Bolton Prepared to Testify: Iran War Is Trump Impeachment Diversion

“Older men declare war but it is the youth that fight and die. “ – Herbert Hoover

By Glen Reaux

On Friday, January 03, 2020, to start the New Year off right President Donald J. Trump without an open declaration or congressional approval declared war on Iran by committing an open act of war. The act of war committed by Trump was the assassination of the Iranian military leader General Qassem Soleimani. According to the Trump administration, the drone strike which killed Soleimani was a defensive strike aimed at preventing war. So once again, he adds to his 15,000 plus lies by talking out of the side of his neck in another attempt to deceive the American public by not having his actions understood for what they truly are. Once again, he is employing his self-proclaimed “big brain” in yet another cartoonish episode of “Pinky and the Brain.” In this episode his usual cohort in crime, Bill Barr is being replaced by Secretary of State Mike “Pinky” Pompeo. If for some insane reason, you still have faith in Donald “The Brain” Trump and you love his latest cup of “Jim Jones Kook-Aid,” stop and think. Ask this one question. Would it be an act of war if Iran launched a drone strike and assassinated Vice President Mike Pence? If your answer is an unequivocal yes, then you win the brass ring for using your brain in a mindless exercise. Not unlike Pence, General Qassem was the second man in the chain of command in the Iranian government. So now you get to apply the same logic to the premise that Trump has presented. “We killed Qassem to prevent war with Iran.” Does that pass the smell test, of course not? So the logical reason for Trump’s act of war, as usual, is staring you right in the face; “Bolton Prepared to Testify: Iran War Is Trump Impeachment Diversion.” What else could it be? You don’t even need your Sherlock Holmes cap and pipe to figure out this harebrained scheme.

Let’s examine the evidence. Upon entering office, one of the first things that Trump does is end the nuclear treaty with Iran. Next, he imposes debilitating economic sanctions and throughout his entire administration, he has waged a war of words against Iran. Iran in retaliation has launched a terrorist campaign throughout Iraq and Syria against American interests and forces. And, after nearly three years of back and forth aggression between the two countries nothing as significant as an act of war has occurred or been implemented by either nation until now. Despite the mounting hostilities from the Trump administration, Iran has honored the nuclear treaty with American allies that were involved in its negotiation. The only thing that has changed is the fact that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are getting closer to an impeachment trial in the Senate.

Further analysis reveals that Trump campaigned on ending all middle-eastern military actions and bringing the troops home. As if his declaration of war against Iran wasn’t enough, he compounded the situating by threatening to target Iranian civilian cultural sites. Such an act constitutes committing war crimes.

Following this threat by Trump, Mike “Pinky” Pompeo came to this defense and stated that Trump never threatened Iranian cultural sites. In an ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos about Trump’s tweet, Pompeo had this to say. “We will act within the system. We always have and we always will.” Despite Pompeo’s assertions and denials, Trump’s tweets speak for themselves.

Let us be crystal clear, Trump’s fear of an impeachment trial in the Senate is so strong that he not only is willing to break from all established international norms of dealing with the hierarchy of foreign government officials, he has broken from his policies. When Trump speaks of a quick war with Iran, he is asking you to drink more of that infamous “Jim Jones Kool-Aid.” Points of fact:

America’s allies have never supported Trump’s Iran policies and none of them have signed on to Trump’s war, nor will his lies convince them to.
The Iraqi Parliament approved a resolution calling on the government to expel some 5,000 U.S. troops from the country. President Trump said “we are not leaving unless they pay us back” for an airbase in Iraq. Question; Is Trump now willing to fight Iraq, an American ally leading to a war on two fronts?
Iran has the 8^th largest military force in the world.
Due to its topography, Afghanistan has never been defeated in war. The topography of Iran is less conducive to war by an invading force than Afghanistan. It is one-sixth the size of the U.S. and not like the flat desert lands of Iraq.
Iran is nearly a nuclear power and will not hesitate to employ nuclear arms in an asymmetrical war. Or use dirty bombs in terrorist attacks. Meaning American cities and overseas interests are vulnerable to nuclear strikes.
Russia and Iran are allies.

