Trump's Iran policy is making war more likely

[spanone]

The United States is in the midst of an extremely dangerous standoff with Iran — and President Donald Trump is mainly to blame.

Exactly one year ago Wednesday, Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which lifted sanctions from Tehran in exchange for the country agreeing to curb its nuclear program. That wasn’t enough for Trump, though, who believed the accord was a disaster because it didn’t stop Iran’s growing ballistic missile program or sponsorship of terrorism.

The US president’s goal, it seems, is to put so much pressure on Tehran that it has no choice but to completely change its behavior — but he could end up leading the countries to the brink of war in the process.

Trump has authorized other hardline moves against Iran since pulling out of the accord, namely the reimposition of sanctions and a campaign to isolate the country from the international community. That led Iran’s economy to collapse, plunging the country into a deeper and deeper recession, impacting millions of Iranians who were already struggling under the regime’s brutal rule.

https://www.vox.com/2019/5/8/18537160/trump-iran-deal-war-usa

[DFW]

1. I doubt this will ever happen

Sure, he's crazy enough, and probably getting desperate enough, but keep in mind that Republicans are cowards. They only launch unprovoked attacks on countries they think will never shoot back (Iraq was a miscalculation, not a change in policy). Think Reagan and Grenada, Bush I and Panama. Iran will not only shoot back, but they are armed to the teeth. If we send troops in there, especially with no compelling reason to do so, We will need time for a build-up. The Iranians will commence their civil defense programs at the first sign. Of any American invasion force, there will be many thousands that will not come out, and there will be no "coalition of the willing" this time. Theresa May has other things on her mind right now. We are on our own if we do this.

Republicans want "Mission Accomplished" photo ops, not body bags. I just don't see it becoming reality.

[spanone]

2. Between Bolton, Bibi & trump, I wish I could share you optimism.

[DFW]

3. It is the Generals who will have to carry out the orders to send our troops into battle

Last edited Fri May 10, 2019, 11:32 AM - Edit history (1)

I think they would revolt/resign/move-to-declare-Trump-incompetent before they would send 25,000 Americans to their deaths for what is basically a campaign rally at a distance. Congress will have a hard time selling it to themselves, too 18 months before an election. The generals talk to them, too, even if they rarely admit it. Rumsfeld couldn't even get it right about the Iraq timetable. he was off by over a decade. Iran will eat us alive in a land war. That only succeeds if their youth joins our side, and the Iranian dissident movement is still a patriotic one. As much as they hate the Ayatollahs, the one thing that could unite them with the current establishment would be an unprovoked American invasion from outside.

[duforsure]

4. He knows a major distraction like that

Would help him evade any consequences . He's also trying to promote Iran as bad, by way of making stuff up about them, just like W Bush did , and used it to hide and deflect all the other issues . If anything big happens here its more than likely it could be trump's behind it. I don't trust anything out of this White House as being true. Its all PR , self promotion, and abuse of power for absolute power to protect himself with.

[yellowwoodII]

5. Why are people so unconcerned?

As I watch Trump's escalation of conflict with Iran, I am reminded of how we watched the same action, fed by hawks like Bolton, lead up to Iraq War. We all know how costly that has been.

A war would be great for Trump. People generally rally behind the President in times of conflict.

Please pay attention before Trump goads Iran into some action which will give him an excuse to attack Iran in some way.

[DFW]

6. Cheney carefully orchestrated the lead-up to the Iraq invasion

The pulling of the wool over the eyes of Congressional leadership of both parties AND the press.

NONE of that will fly this time, in part exactly BECAUSE it was a Republican hoax that led us into the Iraq invasion. This time, too, there would be no support whatsoever from Great Britain or any other ally. Iran knows perfectly well what Trump is doing. Hell, half of their elite elders were in college in the USA under Nixon, Ford and Carter. They know the drill, and there is NO ONE in Iran who wants a ground war on their soil.

WMD in Iran, therefore we need to attack them. Right? That is only one letter in the alphabet away from what got us into Iraq 16 years ago. We've heard this one before.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Perhaps that's the idea.