Trump picked the option, killing Suleimani, that "stunned" the Pentagon, which apparently only included this option--the most extreme alongside a menu of other actions--because they assumed it would make the other alternatives look more reasonable. /1
nyti.ms/2Qpxb1C
nyti.ms/2Qpxb1C
What a way to run foreign policy, with the Pentagon hoping (and, in this case, failing) to trick an an insecure, ignorant, narcissist into selecting their one of their preferred options./2
Which leads one to wonder both why military officials gave him that "extreme" option in the first place and also how it is that the president can single-handedly, without consulting Congress, choose to take an action that could start a war. /3
