War with Iran? You bet! Itâs easy, and itâs fun!
A kinder, gentler Trump Administration? I think you meant âfascist-hystericalâ. Thanks to the appointments of former Lieutenant Gen. Mike âFear of Muslims is rationalâ Flynn as national security advisor and Rep. Mike âWaterboarding is coolâ Pompeo as head of the CIA, we are just about guaranteed a repeat of the war on Iraqâconstant accusations of bad faith made in bad faith, followed by âprecisionâ bombing, followed by more threats, followed by terrorist attacks, followed by not so precision bombing, followed byâwell, you get the picture, and I donât want to look at it.
Over at War on the Rocks, Cato Fellow Benjamin H. Friedman has a piece, âThe Trump Administration Will be Hawkishâ, (gee, Ben, ya think?), which lays out, with more reason and restraint than I able to command, the eminent, and imminent, danger of an entirely unnecessary and entirely politically motivated war with Iran. The Republican right wing, as always, is hungry for a replay of the Cold War, and that is what the Mike Flynns of the world, and the administration, are determined to give us.
The obstacles to war? There is the deep fear of casualties on the part of the American people, which ensures that âboots on the groundâ will always be a last resortâat least, so will we be assured, up until the last moment, when, of course, âthey give us no other choiceâ.
Itâs impossible to say how the rest of the world will react to Trump, whether the Europeans will decide that itâs his war rather than theirs, and sit on their hands, which would (maybe) slow Trump down a little. Perhaps, if weâre lucky, the Israelis and Saudis will decide that theyâve seen this movie (too often), and theyâd rather not have Uncle Sam kicking ass and spraying destruction in all directions all over the mother-fucking Middle East. But right now, thatâs looking like a pretty poor bet. Better buy some stock in Smart Bombs R Us, âcause that babyâs goinâ through the roof!
