Like Tony Blair in Iraq and Nicolas Sarkozy in Libya, Barack Obama has shown no contrition for his overt and dangerous grooming of Iran. Now Trump is having to clean up the mess in the knowledge it could get worse if he approaches it heavy-handed.
Restraint is the key word.
President Trump has displayed the hallmarks of a foreign policy borne from the warnings uttered by America’s founders.
It frustrates hawks, and may even seem “weak” to those searching for weakness, especially after an attack on U.S. assets. But it is in-keeping with the heuristic of engaging in foreign entanglements only when it is expressly in the U.S. national interest to do so.
This is manifestly the case with Iran.
Of course there is a national interest. Anyone who needs to be reminded of Iranian machinations in the region — of both trading and geopolitical import — or their alliances and sponsorship of disruptive practices to the detriment of American interests should bone up.
But in his awkward manner, Trump is now talking about proportionality regarding a retaliatory attack on Iran.
His critics’ (“OMG DRUMPF WILL START WW3” circa 2016) heads are spinning.
When America’s founders intervened in foreign affairs, it was proportionate to the national interest and aimed at defending against “European machinations” being exported to the United States.
This is the diametric opposite of the foreign policies set and expressed by at least the three U.S. Presidents before Trump.
It wasn’t just with hindsight that one could foresee Iraq and Libya leading to what they did. Critics at the time warned about creating post-Saddam and a post-Gaddafi vacuums. Thankfully, the Egyptian people saw to it that the same didn’t happen with their country, ousting the late Mohammed Morsi with extreme and necessary prejudice at the first opportunity.
Western interventions and hunts for regime change have scarcely been about the U.S. national interest, nor did they even pretend to be. That’s why Trump’s foreign policy seems so alien to the talking heads on CNN and even Fox News.
The phrases “democracy promotion” and “humanitarian intervention” alluded to necessarily imperialistic impulses. Yet the left hasn’t uttered any apology for Obama, who campaigned as a dove and governed as one of the most aggressive president’s America has seen. Both at home, and abroad.
Nor has the establishment right atoned for Bush.
Both camps – from the Cheneys to Ben Rhodes – must be rebuked and rebuffed when it comes to contemporaneous geopolitical matters, and that includes on Iran.
A failure of contrition on the pallets of cash to Tehran, or on the destabilization of the Middle East and North Africa result in the migrant crisis wrecking Europe, are the only signs we need as to why these people should be relegated to writing their “what if…” memoirs.
None of this is to say that military action is never on the table, or should even be taken off the table right now.
None of this is to say Iran is not an opponent and significant threat (thanks again, Obama).
We have a buffoon and conman for a President who doesn’t read a daily intelligence briefing and who has total disregard for U.S. intelligence agencies, but the writer here is calling Trump “responsibly restrained.”
The byline of this piece credits someone named “Curt.” His bio says “Curt served in the Marine Corps for four years and has been a law enforcement officer in Los Angeles for the last 26 years.” But when one clicks “Read more,” it’s clean that this piece is written by one Raheem Kassam.
So which is it, Dr. John? And why all the bullshit on this website?
In Iraq, the hazards of removing Hussein was fully known and the adverse affects were being mitigated… until Obama took all our troops out. If such hazards were known before Obama and Hillary intentionally destabilized Libya, they certainly didn’t show they were aware of them, even AFTER Obama wrecked the stability of Iraq.
Trump’s credible threat, then pull-back is nothing but a one-last-chance for Iran, comparable to approaching a loudmouth idiot, putting your fist in their face and telling them it would be in their best interests to shut up. One last chance; ignore it at your own peril.
So, how does Trump please the idiotic left? Go to war? Don’t go to war? Bomb Iran with pallets of cash? No one knows. Because, obviously, even the left doesn’t know.
@Gary Miller:
Maybe you would be happier somewhere else. Obama gave us ISIS and Benghazi. You support Obama. Perhaps your sense of perception is not as sharp as you might think.
By the way, THIS is how seriously Democrat leaders consider impending military action. This is who Gary puts all his faith and trust in. Games played with people’s lives.
