NBC’s Richard Engel on Iran Address: What We Saw Today Was ‘Trump Perhaps at His Most Measured’
RUSH EXCERPT:
ENGEL: “So they could have been tracked and apparently were being tracked giving U.S. Troops time to get into bunkers and take shelter. I think what we saw today was President Trump perhaps at his most measured. He talked about how the U.S. military is strong, how it’s been rebuilt under his leadership, but that he does not want to use it. And he did seem to be offering an off-ramp. He was talking how Iran could have a prosperous future. He said there should be this new track with nato. There are European countries that have much better relations with Iran than the United States. It was not the speech that some in the region here were bracing for. I remember, Andrea, very well, and I’m sure you remember it too, I was standing on a rooftop in Baghdad in 2003 and President Trump came out and said, Saddam Hussein has 48 hours to leave Iraq, that was not the kind of speech we heard tonight. It was a de-escalation and if anything, it opens the door for potential new path forward. Is it over? We don’t know if Iran is going to take other steps through cyber or militia groups might decide that they need to take some sort of action as well. In addition to qassem soleimani, the Iranian general being killed, a top Iraqi militia leader was killed in the same attack. That militia might decide it wants to get its revenge as well.”
