White House asked for options to strike Iran - WSJ

[webfact]

White House asked for options to strike Iran - WSJ

 

FILE PHOTO: Sunset is seen over the White House, on the day of the U.S. midterm election, in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 6, 2018. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House's national security team last fall asked the Pentagon to provide it with options for striking Iran after a group of militants aligned with Tehran fired mortars into an area in Baghdad that is home to the U.S. Embassy, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.

 

The request by the National Security Council, which is led by John Bolton, sparked deep concern among Pentagon and State Department officials, the newspaper reported, citing current and former U.S. officials.

 

The Pentagon complied with the request, but it is not known whether the options for an Iran strike were also provided to the White House or if President Donald Trump knew about it.

 

The decision to seek options striking Iran was prompted by an incident in September in which three mortars were fired into a diplomatic quarter in Baghdad, the newspaper said. The shells landed in an open lot and no one was hurt. Two days later, unidentified militants fired three rockets that hit close to the U.S. consulate in the southern city of Basra but caused no serious damage.

 

The State Department did not comment on the report. The Pentagon said it provides the president options for a variety of threats.

 

NSC spokesman Garrett Marquis, said the NSC does the same and it will continue to consider "the full range of options" after the attacks.

 

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch, Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-01-14

[ReMarKable]

A little late to retaliate for something that happened in October with a missile attack now? I will forget I wrote this in about 10 minutes. 

[blazes]

John Bolton's frowning face always seems to me to have World War 3 written all over it....

[Bluespunk]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The request by the National Security Council, which is led by John Bolton,

Psycho. 

[longtom]

Bolton advocated to attack/invade Iran for over 20 years, he seems to be eager to start WW 3.

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[Spike1938]

This administration including John Bolton as well as the CIA are acting primarily in behalf of the oil companies. Iran sits on the third largest reserves of oil in the world and they are nationalised. Exxon, Total, BP are anxious to get Iran destabilised so they can get their hands on what they consider is "their oil". Same for Venezuela who has nationalised the largest oil reserves.

[sandrabbit]

2 hours ago, Spike1938 said:

Same for Venezuela who has nationalised the largest oil reserves.

and destroyed it by incompetence, don't blame the US for Chavez as PDVSA was running itself very well. 

[ballpoint]

5 hours ago, Spike1938 said:

This administration including John Bolton as well as the CIA are acting primarily in behalf of the oil companies. Iran sits on the third largest reserves of oil in the world and they are nationalised. Exxon, Total, BP are anxious to get Iran destabilised so they can get their hands on what they consider is "their oil". Same for Venezuela who has nationalised the largest oil reserves.

The US is currently well provided by its oil shale plays, however, getting the oil for yourself isn't always the goal, but rather keeping it from someone else: