Trump watches television in wake of catastrophic U.S embassy storming by furious Iraqis
A major international crisis that puts American lives at risk is currently unfurling in Iraq as you read this — but you wouldn’t know it from the President’s Twitter feed. As shocking footage of Iraqi protestors attempting to batter down the door to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and cries of “Death to America!” ring out across the city, Donald Trump was busy telling Nancy Pelosi that she’s “overrated” on Twitter and went to his golf club for the twelfth day in a row.
He was only there for an hour and took to Twitter to claim he was holding a “meeting” there, which we suppose could have been true — but could he have not held the meeting at
Mar-a-Lago? He’s certainly shown no aversion to holding highly sensitive meetings about the most classified of information there, having infamously brought the nuclear football into the Mar-a-Lago dining room for a crisis meeting with Japanese leader Shinzo Abe over North Korea’s nuclear provocations.
Trump seems to suggest that he went to his golf club for 52 minutes for a "meeting on the Middle East, the Military, and Trade." pic.twitter.com/N6oZlU3aa2
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 31, 2019
The president’s abdication of his leadership is even more galling with the knowledge that these protests are a direct result of his administration’s decisions. The nation of Iraq has perpetually been locked in political crisis ever since the United States invaded the nation in 2003 on false pretenses and burst open a Pandora’s box of sectarian tension that led to a gruesome civil war and decades of chaos.
Over the past three months, the Iraqi people have been protesting rampant political corruption and the overbearing influence that neighboring Iran wields in Iraqi politics. Hundreds have died and tens of thousands have been wounded in the vicious pushback from Iraq’s American-backed government as tensions remain at powder keg levels.
The Trump administration, in its trademark arrogance and short-sightedness, exploded that powder keg on Sunday when U.S. jets bombed the camps of an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia, Katib Hezbollah, killing 24.
Ostensibly done in retaliation for a Friday rocket attack which killed one American contractor near Kirkuk, all the rage and fury that the protestors felt towards Iran and the government were immediately redirected towards the United States for blatantly violating Iraqi sovereignty, leading to the storming of the U.S. embassy.
Trump, for his part, refused to take any responsibility and predictably passed the blame to Iran, which he said was “orchestrating the attack.” Katib Hezbollah has denied responsibility for the attack which killed the American contractor, and honestly, at this point, they hold as much credibility as the shamelessly mendacious Trump administration does, especially when it comes to their eagerness to provoke tensions with Iran.
Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible. In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2019
He then moved on to tweet about the things he was watching on FOX News…
…on 51 votes, which is procedural. You don’t need two thirds.” Brad Blakeman @FoxNews A great lawyer & person. Thank you Brad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2019
While the U.S. military scrambled to take action.
https://twitter.com/OIRSpox/status/1212063797059506176?s=20
But make no mistake; while he may like to pretend that this isn’t happening, this is a major crisis that his administration brought on itself and we must hold him accountable for watching television and going to golf clubs while American lives are in danger.
Baghdazi ain’t going away!
Opinion columnist and former editor-in-chief of Occupy Democrats. He graduated from Bennington College with a Bachelor's degree in history and political science. He now focuses on advancing the cause of social justice and equality in America.