Fox News contributor and former Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker doesn’t quite believe everything the Trump administration says and even likened it to “Baghdad Bob.”
Baker’s comparison came Monday after reports from President Donald Trump and Iran offered varied statuses on Operation Epic Fury.
The statements were in regards to negotiations that may or may not be taking place between the two parties.
Trump posted his view on Truth Social Monday morning.
“I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST,” Trump wrote.
“BASED ON THE TENOR AND TONE OF THESE IN DEPTH, DETAILED, AND CONSTRUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS, WHICH WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, I HAVE INSTRUCTED THE DEPARTMENT OF WAR TO POSTPONE ANY AND ALL MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST IRANIAN POWER PLANTS AND ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A FIVE DAY PERIOD, SUBJECT TO THE SUCCESS OF THE ONGOING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP,” he added.
Iranian state-controlled media had a different take.
Shortly after the president’s post, Fars News Agency reported “there has been no direct or indirect contact” between the two warring governments. It also asserted that Trump had “backed down” after the Iranians threatened to target “all power plants in West Asia.”
The Iranian foreign ministry also provided a statement.
“The US President’s statements are within the framework of efforts to reduce energy prices and gain time to implement his military plans,” the statement read.
“There are initiatives by regional countries to de-escalate tensions, and our response to all of them is clear: We are not the party that started this war, and all these requests should be referred to Washington,” it continued.
Enter Baker, who believes
Iranians’ story more than Trump’s.
“The unsettling reality is that with this president, Americans in wartime are in the unprecedented position of having to suspect that the enemy’s version of events is more likely to be true than our own,” he wrote after the Iranians issued their denial. “We have become Baghdad Bob.”
Baker was referring to Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, who served as minister of information to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Al-Sahhaf earned the nickname “Baghdad Bob”over his insistence that the Iraqi government was overcoming America’s invasion even as Baghdad and its government fell.
