Meanwhile, the Chinese are measuring the drapes

[deminks]

Link to tweet

#BREAKING: Iraq’s Prime Minister Adil Abdul al-Mahdi receives China’s ambassador to Iraq, Zhang Tao conveyed Beijing’s readiness to provide military assistance.

Link to tweet

Leon Panetta: It normally doesn't happen and it shouldn't happen that a general would go off & draft a letter like that w/o clearing it with the Secy of Defense & making sure it reflects US policy. So there's a tremendous amount of confusion about just exactly what has happened."

[pwb]

1. The United states under trump is spare parts.

Rotting away.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. I want out of Iraq as much as anyone, but not at the expense of this...

Holy SHIT this is a massive failure on the GOP's part (not just Trump - they're ALL complicit)!

[Turbineguy]

4. Veni, vidi,

fucked-it-uppi

[gratuitous]

11. Unlike Trump's usual MO

Things like withdrawing from a military occupation has to be done in a well-regimented, orderly fashion. It takes time and money to try to do it right, and even then there are no guarantees. "How do we get out" should be a primary consideration before an invasion is launched, but as we know, that wasn't a priority for the Bush administration. Anyone who raised that concern was just a dirty fucking hippie who loved the terrorists and hated America (stop me if you've see this before).

I remember when cutting and running was a mortal sin for Republicans (even if a proposal for orderly withdrawal from a military occupation was anything but cutting and running, but it was cutting and running because Democrats were doing it). Trump cutting and running? Military genius according to Republicans today.

[Cartoonist]

3. How do you say "Thanks for the Embassy" in Mandarin?

I'm kind of okay with this. I don't see the two cultures getting along. We sure didn't. China may be stepping in something they don't really want.

[SunSeeker]

10. Oh they want this. This is all about bu$ine$$. China could care less about local politics.

China needs oil for its factories and burgeoning middle class. They see an opportunity to move in to the vaccum left by the US. They have already done so in South America and Africa. Local dictators know China won't make any human rights demands on them, so they're happy to make deals with China.

[Cartoonist]

13. The populace may object

That's what I mean by cultural differences. The old days of imperialism are over. England had to leave India because their two cultures could not coexist.

I know China isn't looking to annex Iraq, but I don't think an increase in China's presence will go over well. Especially considering their treatment of Muslims.

[Blue_true]

15. China is deep in Afghanistan. That is about as hostile a culture as one can imagine.

They are also in parts of Africa that was in turmoil, since China went there, those places are calmer. They seem to be better at us at finding the common denominator for all sides of a conflict, unfortunately that comes with turning a blind eye to human rights violations.

[Submariner]

12. And we built billion dollar runways at Baghdad airport to handle Lockheed's heavy C-5 Galaxy

so China should be able to bring their equipment in their fleet of 747 Freight jets quite easily.

You're welcome Premier Xi.

[Blue_true]

14. They are working in Afghanistan and parts of Africa.

So far they have not had any major problems. My guess is they don't go in swinging their you know what at the locals.

[Newest Reality]

5. BINGO!

The Chinese are doing very well in their expansion efforts, especially thanks to Trump's help and giveaways. The tariffs are on us, China!

One act of true stupidity that is obvious here is that you do not treat China as an aside or trivial. While Russia plays oligarch games with us, China is far more a Red Dragon than we are made to believe. Oh, and you can find out more about that by looking into China's goals and activities across-the-board.

China may be a strange combination of communism and capitalism, but they are on the way to usurping the USA in this century and, gee, why not give them the room and help them out in the process?

[getagrip_already]

6. no confusion...

Per presidential directive, when reality conflicts with trump, reality shall be held as incorrect.

Therefore, it was an accident. In Arabic. Delivered to the Iraqi government.

[dewsgirl]

7. Exactly this!

[Voltaire2]

8. China is a more honest partner than we are. nt.

[Brother Buzz]

9. Why am I riffing on Shakespeare

"Hoist with his own petard"