“Let’s see what happens,” President Trump said Thursday after Iran shot down an American surveillance drone.
New York Times: Trump Approves Strikes on Iran, but Then Abruptly Pulls Back
WASHINGTON — President Trump approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation for downing an American surveillance drone, but 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 the president’s top national security officials and congressional leaders, according to multiple senior administration officials involved in or briefed on the deliberations.
Officials said the president 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 said. 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.
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Update: US prepped for strikes on Iran before approval was withdrawn (AP)
WNU Editor: The source for this New York Times story is from one anonymous White House official. I do not know if the NYT article is correct, but my gut tells me that the debate on what to do is still raging on in the White House. But if another incident like this happens, and/or an oil tanker is attacked, there is going to be no debate. The U.S. will be launching military strikes against Iranian targets. In the meantime, expect an even bigger U.S. military buildup in the region to be announced in the coming days.
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