General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnyone else concerned that tRump is going to start another God damn war in the middle east?
Seems like the type who would love to be a "war president." Just like that idiot, Bush.
Downtown Hound
(12,618 posts)If there's one thing today proved, it's that Trump is all bark and no bite. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad we didn't attack Iran, especially over a damn drone. But the whole thing was a bluff on his part, and it fits with a larger pattern employed by Trump. He bellows, he threatens, he yells, and he stammers, but if you call his bluff, he folds. Iran called his bluff today, and Trump folded big time.
He has done it many times, and he will do it many more.
Kath2
(3,089 posts)dchill
(38,532 posts)...and he says he doesn't want a war.
calguy
(5,325 posts)But after this so called strike he supposedly called off, I think he's a coward. And that's a good thing in this case.
It is a VERY good thing.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)because he believes that makes him seem powerful and tough. He'll keep doing the tough-guy routine in order to excite his base (He's so strong and tough on our enemies! Swoon!) but he doesn't want an actual war because, as dumb as he is, he knows, or someone told him, that once a war starts he wouldn't have total control over the situation anymore - and a war with Iran would also make his boss Putin unhappy (and he's also a chickenshit). The problem with acting like he wants a war just because it's good TV for the base is that he could end up starting one without really intending to do it. That's the scariest thing.
Kath2
(3,089 posts)As stupid as he is, I think he realizes that he is done in 2020 if we are in another damn war.
Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)he is just stupid enough to bumble into one.
Kath2
(3,089 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)Nobody, including him, knows what he's doing - not the Pentagon, not the Iranians, not our allies (if we even have any anymore). He's terrifyingly likely to do something galactically dumb that makes Iran think he just started a war even if he didn't.
Kath2
(3,089 posts)Arkansas Granny
(31,528 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,706 posts)Neither assertion is true, really. Unpredictability may 'work' in the short run, but most of our opponents are playing a long game, and Trump has weakened the US in ways that may never be recoverable, particularly among our allies, or should I say former allies?
sop
(10,243 posts)smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)This. He's too impulsive and too easily manipulated. He doesn't know what he is doing, but could easily be influenced by others who do want war. It's just a matter of whispering in his ear at the right place and right time. He's too volatile. You can't trust him.
trev
(1,480 posts)Twice, actually, if you include Venezuela.
Fortunately, I don't think he has the machismo to pull a Cheney.
customerserviceguy
(25,183 posts)Eventually, Iran is going to get squeezed to the point where the mullahs will be willing to give up all the nuke stuff, or the populace will topple them.
With Iran bombing those tankers and shooting down a drone, it will convince the rest of the world to adhere to the sanctions. Once the Iranians shoot down a commercial airliner, the sanctions will tighten. At least it won't be one of ours.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)He's not patient enough to do anything else.
DFW
(54,436 posts)He won't start one because it requires a lot of complexities, unintended consequences, externalities, etc. Long story short, a shit load of stuff he can't control...and if he can't control it, he can't control the narrative.
We're talking about a guy who won't listen to daily intelligence briefs....now add a war on top of that. He knows he's sunk because he can't handle it. It's why he chose to negotiate with Kim, hoping to diffuse the situation instead of confront. Likewise, he's trying to find a way out of the Iran debacle that he created.
Response to Kath2 (Original post)
Skittles This message was self-deleted by its author.
Skittles
(153,193 posts)RockRaven
(14,998 posts)He's scared s--tless of getting blamed for Americans dying, so he has a strong internal disincentive for starting a war...
but he's also ignorant and easily manipulated, and has surrounded himself of Middle East War-mongers of various types (Bolton, Pompeo, Pence) who make it much, much more likely he will start a war without fully appreciating the road he is on, even though it conflicts with his priorities (he's reportedly complained to some advisors that "Bolton's going to get me into a war" -- which of course yields the question: then why are you listening to him?).
emmaverybo
(8,144 posts)fear an incident that triggers our attacking Iran.
Kath2
(3,089 posts)njhoneybadger
(3,910 posts)Yes that's what I really believe.
uponit7771
(90,363 posts)njhoneybadger
(3,910 posts)uponit7771
(90,363 posts)empedocles
(15,751 posts)Hotler
(11,445 posts)There are a lot of rich people, Wall St. and corporations that can't make money unless we are at war or in conflict.
librechik
(30,676 posts)Yeah, the weapons dealers need to sustain their revenue and the Hawks need their cushy government jobs.
Can't we train them to install solar or work on windmills?
Someday a time will come when that is all we can do. Hope I'm gone by then.
Kath2
(3,089 posts)Our "leaders" have learned nothing from Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan. They didn't even learn from Vietnam. The U.S. has been complicit, if not directly responsible, for needless death and destruction in these countries. I see no end to these endless wars which makes fortunes for the the few and bring misery to millions.
Dirty Socialist
(3,252 posts)I think Trump is full of blister and spectacle. Fortunately, he doesnt have the guts to follow through.