@Gary Miller: Man, you are dense. This is the most wanted section of the blog that takes articles from other sites and puts excerpts of them up along with a Read More link to the whole article. Everything is even quoted in format. This has been explained to you many times and you still don’t get it. Since I put the excerpt of the article up it show’s my name.
I mean wow….dense.
A military strike on Iran called off at the last minute, and then massive ICE raids that were to begin tomorrow, also called off at the last minute.
It’s possible we might be seeing the beginnings of Trump’s 2020 election pivot, where actions calculated to appeal strongly to his republican base are being announced, and then called off in an effort to appeal to moderates and independents. It’s a form of fence sitting, where you are actually reaching out to both sides of a polarized nation of voters.
I can see how this works. From my own perspective, I approve of of not attacking Iran, as I think this would be another step toward an extraordinarily dangerous war; I also approve of not initiating a draconian, insufficiently selective mass-deportation program, when we’re already having great difficulty dealing effectively with a flood of new arrivals. Given the fact that I approve of these last minute inactions when I take a very dim view of Donald Trump—and take a somewhat less dim view as a result—I assume this tactic could meaningfully sway the opinions of voters who were less negative about him I am. I expect this will be coupled with an unceasingly negative campaign against his most likely opponents.
@Greg:
No, actually it isn’t.
Trump sent Iran a very serious warning. Let’s see how they react. The deportations will commence, as much as can be done while liberals obstruct the lawful deportation of illegal immigrants. Say, with your new-found adoration to obeying laws and carrying out justice, how do you feel about sanctuary cities pledging to impede ICE’s remove of illegal immigrants and refusing to cooperate? Is aiding and abetting illegal immigrants still against the law or is this merely another case of selective justice?
@Curt:
So you rip off someone else’s writing and place it here under your byline. You know what a byline is?
Does Raheem Kaheem know you’re taking credit for his work?
And I’m dense?
I suppose you’ve just provided an example of how effectively pitching to both sides at the same time can work.
He’s going to say and do whatever he deems necessary to be reelected. With politicians, words and actions don’t always match.
@Deplorable Me:
“Maybe you would be happier somewhere else.”
Maybe you would. You’re certainly a miserable ball of hate on this site.
@Gary Miller:
I think the administrator’s by-line only indicates that the administrator has posted the article. That’s been the case as long as I’ve been visiting the forum. When the article has been written by someone else, there’s always been the link at the bottom to the article source.
@Gary Miller:
Yes. Yes you are.
I’m quite happy here. I don’t come on and criticize and insult the function of the entire site or those who operate it. Frankly, I prefer you stay. I can argue you into oblivion and rest my brain.
@Greg:
So when the words “by so-and-so” appear on this forum, it very well could mean that so-and-so has only cut-and-paste the text from another source.
In this case, does Raheem Kaheem know that his words are being reproduced under the words “by Curt?”
This is called piracy.
@Gary Miller: Man, you are one ignorant man. Most wanted takes a portion of the article and then includes a link to the original article to read the whole thing.
Either way, I’ve grown weary of your ignorance and you will no longer be heard from on this blog.
See ya.
@Gary Miller:
Yep.
Copyright laws require that if you (a blogger per se) quote someone you provide a link (as in Read more) so that the quote, or paragraphs from the article, is credited to the author. By doing that, you are not infringing on copyright laws.
No piracy by Curt. Just dimwittedness on your part.
I love how this post got the trolls all riled…because it’s true.
It’s not about popularity. Trump has done what he said he’d do…unlike any President in my lifetime.
The trolls can’t argue with this beyond this piece of meaningless regurgitation of media-lead memes:
This buffoon has taken care of quite a lot of things just under three years in office. Clinton was cheating, Bush was solid C’s, Obama was busy golfing, Trump is a buffoon…always the same whining from the losing party.
@Nathan Blue: Its true Trump has his daily briefing verbal, he doesnt sleep til 10 if he has questions they can be answered before the previous president (thank god and greyhound)would get out of bed and prance around taking selfies and putting his filthy shoes on the historical antique desk in the oval office