With A Middle East This Roiled, Don't You Wish There Was A Steadier Hand On The Tiller Of The Ship Of State Now?

According to a late report last night at the NY Times, Trump first approved airstrikes against Iran, then called the planes back to their bases after they had taken off. It was widely leaked that “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.”

Asked about the plans for a strike and the decision to hold back, the White House declined to comment, as did Pentagon officials. No government officials asked the New York Times to withhold the article.

The retaliation plan was intended as a response to the shooting down of the unmanned, $130 million surveillance drone, which was struck Thursday morning by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, according to a senior administration official who was briefed on the military planning and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss confidential plans.

The strike was set to take place just before dawn Friday in Iran to minimize risk to the Iranian military and civilians.

…Trump’s national security advisers split about whether to respond militarily. Senior administration officials said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; John R. Bolton, the national security adviser; and Gina Haspel, the C.I.A. director, had favored a military response. But top Pentagon officials cautioned that such an action could result in a spiraling escalation with risks for American forces in the region.

…Congressional Democrats emerged from the president’s classified briefing in the Situation Room and urged Mr. Trump to de-escalate the situation. They called on the president to seek congressional authorization before taking any military action.

“This is a dangerous situation,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “We are dealing with a country that is a bad actor in the region. We have no illusions about Iran in terms of their ballistic missile transfers, about who they support in the region and the rest.”

Iran’s destruction of the [$139 million] drone appeared to provide a boost for officials inside the Trump administration who have long argued for a more confrontational approach to Iran, including the possibility of military actions that could punish the regime for its support of terrorism and other destabilizing behavior in the region.

But in his public appearance, Mr. Trump initially seemed to be looking for a way to avoid a potentially serious military crisis. Instead of directly accusing the leaders of Iran, Mr. Trump said someone “loose and stupid” in Iran was responsible for shooting down the drone.

The president said he suspected it was some individual in Iran who “made a big mistake,” even as Iran had taken responsibility for the strike and asserted that the high-altitude American drone was operating over Iranian air space, which American officials denied.

While this was going on, the Senate voted to rebuke Trump by blocking arms sales to Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Gulf area. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), the ranking Dem on the Foreign Relations Committee is the lead sponsor of 22 resolutions disapproving of the $8 billion in sales to Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and other countries, all of which were adopted Thursday in three separate votes with a handful of Republicans joining Democrats in support. The tallies of 53-45 for the first two votes, and 51-45 for the third, suggest that these measures are unlikely to get the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a Trump veto. Republicans jumping the fence were Rand Paul (KY), Mike Lee (UT), Lindsey Graham (SC), Todd Young (IN), Susan Collins (ME) and Jerry Moran (KS).

Members of both parties have criticized Trump’s use of an emergency declaration to push through the sales, and have urged stronger consequences for Saudi Arabia’s role in the killing of columnist Jamal Khashoggi last fall.

“There is no amount of oil you can produce that will get me and others to give you a pass on chopping somebody up in a consulate, and did MBS do it? Yes,” Graham said, referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“Saudi Arabia doesn’t protect the United States from Iran,” said Graham. “To believe otherwise is just recasting conditions on the ground.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, “In the wake of such monstrosity, the Trump administration is proposing another round of billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia.”

Lawmakers have also expressed concern about civilian casualties in the Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Also read: Senate to Vote on Blocking Saudi Arms Sale in Rebuke to Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell opposed the resolutions, calling them an “overly blunt tool” that would hurt key relationships in the Middle East. Referring to the downing of a U.S. drone by Iran, he said the Senate couldn’t have picked “a worse time” for the votes.

Every Senate Democrat was a yes vote, indicating the House will easily pass Menendez’s resolutions when they take them up next week. And on Tuesday, Ro Khanna (D-CA) is introducing a bipartisan resolution with right-wing crackpot and Trump ally Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to defund any war efforts in Iran if there is no congressional authorization. It’s critical every single Democrat rally around Khanna's amendment.