Middle East

Pompeo, Bibi and Trump ponder war with Iran now

17/11/2020

Trump Sought Ways to Attack Iran’s ‘Main Nuclear Site’ in ‘Coming Weeks’, Report Claims

by Daria Bedenko
Nov. 17, 2020
President Trump’s advisors have apparently dissuaded him from ordering a military strike, warning that it would escalate the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran “in the last weeks of Trump’s presidency”, according to a report by The New York Times.
Donald Trump was reportedly mulling an attack on Iran’s “main nuclear site” in “the coming weeks”, asking his advisors whether he had such an option during a meeting at the Oval office on Thursday, The New York Times reported, citing “current and former US officials”.
The advisors, among whom were US Vice President Mike Pence, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, acting Defence Secretary Christopher Miller and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, reportedly dissuaded Trump from the attack, voicing concerns that it would escalate “into a broader conflict in the last weeks of Mr. Trump’s presidency”.
Read more at sputniknews.com

Trump Is Said to Be Preparing to Withdraw Troops From Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia

Facing the end of his time in power, the president is pushing to accelerate withdrawals from counterterrorism conflicts. He campaigned on ending the longstanding wars.
By Eric Schmitt, Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Charlie Savage and Helene Cooper
Nov. 16, 2020
WASHINGTON — President Trump is expected to order the U.S. military to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia by the time he leaves office in January, using the end of his time in power to significantly pull back American forces from far-flung conflicts around the world.
Under a draft order circulating at the Pentagon on Monday, the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan would be halved from the current deployment of 4,500 troops, officials said.
Read more at www.nytimes.com