wag the dog war

<div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">420 intercept</font></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><h2 style="line-height: 25px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">b<a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://join.theintercept.com/go/6066?t=16&utm_source=The+Intercept+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&akid=1737%2E185521%2Ek9Nbb2" style="text-decoration-line: none;">eware of Trump Using the Coronavirus as a Cover for War With Iran</a></font></h2><h4 style="font-weight: normal; margin-top: 5px; line-height: 16.25px; margin-bottom: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mehdi Hasan</font></h4><p style="line-height: 24px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Strangling Iran’s economy, already devastated by Covid-19, isn’t enough for Trump, even though a new war would be a strategic disaster.</font></p><p style="line-height: 24px;"><a rel="nofollow" class="yiv7544206692read-more" target="blank" href="https://join.theintercept.com/go/6066?t=17&utm_source=The+Intercept+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&akid=1737%2E185521%2Ek9Nbb2" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase; display: inline-block;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">READ MORE →</font></a></p></div><div style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">OMFG WAG THE DOG IRAN VENEZ</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/journalist-mehdi-hasan-on-trumps-iran-warmongering-what-kind-of-maniac-risks-such-a-war-in-the-middle-of-a-global-pandemic/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/journalist-mehdi-hasan-on-trumps-iran-warmongering-what-kind-of-maniac-risks-such-a-war-in-the-middle-of-a-global-pandemic/</font></a></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Journalist Mehdi Hasan on Trump’s Iran warmongering: ‘What kind of maniac risks such a war in the middle of a global pandemic?’</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Jake Johnson / Common Dreams April 2, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday called for an immediate halt to “warmongering during the coronavirus outbreak” as U.S. forces reportedly deployed Patriot missiles to Iraq and President Donald Trump warned—without presenting a shred of evidence—that Tehran is planning a “sneak attack” on American troops in the region.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Warning that heightened U.S. military activity in Iraq could lead to further “instability and disaster” in the Middle East, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the Trump administration should “respect the wishes of the Iraqi people and government and leave the country.” The Pentagon insisted in a statement that the Patriot missiles were mobilized for purely defensive purposes.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Common Dreams reported, Trump on Wednesday threatened Iran with a “very heavy price” if it attacks “U.S. troops and/or assets” in the region, ignoring pleas from advocacy groups and the United Nations for a global ceasefire and international cooperation against the novel coronavirus, which has devastated the U.S. and Iran and is spreading quickly in Iraq.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s tweet came just over an hour after he attended an intelligence briefing with U.S. national security officials.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a tweet of his own late Wednesday, Iran’s top diplomat Javad Zarif urged Trump “not to be misled by usual warmongers.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Unlike the U.S.—which surreptitiously lies, cheats, assassinates—Iran only acts in self-defense,” said Zarif. “Iran starts no wars, but teaches lessons to those who do.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The New York Times reported last week that the Pentagon has issued a directive ordering “military commanders to plan for an escalation of American combat in Iraq” and “prepare a campaign to destroy an Iranian-backed militia group that has threatened more attacks against American troops.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Some top officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Robert C. O’Brien, the national security adviser, have been pushing for aggressive new action against Iran and its proxy forces—and see an opportunity to try to destroy Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq as leaders in Iran are distracted by the pandemic crisis in their country,” according to the Times.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In response to the Times report, The Intercept‘s Mehdi Hasan urged the U.S. public to “beware of Trump using the coronavirus as a cover for war with Iran.”</font></div></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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