Sullivan buries the truth of Iran debacle with avalanche of words
Sen. Dan Sullivan has just bombarded email accounts across Alaska with thousands of words about the history of Iran and his support for Trump’s handling of the disastrous war, which Sullivan calls a “situation.”
“We must ensure that we do not squander the leverage that we have built over the past six years,” says Sullivan, trying to portray Trump as the man working the lever.
As with every other contentious topic during his 12 years in the Senate, Sullivan thinks that responding to critics of the war in Iran with an avalanche of words and digressions about the gas pipeline, ANWR, etc.—assembled by a committee of his employees—will bury readers so thoroughly that all recipients of the missive will surrender and beg for mercy. The truth is never touched.
Sullivan claims he has conducted “rigorous oversight” of the administration’s actions. There has been no oversight.
Sullivan provides no hint of where things really stand in Iran, citing statistics and deaths and suggesting that Trump has almost got this wrapped up.
“With this achieved, our priority now must be reopening the Strait of Hormuz," Sullivan says.
“For weeks, President Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory in the Iran war should Tehran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even floating the idea privately to senior aides that he’s willing to walk away without a nuclear deal, U.S. officials said,” the Wall Street Journal reported.
“But that scaled-back objective became more difficult when Iran insisted Saturday on its highest price yet for permitting the free flow of traffic in the waterway, seeking billions of dollars in U.S. payments, the removal of American troops from the region and an end of the U.S. naval blockade, among other things.”
The New York Times said Sunday: “Iran’s demands for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, as laid out in a statement on Saturday, are largely what President Trump had already agreed to do in the memorandum of understanding that was signed on June 17 and quickly fell apart. But Iran sees control over the strait as its best chance of getting Mr. Trump to deliver on those promises — and is not willing to give it up just yet.”
A friend of mine with the stamina to make it through Sullivan’s entire epistle of evasion, noticed some of what the senator missed:
Nothing about the total lack of coordination with European allies.
Nothing about the fact that Iran's response (closing the strait of Hormuz) was totally predictable.
Nothing about draining U.S. supplies of expensive missiles that can’t be replaced quickly.
Nothing about lack of coordination of any sort with Congress.
Nothing about the seven times that Trump has claimed "it's all over" only to completely backtrack the next day.
I would add a few more to the list:
Nothing about the human toll on U.S. military personnel. The crew of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln have been at sea for 240 days and counting.
Nothing about how the Strait of Hormuz will be controlled by Iran under the Trump plan, creating a greater risk to the world economy than existed before Trump went to war.
Nothing about Trump’s original claim that he would accept nothing other than regime change and an unconditional surrender. Now Iran is setting the terms of the discussion.
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