Why did Donald Trump threaten an Iran conflict only to backpedal at the 11th hour? Why did Donald Trump kill a previous Obama era Iran deal only to live to regret it today?
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Last week, an Iran conflict seemed imminent after the Middle East nation shot down a US drone it claimed was in its airspace. Not long after, Trump played the role of the big, bad bully and bragged that he had a military strike “cocked & loaded” — a strike he eventually decided not to pull the trigger on despite his earlier threats. Why?
In reality, Trump likely assumed Iran would back down simply because he said so. When they didn’t, Trump tried to save face by saying he called off the Iran conflict because it would have resulted in roughly 150 casualties.
“What happened is, I said, ‘I’m not going to do it. I’ll save it. If they do something else, it’ll be double,’” Trump told Chuck Todd on Sunday during an exclusive interview on NBC’s Meet the Press.
“I don’t want to kill 150 Iranians. I don’t want to kill 150 of anything or anybody, unless it’s absolutely necessary,” he continued while adding that he has Iranian friends back home in New York.
“I’m not looking for war and if there is, it’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before.”
So, if Donald Trump is truly not looking for war, why did he threaten it in the first place?
“You can’t have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.” – Donald Trump
Iran is reportedly building an arsenal of nuclear weapons and their decision to shoot down a US drone was their way of preventing the US from obtaining visual proof. However, Trump may have shot off his mouth before fully considering the ramifications of shooting off bombs and launching yet another Middle East war — all before his upcoming 2020 reelection campaign.
National Security Advisor John Bolton (who has a reputation of always wanting to shoot first and ask questions later) was among the loudest voices within The White House pressing Trump to “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.”
“We have absolutely no appetite to go to war with Iran.” – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
However, it was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who led the opposition by reminding ‘The Donald’ via a Friday night phone call that he would need congressional approval before launching what could quickly become a military catastrophe.
Still, Trump had the words of his true advisors — including the likes of Fox News host Sean Hannity and others — who have encouraged Trump that he needs a “major event” to unify the country behind him as its leader.
Fortunately, the bombing of Iran didn’t happen. However, in his usual way, Trump may have created 6 new problems out of 1.
“Everybody was saying I’m a warmonger, and now they’re saying I’m a dove,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “And I’m neither. If you want to know the truth. I’m a man with common sense.”
For Trump, that “common sense” now means he will not instigate an Iran conflict, but will present a new set of sanctions on Monday and will sit down and negotiate with Iran — without preconditions. Too bad for him Iran has absolutely no incentive to talk with Trump under ANY conditions.
“For decades, American leaders have typically rejected meeting adversaries without setting strict conditions beforehand,” said international and defense expert Alex Ward. “Trump, however, doesn’t seem to care about any of that.”
Apparently, he does not. However, US allies do.
Reportedly, several US allies are livid with Donald Trump for threatening military action against Iran without first consulting with members of NATO. They’re also livid with Trump for ruining the now-defunct Obama-era Iran deal just to get back at the former president and for making the US look weak and not at all worthy of its reputation as the world’s superpower.
Interestingly, President Obama joined forces with France, the UK, and China to seal an anti-nuclear deal with Iran back in 2015. That deal lifted some sanctions against Iran in exchange for them agreeing to dismantle their nuclear program. All countries were in compliance until Trump canceled the agreement in 2018.
President Obama warned Trump that pulling out of the existing Iran deal could only end with one outcome: another unwanted war in the Middle East. However, the bombastic Trump boasted he could negotiate a new and better deal, which never happened. In fact, not only is the US without a binding anti-nuclear deal with Iran, but they have since let on they intend to mock Trump’s cancellation of the former deal by stockpiling forbidden amounts of uranium.
Did Donald Trump blow it by making his Iran conflict threat only to back down when it came time to put up or shut up? Are US allies correct that Trump and the US are now compromised on the world stage for making a strong threat that eventually turned out to be an empty dud, and for canceling a former deal that is now desperately needed? Is Trump correct to go directly to Iran without conditions (the same as he did with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un) and hope his own personal negotiating skills are enough to convince them to halt all nuclear production?
Forgive me – I’m having a bit of an out of body experience because I actually find myself agreeing with (gasp!)…Tucker Carlson!?! Apparently,, it got a little interesting last Friday evening on Faux Noise with Tucker Carlson’s verbal take-down of John Bolton (Trump’s National Security Adviser). Carlson called Bolton “a bureaucratic tapeworm.” “Try as you might you can’t expel him. He seems to live forever in the bowels of federal agencies; periodically re-emerging to cause pain and suffering but critically somehow never suffering himself.” Just a little history: Bolton and his sick ilk are the NeoCons who bamboozled G. Dubya into invading Iraq without Just cause. Mostly chicken-hawks, that cowardly lot LIED their sick azzez off about Saddam having WMDs. And If that wasn’t reason enough to lock their azzez up for life they’ve been salivating over the prospect of “overthrowing” the government Iran FOR YEARS… assuring the gullible and… Read more »