In January 2016 a US Navy riverine patrol boat's navigation system failed, and entered Iranian waters. The Iranian revolutionary guard captured them, waved them around as propaganda for half a day, and then John Kerry NEGOTIATED their release in the same day.
Despite the fact that the boat was in the wrong (miles inside Iranian waters), and despite the fact that Kerry got the sailors back without a single person being killed, I got the distinct impression the Republicans almost WISHED there had been more violence.
Admitting when you're wrong (the boat was in Iranian waters) and using diplomacy before bullets are the DEMOCRATIC Party way, and it worked, driving most Republicans nuts. The usual chickenhawks (Cruz, Rubio etc.) accused Obama and Kerry of being 'weak' for ASKING for our sailors back, instead of dropping a few bombs. They wanted to show off what they BELIEVE is the Republican way (which they learned about by watching too many re-runs of Rambo movies).
Sadly, I think they'd like a DO OVER. Order the riverine patrol boats to patrol even CLOSER to Iranian waters, hope like hell that one gets captured again, and this time send in Seals and Marines to rescue them, killing or capturing a few Iranian revolutionary guardsmen if they can. That'll raise tensions with Iran, and make Trump look tough (so they think)
Sadly, that's what they THINK will happen, based on too much knowledge of Chuck Norris movies, and too little knowledge of history.
Remember what happened last time a Republican dope thought they'd use big military force against a country that specializes in asymmetrical warfare? It's happened more than once.
1. Republican dope number one: George W. Bush. Thought he'd topple Saddam's government, and replace it with a democratic one. A few years, and a few thousand Iran-supplied road bombs later, and Iraq was basically an Iranian asset.
2. Republican dope number two: Ronald Reagan. Thought an easy way of stopping Iranians from attacking Kuwaiti oil tankers during the Iran/Iraq war was to re-flag them as American tankers. (Operation Ernest Will) The Iranians blew a few of them up, along with damaging some U.S. warships with MINES. And then said "mines? WHAT mines?" Not only did this humiliate the USA over the stupid re-flagging idea, but it had the added bonus of embarrassing the U.S. Navy into admitting they didn't have a single minesweeper! Spent billions on guided missile cruisers and aircraft carriers, and all of them were vulnerable to being taken out by a rusty, WWII surplus mine.
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