Trump Approved Strikes on Iran, but Then Abruptly Pulled Back

By Staff, NYT

Times and again Trump proves he is coward enough to begin a war with the Islamic Republic.

According to a New York Times report, US President Donald Trump approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation for downing the American spy drone that violated the Iranian airspace over the province of Hormozgan. However, he eventually pulled back from launching them on Thursday night after a day of escalating tensions.

As late as 7 p.m., military and diplomatic officials were expecting a strike, after intense discussions and debate at the White House among Trump’s top national security officials and congressional leaders, according to multiple senior administration officials involved in or briefed on the deliberations.

Officials said Trump had initially approved attacks on a handful of Iranian targets, like radar and missile batteries.

The operation was underway in its early stages when it was called off, a senior administration official reported. Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down, the official said.

The abrupt reversal put a halt to what would have been Trump’s third military action against targets in the Middle East. Trump had struck twice at targets in Syria, in 2017 and 2018.

Although the report suggested that it was not clear whether he simply changed his mind on the strikes or whether the administration altered course because of logistics or strategy, everybody knows that Trump is only good at talking, but when it comes to deeds, he always changes his mind.

If this has to tell something, it is that he dares not to stand in direct military confrontation with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Asked about the plans for a strike and the decision to hold back, the White House declined to comment, as did Pentagon officials.

The military plan was maybe intended to serve as a face-saver for the US after an Iranian surface-to-air missile downed the $130 million spy drone.

Hereby, it is worth mentioning that Iran’s ability to target and destroy the high-altitude American drone, which was developed to evade the very surface-to-air missiles used to bring it down, surprised some War Department officials, who interpreted it as a show of how difficult Tehran can make things for the United States as it deploys more troops and steps up surveillance in the region.

Iran’s foreign affairs minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said in a post on Twitter that he gave what he said were precise coordinates for where the American drone was targeted.