Make or Break Time For Trump

Do repost and rate:

Rated:167

The legacy of Donald Trump and the chances of his re-election may be determined in the next few days and weeks as a war of words ratchets up with Iran.

In Turkey there’s a debate on whether Erdogan called Qassim Suleimani a martyr or not in a phone conversation.

In UK, the new Prime Minister says no to bombing cultural sites, with that very limited restriction coming amidst a beating of war drums by the British media.

“Mar-a-Lago in the firing line: Iranian presidential adviser posts list of Donald Trump’s properties in chilling hint of an attack on his real estate empire – after Iran put an $80million bounty on his head,” says the Daily Mail.

“We will kill UK troops, warns Iran,” says The Times. “I strongly condemn the vicious lie and provocative news,” the Iranian ambassador said . Apparently they don’t intend to target UK troops, but they won’t care if they are collateral while they target US troops.

That difference probably means nothing to most Brits who kind of see US troops as their troops in that region as they’re so intermixed.

In addition, UK has had its own tensions with Iran for long. They captured Royal navy personnel for example, in 2007, releasing them two weeks later.

More recently, they captured a British oil tanker, which again was released with both events occurring in the Persian Gulf.

Free movement of ships in that area is vital for the world economy. It is also perhaps where Iran would attack if they do retaliate.

The problem now however is to determine just what exactly is retaliation. Was it just a coincidence the ostensibly suni Al-Shahab attacked the US embassy in Kenya yesterday, for example? Is withdrawing from the nuclear agreement retaliation? Is the Iraq parliament’s resolution to ask “foreign troops” to leave a retaliation?

IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2020

Iran apparently has gained 500kg of enriched uranium. They need 1,000 kg for the bomb. Does the west now just wait, even as so many threats are coming from Iran, or does it act?

The Toughest Decision

There are times when one might ponder being president, but this is one of those times when you’re glad you’re no where near the whitehouse or other decision making bodies.

That’s because it is difficult to know what the consequences of action or inaction might be. Would a quick strike to take out the theocracy, for example, lead to a smooth transition or to a mess like in Iraq? Would Russia stay out, or would they proxy mess? Would the dominos fall: Hezbulla in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza? Or would they somehow still continue to be able to operate?

In regards to inaction, how does this endless war end when Iran apparently won’t pick up the phone and says they won’t negotiate with this administration for numerous reasons?

How do you secure peace with a theocracy which has now withdrawn from the nuclear agreement?

Is a continuation of the current situation desirable considering it led to allegedly Iran backed militia striking oil fields within Saudi Arabia, in addition to the killing of an America contractor and the storming of the US embassy?

And most importantly, is the rhetoric coming from Iran just to save face, with their real intention perhaps being to reform? Otherwise asked, should peace be given a chance with a government that chants “death to America” in parliament?

Middle America

The left is playing politics with this most serious matter, but middle America probably understands what is going on, with the decision difficult, and the timing now to make the decision.

What Trump decides or doesn’t decide will probably be fresh in the mind of voters later this year when they decide.

Voters will probably wonder whether he delivered on his key promise of ending the endless wars. Now how he does that is a matter for him, but there has been some success. The crown prince of Arabia, for example, has expressed intention to get rid of wahabism. Peace has fallen in Syria to a large extent. Yet the war in Yemen rages on. Protesters were gunned down in Iraq and Iran. The rising of almost all Lebanon to demand non-secterian governance has not quite led to such new governance, at least so far.

So with the action Trump has taken, now the question is what was his follow up plan?

He has said that unlike Obama, he doesn’t announce these things, so no one knows, but we’re all in a peculiar situation now where everyone is expecting Iran to do something and we’re all just waiting.

Whether that’s smart or otherwise, time will tell, but the world has changed with the question being whether this is the war to end wars or whether peace has a chance.

Editorial Copyrights Trustnodes.com