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Jeffrey Lewis
@ArmsControlWonk
, 10 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
At dinner at @StanfordCISAC listening to @timkaine talking about Trump and the bomb.
Kaine starts hot, stating that he thinks Trump might “blunder us into a ... catastrophic war” with Iran, Venezuela or North Korea. Iran worries him the most.
Now he’s doing that annoying centrist thing where he undermines everything he just said by pointing out that war with Iran might be a good idea in some circumstances.
I guess I am a hippie, but it seems to me that objecting to war with Iran on grounds that it usurps Congress’s authority to blunder into a catastrophic war is maybe not the strongest objection.
He is, however, very knowledgeable and passionate about issues relating to how Congress might prevent Trump from using existing authorities, like the 9/11 AUMF, from starting a war with Iran. But it’s all very Democratic Party circa 2002.
The room loved it, though. 🤷‍♂️
And now he’s defending his stupid fucking decision to involve Congress in the JCPOA — an intervention that ensured the reporting requirements that doomed the deal with Trump.
In case you wonder why I am appalled at his defense of an enormously stupid act.
newrepublic.com/article/145302…
I am seated a table filled with his personal friends. Awkward!
Ok, his friends are awesome. Can we elect *them* as Senators?
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More from @ArmsControlWonk see all

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Jeffrey Lewis
@ArmsControlWonk
Some context. The United States canceled TEAM SPIRIT exercises -- which North Korea hated -- in 1994 for a similar reasons and replaced it with what we now call KEY RESOLVE/FOAL EAGLE.
nbcnews.com/news/military/…
The language about replacing the big exercise with "smaller, mission-specific training" today is very similar to the description of the new KEY RESOLVE/FOAL EAGLE then as "smaller" and "more realistic" than TEAM SPIRIT.
My point is that, as KEY RESOLVE/FOAL EAGLE came to resemble TEAM SPIRIT, the exercises began to draw the same ire from Pyongyang that TEAM SPIRIT did. And so what matters is less the name than the political situation and the content of the exercises.
Read 4 tweets
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Jeffrey Lewis
@ArmsControlWonk
Even after the carnage in Iraq, a lot of Americans have fantasies about American power when it comes to compelling other countries to bend to our will. I guess this is how post-war Britain stumbled into Suez.
I suspect these fantasies are sustainable because objecting to them entails local career costs while the global costs of supporting them are largely borne by others who must do the invading, occupying and dying.
So, you know, here we are, eyeing a end to the war in Afghanistan in what would be it’s twenty-third year while also talking loudly about pressuring North Korea to disarm and toppling dictators in Iran and Venezuela.
Read 3 tweets
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Jeffrey Lewis
@ArmsControlWonk
The North Korean ask for sanctions relief as a "corresponding measure" for closing Yongbyon should have surprised no one. A short thread.
After the Singapore Summit, the PRC MOFA indicated that @UN Security Council-imposed sanctions should be adjusted.
fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_6…
Official Chinese statements can be a bit elliptical, but the meaning was clear enough after the US tried to strengthen sanctions enforcement after Singapore. China and Russia said no, making it clear that North Korea should be rewarded.
nytimes.com/2018/07/19/wor…
Read 5 tweets

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Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
THREAD

1)
 Let’s talk about another attempt by @AJEnglish (author: @tedregencia) to provide life support for #Iran’s regime.
Al Jazeera has literally become a mouthpiece & platform for Tehran’s apologists/lobbyists, such as @SinaToossi, @ashahshahani, @DiakoH & @MehranHaghirian.
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3)
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“Trump is seeking war against Iran”
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Heshmat Alavi
@HeshmatAlavi
"Iran leader backs suggestion to block Gulf oil exports if own sales stopped"
reuters.com/article/us-ira…

When #Iran's mullahs make such remarks, they're saber-rattling to raise the stakes, hoping to decrease the price they'll have to pay.

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Sonia Mota
@SoniaKatiMota
#Iran Protests courtesy of the #CIA
Jun 25, 2009 After President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the Iranian Election, riots and protests erupted in #Tehran, The western media was quick to report on this #PSYOPS.
#US politicians, #Israel, #SaudiArabia & media dream of #RegimeChange in #Iran.
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loquepiensalagente
@loquepiensastu
«HILO» Venezuela-Irán-Argentina
EL URANIO VENEZOLANO EN TEHERÁN

Para los que creen que el anuncio de enriquecimiento de Uranio por parte de #Irán es una mala noticia para el mundo, les aviso que no lo es. De hecho es una de las mejores noticias para los movimientos de EEUU
#Iran es socio comercial de #Venezuela desde los tiempos de Chávez, tienen mas de 270 convenios suscritos de intercambio comercial, donde nuestro país tiene que enviar distintas materias primas a cambio de ???? (No sabemos) pues aquí no rueda ningún carro iraní
Sólo hubo un grupo que vino a construir junto a los rusos edificios en ciudad caribia y otros conjuntos que hoy en día se están cayendo por faltar a las normas COVENIN (mínimas) para la construcción de edificios con propósitos de vivienda
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LTG Jerry Boykin
@GenBoykin
#Iran has obviously not fully considered #Russia. Russia does not want a war between #Israel and #Iran in #Syria. So the Russians are now trying to mediate between the two nations. Russia has too much at stake in Syria. #SyriaStrikes #middleeast #tcot #ccot
#War between #Iran and #Syria would draw the #UnitedStatesOfAmerica into the fight and that would be a disaster for #Russia. Believe it or not, Russia does not want to tangle militarily with the US or Israel in Syria. #SyriaStrikes #middleeast #tcot #ccot
Scenario 1:
#Iran will launch another strike but it may come from #Hezbollah in #Lebanon or #Hamas in #Gaza. Or it could be another attack from #Syria into #Israel. My guess is that it will be a #terrorattack. #SyriaStrikes #middleeast #tcot #ccot #airstrike
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Zach Everson
@Z_Everson
Trump Hotels' website still lists Trump SoHo New York among its properties in the Our Hotels menu. Select its name though to access its page and there's a message about it being renamed

bit.ly/2EPCSy1
National politics correspondent for Newsweek, Nina Burleigh, with a fun find on a TV above the bar at the Trump Hotel DC bit.ly/2E37QRR
Two errors in the 2nd graf of Breitbart's Trump Hotel DC article:
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bit.ly/2CpL7z2
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