As Christmas approaches, President Donald Trump has evidently decided to yet again belligerently threaten Iran, whose deal with the West to draw down its nuclear capabilities already all-but-collapsed in the wake of the Trump administration’s petulant withdrawal. Now, on Wednesday, President Trump said on Twitter that the American embassy in Baghdad had been targeted by rocket fire, and apparently, a few unexploded rockets were recovered. Trump said that the weapons came from Iran — and added what he belligerently characterized as “friendly health advice” for Iran, insisting that he would hold the country responsible for potential American deaths.
Alongside an image of the unexploded rockets, Trump posted the following message on Twitter:
‘Our embassy in Baghdad got hit Sunday by several rockets. Three rockets failed to launch. Guess where they were from: IRAN. Now we hear chatter of additional attacks against Americans in Iraq. Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.’
…Some friendly health advice to Iran: If one American is killed, I will hold Iran responsible. Think it over.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2020
The Trump administration has targeted Iran in the past. Earlier this year, the Trump administration killed top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in an airstrike. In January, that same month, Iran responded with a missile attack targeting a U.S. base in Iraq, and in the chaos, over 100 U.S. service members suffered diagnosed brain injuries, according to a Reuters report from February of this year, which also noted that “[symptoms] of concussive injuries include headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light and nausea.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Trump downplayed the injuries at one point in the aftermath of the retaliatory attack, saying that he “heard that they had headaches and a couple of other things.”
Overall, Trump seems desperate. He tweeted this belligerent threat against Iran as his fight against the election outcome continued to fail. A slew of post-election court cases that he and his allies have brought around the country have failed, and there’s simply no sincere indication of any sort of imminent success for Trump in his fight against Biden’s victory. Fundamentally, he is fighting against the democratic process in the United States itself.
Check out Twitter’s response to Trump below:
