Steve Kerr did not hesitate to make his thoughts known on President Donald Trump’s killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
The Golden State Warriors head coach tweeted Friday that Vice President Mike Pence lied about claims of Soleimani’s involvement with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and retweeted several posts condemning the airstrike.
One thing I've learned in my lifetime is to not believe our government when it comes to matters of war. Johnson and Nixon lied about Viet Nam. Bush and Cheney lied about WMD's in Iraq. Now Pence is lying about Iran/Soleimani's supposed involvement in 9/11. https://t.co/jm3oex867A
— Steve Kerr (@SteveKerr) January 3, 2020
Among Kerr’s retweets are posts calling the attack a “potentially catastrophic” blunder, denouncing a possible war with Iran and criticizing pundits who supported the Iraq war.
On Saturday, Kerr detailed his perspective on the attack with reporters, warning against an “unwinnable, unnecessary” war.
A transcript of Kerr’s comments:
I just follow what’s going on in the world because it’s always of great interest to me. I’m worried we’re going to end up in another war. I try to use my Twitter platform to remind people to do their homework before we all blindly wave the flag and get ourselves into another mess like we did in Iraq.
[Before the Iraq war] I remember the patriotic fever that swept the NBA. Since that time, we do a great job in our league and the other leagues supporting our veterans, bringing them to games and giving them ovations, which I wholeheartedly support. But what I think would be even more supportive is to not get involved, not send soldiers overseas to unwinnable, unnecessary wars in the first place. That’s how we can best support our men and women who are representing us.
We have a history in this country all you have to do is read Vietnam, Iraq, people are misled by our government. It happened in Vietnam, we know that. The facts were not facts. We have to be very careful right now with what we’re being told. If we’re led into another war, the implications for so many families, so many people are so drastic that we all need to understand what’s happening and support out troops by making sure we press our government to do the right thing.
One of the most politically outspoken figures in the sports world, Kerr grew up in the Middle East and lost his father to an assassination by Islamic terrorists. Kerr has recalled his father’s death to denounce the potential blowback of Trump’s policies in the past.
FACT CHECK
Pence Links Suleimani to 9/11. The Public Record Doesn’t Back Him.
In a series of tweets on Friday defending President Trump’s decision to authorize the drone strike that killed Iran’s top intelligence commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Vice President Mike Pence reeled off a list of some of General Suleimani’s most notorious attacks and machinations. Mr. Pence described “an evil man” who had threatened American national security interests for decades.
In one of his tweets, Mr. Pence claimed that General Suleimani helped 10 of the men who would go on to carry out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks cross through Iran and enter Afghanistan. That does not match established historical accounts of General Suleimani or public United States intelligence about the hijackers.
WHAT WAS SAID
Mr. Pence said on Twitter that General Soleimani “assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.”
This lacks evidence. How Mr. Pence arrived at this number and this account is unclear. From what is commonly known about General Suleimani and the group of men who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, their paths did not cross.
To start, many observers were quick to point out that 19 terrorists, not 12, were involved in the attacks. Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for Mr. Pence, clarified that he was referring to a subset of 12 of the attackers who are known to have traveled through Iran to Afghanistan.
Ms. Waldman said that Mr. Pence’s statement was based on a finding by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2016 that Iran permitted “several of the 9/11 hijackers” to transit through the country. The finding did not directly link the hijackers to any forces overseen by General Suleimani, or specify how many may have been granted passage.
The notion that General Suleimani abetted the attackers at all also appears dubious.
By 2001, General Suleimani had already been named the head of the Quds Force, the powerful security branch that often coordinates with other terrorist groups worldwide. Yet General Suleimani was not named at any point in the “9/11 Commission Report.”
In fact, the report states in no uncertain terms that neither the Iranian government nor Hezbollah, a group that General Suleimani worked closely with, ever knew anything about the attacks or helped facilitate them:
We have found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack. At the time of their travel through Iran, the Al Qaeda operatives themselves were probably not aware of the specific details of their future operation.
Why General Suleimani, the leader of a hard-line Shiite Muslim military apparatus, would have come to the aid of members of Al Qaeda, a Sunni extremist group with strong ties to Saudi Arabia, is also unclear.
General Suleimani spent much of his career undermining Saudi Arabia, and once even plotted to have the Saudi ambassador to the United States assassinated. At various points, he was also said to have helped facilitate the capture of Qaeda militants on behalf of the United States.
Zach Montague is based in Washington, D.C. He covers breaking news and developments around the district. @zjmontague
SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=IRAQ
Pence Links Suleimani to 9/11. The Public Record Doesn’t Back Him.
In a series of tweets on Friday, Vice President Mike Pence said that Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani “assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.” Credit...Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
By Zach Montague
Published Jan. 3, 2020
By Zach Montague
Published Jan. 3, 2020
In a series of tweets on Friday defending President Trump’s decision to authorize the drone strike that killed Iran’s top intelligence commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Vice President Mike Pence reeled off a list of some of General Suleimani’s most notorious attacks and machinations. Mr. Pence described “an evil man” who had threatened American national security interests for decades.
In one of his tweets, Mr. Pence claimed that General Suleimani helped 10 of the men who would go on to carry out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks cross through Iran and enter Afghanistan. That does not match established historical accounts of General Suleimani or public United States intelligence about the hijackers.
WHAT WAS SAID
Mr. Pence said on Twitter that General Soleimani “assisted in the clandestine travel to Afghanistan of 10 of the 12 terrorists who carried out the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.”
This lacks evidence. How Mr. Pence arrived at this number and this account is unclear. From what is commonly known about General Suleimani and the group of men who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks, their paths did not cross.
To start, many observers were quick to point out that 19 terrorists, not 12, were involved in the attacks. Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for Mr. Pence, clarified that he was referring to a subset of 12 of the attackers who are known to have traveled through Iran to Afghanistan.
Ms. Waldman said that Mr. Pence’s statement was based on a finding by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2016 that Iran permitted “several of the 9/11 hijackers” to transit through the country. The finding did not directly link the hijackers to any forces overseen by General Suleimani, or specify how many may have been granted passage.
The notion that General Suleimani abetted the attackers at all also appears dubious.
By 2001, General Suleimani had already been named the head of the Quds Force, the powerful security branch that often coordinates with other terrorist groups worldwide. Yet General Suleimani was not named at any point in the “9/11 Commission Report.”
In fact, the report states in no uncertain terms that neither the Iranian government nor Hezbollah, a group that General Suleimani worked closely with, ever knew anything about the attacks or helped facilitate them:
We have found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack. At the time of their travel through Iran, the Al Qaeda operatives themselves were probably not aware of the specific details of their future operation.
Why General Suleimani, the leader of a hard-line Shiite Muslim military apparatus, would have come to the aid of members of Al Qaeda, a Sunni extremist group with strong ties to Saudi Arabia, is also unclear.
General Suleimani spent much of his career undermining Saudi Arabia, and once even plotted to have the Saudi ambassador to the United States assassinated. At various points, he was also said to have helped facilitate the capture of Qaeda militants on behalf of the United States.
Zach Montague is based in Washington, D.C. He covers breaking news and developments around the district. @zjmontague
SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=IRAQ
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