While the act of war that Trump has committed is more than merely a blip on the radar map of American foreign affairs, the constitution grants Congress the final say about going to war, not Trump. And, unless Iran escalates to a point-of-no-return (they don’t want that) there will be no war. Once all of these factors are taken into account along with the fact that the Pentagon does not want this war, Trump does not want this war either. It is merely smoke and mirrors, another diversion to distract from the fact that he is losing the impeachment battle.

In the impeachment battle, because of Mitch McConnell’s open opposition and refusal to allow witnesses, American sentiment toward impeaching Trump has shifted to one in favor of impeachment. McConnell’s strictly partisan violation of his oath of office has placed several Republican Senators in hotly contested states in jeopardy of losing their seats. In response to McConnell, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has refused to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate without a guarantee of witnesses which would essentially bring the two parties closer to an agreement for a fair and impartial trial. The pressure from Speaker Pelosi’s tactics prompted Majority Leader McConnell to respond in a manner that conflicts with other members of the Republican leadership.

In this statement by McConnell, he addresses the president informing him that Senate rules will not allow an impeachment without the articles of impeachment from the House of Representatives. In Stark contrast to McConnell, Senator Lyndsey Graham of South Carolina and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary have demanded that the Senate change its rules to allow for a quick and speedy sham trial of the president to guarantee that impeachment will be unsuccessful assuring that Trump will stay in office. With the impeachment pressure mounting on Trump, Senator Elizabeth Warren poses this question to the American people. “Why now, why war with Iran now.”

Increasing pressure from a new Iran war would relieve impeachment pressure on Trump. But the recent statement by John Bolton, the Former National Security Advisor, adds new problems for the president. Bolton who referred to the president’s Ukrainian scandal as a drug deal and advised his employees to report the incident to legal counsel, on Monday, January 6^th issued a statement that he is willing to testify as a witness in the Trump impeachment trial. His testimony is contingent upon a Senate subpoena.

After Bolton issued his statement about testifying before the Senate, Speaker Pelosi applied more political pressure with the following tweet.

In further support of Bolton’s desire to testify before the Senate, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff also tweeted demanding that the Senate allow the testimony of Bolton and other members of the Trump administration that had been prevented by Trump from to testifying before the House.

Outwardly, Trump has boasted that he desires impeachment. But, that is not supported by the facts. This scathing and rambling letter from President Trump to Speaker Nancy Pelosi appears to be representative of an unhinged and mentally disturbed individual caving under the pressures of impeachment.

Letter-from-President-Trump-final

While it is obvious to politicians such as Senator Warren and even the untrained eye that the Trump Iran act of war is a diversion designed to distract from impeachment, Iran is not taking this attack lightly. Trump’s nonsensical actions have placed the lives of American diplomats and soldiers at risk and possibly in harm’s way while creating outrage and calls for revenge in Iran.

In furtherance of his diversion, Trump has ordered thousands of US soldiers to the middle-east in preparation for possible retaliation by Iran. This escalation on the part of Trump is in violation of the War Powers Act which requires Trump to notify Congress of military actions and limits his ability to legally escalate military actions. In an attempt to comply with the law, Trump has given notice via tweet to Congress that exhibits his ignorance of the law.

Despite his statement that he welcomes impeachment, Trump’s recent act of war against Iran is proof to the contrary. His fear of impeachment has taken this country to the brink of war under the leadership of the first American President that is so crazed that he has threatened to commit war crimes. It is time for Republicans in the Senate to do their duty, honor their oaths of office and guarantee to the American people a fair and impartial trial of this president before we are thrust into another illegal war like the won started by the previous Republican President, George W. Bush. This war cost 3.5 trillion dollars 4,497 deaths, 32,222 casualties and 36,710 missing soldiers that never returned home.^{1}