Trump And Beyoncé Confuse Everyone On Twitter With Simultaneous Announcements
The month of February is starting with a bang, and the world can barely handle it.
On Wednesday, February 1, after Iran conducted a missile test, Michael Flynn, Trump's national security adviser, officially put the country "on notice."
A lot of people seem to think this sounds like the Trump administration is threatening Iran with war.
But, many are also finding it difficult to notice or care, due to the fact this news broke at almost exactly the same time Beyoncé announced she's pregnant with twins.
There was just three minutes between AP's tweets about these two big developments.
This clearly wasn't enough time to allow people to process what's going on. People are overwhelmed.
While we should all be happy for Beyoncé (babies are great), we definitely need to take this interaction between the Trump administration and Iran very seriously.
Iran is a historic enemy of the US. The relationship between the two countries has been extremely antagonistic for decades.
President Obama tried to alleviate some of these tensions with the Iran nuclear deal, which was designed to improve diplomatic relations with Iran while also preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Trump has frequently spoken out against the Iran nuclear deal, referring to it as a "disaster."
Since he was elected, there have been concerns how Trump might approach US-Iran relations.
After Iran tested ballistic missiles on Sunday, January 29, it claimed it did not violate the Iran nuclear deal or a United Nations resolution with its missile test.
The Trump administration took this as an opportunity to put Iran "on notice," as noted above.
Michael Flynn didn't answer any questions after he said this, and did not elaborate on what he meant.
This might seem like a fairly tame statement. But, in foreign policy speak, it's basically like saying, "If you do that again, we'll kick your ass."
In the past, Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general and former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, has advocated conflict with Iran.
He once wrote instead of invading Baghdad, the US should've targeted Tehran,
Our primary target should have been Tehran, not Baghdad, and the method should have been political—support of the internal Iranian opposition.
Flynn sees Iran as the nucleus of a coalition of enemies America is facing.
He also once referred to Islam as "a cancer," which helps explain his positions on foreign policy, especially Iran.
With him whispering in Trump's ear about national security, this feels like more of a possibility.
Citations: Donald Trump's National Security Adviser Michael Flynn Says Islam Is “Like a Cancer” (The Intercept), With His Power Unchecked, Michael Flynn Could Lead Trump Into War With Iran (Huffington Post), Trump's Foreign-Policy Appointees Are Set to Provoke War With Iran (The Nation), Iran: Missile tests don't violate nuclear agreement, U.N. resolution (USA Today), Will Donald Trump Destroy the Iran Deal? (New York Times)
