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Joe Cirincione @Cirincione
, 8 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Ten years ago, while conflict still raged in Iraq, the King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia urged us to start another war. 1/
post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/…
“Cut off the head of the snake,” he told American officials in 2008. He wanted the U.S. to attack Iran and end its nuclear program by force. 2/

reuters.com/article/us-wik…
America found a better way. We put together an accord that rolled back Iran’s nuclear program, froze it, and put it under lock and seal. It worked, and is still working. 3/ iaea.org/sites/default/…
But rather than see this as a solution to their problems, the Saudis, joined by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, saw it as an obstacle to their greater designs: to roll back the influence of their regional rival. 4/
Both lobbied Trump relentlessly & cheered when he pulled out of the Iran deal. Since then, the Trump admin has followed the Iraq War playbook: cherry-pick intelligence, inflate threats, link Iran w/ terrorists & ratchet up the rhetoric. 5/ axios.com/trump-administ…
All pressure and no diplomacy risks dragging the U.S. into a millennia-old religious war between Sunni and Shia. The main tripwires are in Yemen and Syria, where Bolton wants U.S. troops to push Iran out. 6/ washingtonpost.com/world/national…
Make no mistake: war with Iran would be a painful and pointless disaster. It would cost trillions, kill thousands, and destabilize a volatile region. It would also not, in any conceivable scenario, bring about a democratic, pro-Western Iran. 7/
Iran is guilty of many atrocities, but Saudi Arabia is little better. U.S. policy should be to change the behavior of these regimes, not to wage war on them. The new Congress must lead the way before it’s too late. 8/8 post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/…
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<THREAD> Shabat Shalom! I am in Israel visiting family and I came across this brilliant analysis by @ChemiShalev @haaretzcom on Trump, MbS, Bibi and the stakes for Israel. I recommend you read it all. But I'll give you the highlights in a thread, below. 1/ haaretz.com/israel-news/.p…
Bibi backs MbS, @ChemiShalev writes. "Netanyahu and his aides, led by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Ron Dermer, have been working around the clock to protect Trump and to prevent his administration from 'throwing out the prince with the bathwater,' as Dermer put it." 2/
"Netanyahu has volunteered to serve as Trump’s human shield to protect him from widespread demands by both Democrats and Republicans to punish the crown prince and his kingdom for the Khashoggi assassination," he says. 3/
Read 11 tweets
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We must stop selling bombs to Saudi Arabia and UAE. Until we do, we - all of us - are complicit in the slaughter of innocent civilians in Yemen. 1/ nytimes.com/2018/08/02/wor…
The Trump Administration wants Congress to approve the sale of Precision-Guided Munitions (PGMs) to the Saudis and UAE. @SenatorMenendez is trying to block the sale. @ChrisMurphyCT, too. But “pragmatists” in both parties want to sell these bombs to them. 2/
One former DOD official told me, “The truth is, if we don’t sell them these smart bombs, more civilians will die...We should sell them the weapons but put conditions on their use.” Baloney. 3/
Read 8 tweets
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1. Welcome to the new nuclear arms race. Putin announces 4 new nuclear weapons to answer the 3 new nuclear weapons US announced last month. This will not end well.
2. In his speech he show graphics (very Star Wars) of new, multi-warhead ICBM that flies over the South Pole. Why South? Our anti-missile radars and interceptors are in the north.
3. He brags about a new long-range cruise missile powered by a small nuclear reactor that can fly “indefinitely.” Again, cannot be intercepted by defense systems, he boasts.
Read 6 tweets

Related threads

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1. #Saudi has a bad track record of announcing formal mechanisms to look into deaths of civilians at the hands of its own officers which have then utterly failed to credibly investigate those deaths. See #Yemen. See #Khashoggi.

justsecurity.org/61178/saudi-pl…
2. Each victim of an unlawful Saudi coalition strike in #Yemen is as worthy of concern as a Washington Post columnist. A groom and his wedding party. A child locked in jail. Villagers digging a well. Crowds shopping at a market. All killed or wounded in coalition bombings.
3. For years, the #Saudi coalition—armed and assisted by the #US—has killed and wounded thousands of civilians in Yemen, leaving behind a trail of death, destruction, and broken lives.
Read 10 tweets
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#Khashoggi Case Thread: I am going to ‘pin’ this post to use it as an ‘Info Thread’ on the #Khashoggi Case. I am in #Turkey. I’ve been following the case closely and with access to sources & experts here. This is a very ‘sensitive’ criminal case due to ‘Diplomatic Booby Traps’!!!
The Evidence Obtained Outside Cameras will not show any evidence of ‘tempering’ but other than license plates of dozens of diplomatic cars (Many with tinted windows-large trunks) with related time stamp, drivers Info, model/year: Nothing.
#Turkish Intel-Investigative Bodies also have the list of all Diplomatic & Private Saudi & “other significant’ Planes in #Turkey for the period of ‘interest.’ Many of the Target airports have their own security cameras & related evidence.
Read 335 tweets
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A Better Way to Ensure Clean, Reliable Energy

@drawandstrike @ThomasWictor @HNIJohnMiller @catesduane @rising_serpent @_ImperatorRex_ @Debradelai @LarrySchweikart @GodlessNZ @TheChiIIum

post-gazette.com/opinion/Op-Ed/…
A cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s agenda has been to promote domestic energy production, create jobs and improve economic growth, and he has directed federal agencies to replace or repeal burdensome and outdated regulations that stand in the way of these objectives.
Accordingly, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviewed the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan (CPP). Many believe the agency greatly exceeded its authority by promulgating the CPP, which is why 150 entities, including 27 states, 24 trade associations,
Read 24 tweets
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1. One day I will start fact checking pieces not related to the Evergreen meltdown story but that day is not today.
2. Having just done an extensive fact check on an error-filled piece in Pacific Standard I’m seeing one of the same errors in a 7/13/18 Breitbart piece: “The High Cost of Catering to SJWs on Campus: Dwindling Enrollment and Finances”.
breitbart.com/tech/2018/02/1…
3.
Read 56 tweets
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In honor of Thomas Friedman’s latest love letter to Saudi here is 70 years of the NY Times describing #Saudi royals in the language of #reform.
This piece from 1953 describes King Saud as “more progressive and international-minded than his autocratic father”
This piece from 1957 doesn’t refer to Saudi Arabia specifically but it’s an epic headline nevertheless.
Read 42 tweets
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SAUDI ARABIA ON THE BRINK OF CIVIL WAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saudi also arrested Prince Al Waleed bin Talal tonight, the richest man in Saudi Wahabia.
Saudi arrested 'Sheikh' Waleed bin Ibrahim al Ibrahim as well tonight. the CEO of @mbc_group !! Net worth: 11 billion US dollars!!
Read 96 tweets

Trending hashtags

#USA #FalseAllegations #battle #RightTime #TeamNutShellReport #HRCServer #OperationGladio #SaudiKingdom #Nafta #JUSTICE #İnsanhakları #Kushner #USGov #PAM #SaudiArabia #DeepDive #Syria #protip #Mitannis #Khadhoggi #NothingBurger #USARendition #Oil #PatriotsUnited #Democrats

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