals aghast.
It’s covidiocy.
Seriously, did you see the moron’s embarrassing press conference. He is just nuts.
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did u see how he just walked away after the briefing yesterday he wanted to escape and not answer any questions hahahaha what a clown
Here is the latest gem from the land of morons:
Trump and his adviser suggests reopening economy by putting ‘everybody in a space outfit”
Trump and Pompeo are squealing like stuck pigs as Iran receives global accolades for its successful Noor Satellite launch. The latest reprimand has come from the Kremlin which strongly warned the US not to politicize Iranian scientific achievements. Trump does not control US military operations and both the Pentagon and intelligence communities has tempered any prospects of an armed conflict while US is failing to address the growing coronavirus pandemic and an economic and social meltdown.
Russia dismisses as ‘baseless’ US claims on IRGC satellite launch
While little data has been made available about the Noor-1 and its features, its classification as a multi-purpose satellite with special uses in the defense sector suggests that the IRGC has reached such technological maturity that it can now confidently plan and carry out intelligence warfare and military reconnaissance missions from space while gathering data that helps keep the Iranian skies safe.
According to military experts, the ability to develop a solid-fuel engine that safely drives the third stage of the rocket to its desired altitude is testament to the great strides Iranian engineers have made under the harshest Western sanctions to date.
World media described the launch as evidence that Iran has defeated US sanctions in practice.
What a stupid statement that Trump’s threats to Iran are to take away the effects of the virus. Trump is a coward and as POTUS he can live out his fantasies and play soldier. He definitely means what he says and Iran will not back down. The only way to stop it is to have Trump and his cronies removed, permanently.
US was headed towards the dust bin of history anyway, and a complete buffoon like Trump has cheapened the office of POTUS and American credibility. US is now perceived as a failed rogue state as problems mount.
TBH, I have my doubts that Trump knows anything…including what comes out of his mouth. The first clue should have been ‘shoot down’ their boats. These must be the flying boats that use flying mines. When the military says that they know what he really means and not what he says…well, that alone speaks volumes. Imagine having to decode war orders.
Now we have a president, Donald Trump, who clearly has cognitive impairment, not to mention severe and debilitating psychological issues, ranging from acute narcissism, sociopathy, grandiosity and probably bi-polar disorder, as well as early signs of dementia, with evident symptoms of “word-hunger” and other issues. At the same time, in this election year, it appears that if the voters do see fit to deny a second term to the mentally challenged Trump, it will only be to turn the White House over to another old guy with mental impairment issues: former vice president Joe Biden.
Don’t complicate things, He’s just mentally retarded.
Good luck getting the israel first people out of washington!! Thats who is calling the shots and advising trump. Trump is a convenient scapegoat, but rest assured, it matters not wich puppet sits in the oval office, they are all beholden to the crime minister of Israel and whomever he is beholden to.
Only in a banana republic like US could such an idiot become president. US has zero credibility, let alone start a swan song war with Iran.
Chatter, if an Iranian boat sinks, tens of thousands of American deaths in the Middle East would result. Not to mention the bad end that the Zionist entity would make.
Americunts can only win against Iran if they put on space suits, inject bleach and shine a UV light up their lardarse according to their gallant and brilliant Commander in Chief, Field Marshal Donald Trump.
Zionism will kick the mullahs ass hard, always will.
Zionism is a racist ideology. I don’t see how a racist ideology could be successful in overcoming a determined enemy like Iran. Racism leads to irrationality. Irrationality leads to defeat on the battlefield. This is why Israel lost against hezbollah – Racist ideology infected the Zionist mind, leading to underestimating the enemy.
When a country President and chief commander words are not to be taken seriously by even its own Generals and politicians, whose word is to be trusted in a treaty or even a war?
What if one day Prez Putin or Xi will to say, I have given order to sink all USN trespassing into our territorial water on sight?
I am sure entire USN will has wet their pants and get hell faraway from their water without need to think twice, while Russia or China navy would have all gone into highest alert with all weapons lock on ready to shoot. No one will say its just an empty threat from their chief commander.
Launching of few hundred kg satellite from mobile is a great significant to warn USNato that if Iran missiles is to put at 45deg, will able to hit a far distance.
This is how NK previously proved to US, its ICBM can reach US West Coast 10,000km away, with a 100~200kg payload(single nuclear warhead).
Then Kim purposely show a photo of himself inspecting a thermocouple nuclear warhead to prove NK has miniaturized it.
how can a boat can be dangerously maneuver into the US ship, if iranian boat bump the ship, the one will sink are the iranians, i thought only tankers can sink them, boat included too unexpectedly
It’s a strategic move by Trump to save the US oil industry and push up the oil price. I would guess that they think Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz if anything would happen. I don’t think the USA actually would sink any Iranian boats but what they do achieve is to put pressure on Saudi Arabia to reduce oil production. The option is there that if SA doesn’t reduce oil production the US might attack an Iranian boat that would likely close the Straight of Hormuz. But there is another player Russia and Russia’s interests is for the US to remove sanctions from North Stream 2 before Russia let the oil price return to normal. This strategic game of oil have many participants with different interests.