Trump's Insane National Security Adviser Warns Iran

President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, just said the United States was officially putting Iran on notice over its "destabilizing activity" after it test-fired a ballistic missile over the weekend, reports Reuters.

"As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice," Flynn told a White House briefing, without explaining exactly what that meant.

Flynn told reporters that the Trump administration "condemns such actions by Iran that undermine security, prosperity and stability throughout and beyond the Middle East that puts American lives at risk."

Flynn said the ballistic missile launch on Sunday was in defiance of a U.N. Security Council resolution that called on Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

Ballistic missiles can vary widely in range and use, and are often divided into categories based on range. There is no indication that the missile Iran test-fired has any intercontinental capability.

  -RW

UPDATE

Daniel McAdams writes:

Over the weekend Iran tested a medium-range ballistic missile which Flynn claims violates the P5+1 negotiated and UN-backed Iran nuclear deal. UN Security Council Resolution 2231 "calls on" Iran to not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, but this section has been interpreted as a request rather than a prohibition. There are no specific provisions in the nuclear deal that explicitly prevent Iran from testing a missile.

In fact, Iran has tested several ballistic missiles since the nuclear agreement was signed but this time the US reaction is far different. Iran has been "emboldened," said General Flynn, by an Obama Administration that was "weak and ineffective" in its dealings with Iran. He went on to lament that Iran has not been "thankful to the United States for these agreements."

Flynn's subordinates have long complained of his aggressive style, including a demand after the 2012 Benghazi attack on a CIA facility that analysts find some link to Iran. This pressure to "stove-pipe" intelligence to suit a pre-determined policy is eerily reminiscent of the methods used to push the 2003 Iraq war. He was fired from his previous job as Defense Intelligence Agency chief for, reportedly, his extremely hostile views toward Iran.

Adding together President Trump's call to the Saudi king, where they discussed Iran's "destabilizing" actions, and a pre-emptive war authorization bill languishing in the US House, the current danger of a US strike on Iran is just an accident -- or a false flag -- away.