You know when even famed Never Trumper and ‘the smartest guy in the room’ Tom Nichols writes a thread about how stupid it is for the Left and the media to blame Trump for Iranians shooting the plane down that it’s a really stupid narrative.

No way he would ‘defend’ Trump unless what he is seeing from his fellow anti-Trumpers is just that bad.

And considering the idea that Trump somehow forced Iranians to shoot down a plane is one of the dumbest things we’ve see on Twitter, we actually agree with Tom.

A little.

Enough already about how Trump caused the Iranians to shoot down an airliner. He didn't. Any of you want to question my anti-Trump cred, you can f*** right off, but it's time to talk like grownups for a moment about military operations. /1 — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

Talk like grownups.

Have fun with that, guys.

I do not yet know how Iran shot down that plane. Occam's Razor says: Incompetence, failure to spread the word, some dumbass who wasn't trained enough, poor discipline among air defense guys. It wasn't a U.S. hit on an airliner. It was a screwup during operations. /2 — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

"Oh, but Trump made them jumpy." Yes, well, when you've deputized a terrorist scumbag to travel around the region training people in killing civilians and conducting irregular warfare via proxies, you have to think that guy might get killed. The Iranians are not new at this. /3 — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

Is he defending Trump?

Whoa.

He’ll say he is not but … whoa.

Eventually someone was going to ace Soleimani. Was Trump right to do it? Me, I wouldn't trust Trump's guys to order a Happy Meal and get it right. But worrying Iran is "jumpy" is like worrying if John Gotti was extra-murdery because the FBI wasn't letting him get enough sleep. /4 — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

Ok, this about Gotti was pretty damn funny.

More to the point, no one *forced* the Iranians to undertake a ballistic missile salvo to avenge the aforementioned terrorist scumbag. (As you'll see in @TheAtlantic, I think Iran pulled it off smartly.) That was a discretionary op. Their choice. They weren't under attack. /5 — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

Aforementioned terrorist scumbag.

So much this.

If there had been waves of U.S. planes bombing the hell out of Tehran, and some guy misidentified a plane, sure. We'd have some responsibility. But an attack that was theirs to plan, time, and execute means it's *their* job not to target a plane at their own airport. /6 — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

How is Tom the only one in the anti-Trump movement to ‘get’ this?

Trump is a sociopathic ignoramus who has no idea what he's doing. That does not mean that he somehow forced Iran into a major operation, or that it was his job to make sure that Iranians can handle high-tech SAMs without blowing up a 737 on takeoff in their own capital. /7 — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

Awww, there’s the Tom we know.

I want Trump impeached and removed. I want him gone in 2020 if that fails. But "Trump made the Iranians do bad stuff" is juvenile and stupid. That's not how military operations work, nor how chains of command operate in any country.

Seriously, people, get your shit together. /8x — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

PS: Stop using "the fog of war." You're all using it incorrectly. An operation planned at the discretion of the regime, on their own time, with no hostilities underway, is not the "fog of war." Enough already. — Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) January 10, 2020

The ‘expert’ has spoken.

Related:

‘JFK died on his way to the airport’: BuzzFeed DRAGGED for their coverage of Iran plane crash on #BuzzfeedThroughHistory tag

Maybe sit this one out: John Brennan poking his crotchety head out to talk smack about Trump and Soleimani goes SO wrong

‘I know for a FACT Obama admin sent letters directly TO Soleimani’: Michael Doran blows the whistle BIG TIME on John Kerry and Iran (wow!)