Not attacking Iran was the sane move to make at this point in time, yet the President’s getting it from all sides
His was a proper decision based on history. Yet right wingers are whining Trump’s not being the tough guy he promised he’d be. And from the left: endless dissections of the looney-tunes way in which the President claims he landed on that last minute decision; intended to make Trump look like a bumbling fool.
And yeah, Trump’s largely got only himself to blame for that: it was he who got the U.S. to this point in the first place. Most notably, by ripping up the Obama-era Iran deal, prematurely bragging on achieving regime change, and surrounding himself with war-mongering lunatics both in the White House, as well as those who speak to him through Fox News. And Trump was the one who ridiculed President Obama when he showed restraint in a similar situation. Trump at the time saying he’d have “blown Iran out of the water.”
Still, Trump’s decision, however it was reached, is laudable. And he’s right: killing a bunch of people would’ve been disproportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.
In order to reach that decision, Trump had to shout down a lot of voices in his head: from National Security Advisor John Bolton (he by Trump’s own admission), to best buddy Sean Hannity, to close ally Saudi Arabia, which is virulently anti-Iran. And there are signs those voices are already chipping away. In Tweets over the weekend, Trump backed-off backing off the Iran attack, asserting instead(?) he’d “just stopped it from going forward at this time!” And none of those voices will ever relent, so it’s more important than ever Trump is granted — at least this one time — what he wants and what he needs: praise.
That doesn’t mean you have to vote for him in 2020.
But no, Fox News, not attacking Iran doesn’t send the wrong message to North Korea. Know how we know this for sure? Because North Korea already has nuclear weapons and has never signed a deal with the U.S. Iran already signed a deal where it promised not to develop a nuclear weapon in exchange for economic development. Trump killed that, and says the deal he wants to replace it should be a promise not to develop a nuclear weapon in exchange for economic development. Which should be an easy deal to do, because it sounds very much like what was already signed, just not with Trump’s name on it.
Meanwhile, Liberals can remember that while Trump’s contention that he was against the Iraq War from day one is a lie, it’s far from one of his biggest. “Yeah, I guess so” was how he put it when coaxed into an answer on whether he supported the war by Howard Stern. So Trump’s reluctance to engage internationally militarily, along with his strong lean toward isolationism for the U.S., may be a plus in this case.
What we think is really freaking liberals out is this somehow becomes a narrative heading into the 2020 Election about how Trump really is his own man. But he’ll have plenty of chances to dig other holes for himself between now and then. And of course, we can’t count out the possibility Trump stopped the attack just because he sometimes likes to do the opposite of what people expect him to do.
Which makes it impossible to view Trump’s policy on anything as consistent, including on Iran, so it doesn’t change the fact that the next election will be a referendum on how much crazy America is willing to take and for how long.
And it’s impossible to view Trump’s policy on anything as consistent, including on Iran, so it doesn’t change the fact that the next election will be a referendum on how much crazy America is willing to take and for how long.
Quick Update To Our Story About The Election For Mayor In Istanbul, Turkey And How It Became A Global Test For Democracy
The opposition candidate, Ekrem Imamoglu who already won this once back in March, won again. And this time by a much bigger margin, taking 54% of the votes. This time his opponent representing the ruling party conceded, and Turkey’s President Erdogan congratulated the victor, signaling at least for now there won’t be an attempt to do over the do-over. Still, it’s a blow to Erdogan, and a victory for Democracy, at least for today.