Trump vies for Bush’s crown for worst foreign policy decision in history | Donald Trump
It was another date that will live in infamy. But while President Franklin Roosevelt declared war in a sombre tone before a joint session of Congress, Donald Trump did it his own way.
The US president wore a white “USA” hat, a dark jacket and a white shirt with an open collar. He was likely at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, standing at a blue lectern with the U.S. presidential seal and a black microphone, with the Stars and Stripes behind him. He posted a video on his social media network, Truth Social, at 2.30am on Saturday morning; It’s a time when most Americans are asleep but Trump often posts angry tweets late into the night.
In eight minutes, Trump upended half a century of US foreign policy, reneged on his campaign promise to avoid the risk of eternal war, and left FIFA boss Gianni Infantino alone with some explaining why he gave Trump a trumped-up peace prize.
Yağlı said, “There is also a beautiful medal for you that you can wear wherever you want to go.” Infantino told Trump last December. Trump wasn’t wearing that medal on Saturday. Instead, it’s like football fans asking, “Are you George Bush in disguise?” He gave a performance that made him scream.
Bush led the US into a tragic war in Iraq in 2003 that cost hundreds of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars, and was recently crowned ‘best’ by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank. worst foreign policy decision in history. An ambitious Trump appears determined to seize that title for himself with another act of Middle East regime change.
At least Bush tried to put forward a justification for his invasion – even if it was a liar – and tried to convince the UN of the benefits of this occupation. Trump didn’t even bother. He amassed a massive “armada” in the Middle East with little explanation to Congress or the public. He didn’t mention Iran until more than an hour after his State of the Union address this week.
Finally, as the bombs started falling, he tried to give a reason in his social media video. He said the Iranian regime is a “vicious group of very tough, terrible people” whose threatening activities “directly endanger” the United States and its allies. Trump recounted the history of the hostage crisis in Iran, the bombing of the Marine Corps barracks, the attack on the USS Cole, and Iran’s part in the killing and maiming of US troops in Iraq.
“This was mass terrorism and we will not put up with it any longer,” he said. But none of this answers a simple question: why now?
Trump continued by referencing Iranian proxy groups that have “soaked the world in blood and guts” and touched on Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7. “Iran is the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism and has recently killed tens of thousands of its own citizens in the streets during protests.”
Trump underlined US policy that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon and ignored his past claim that last June’s attack “destroyed” the Iranian program, suggesting the US wanted to make a deal but Tehran refused. “They have rejected every opportunity to abandon their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore.”
The president said the United States was undertaking “a major, ongoing operation to prevent this very evil, radical dictatorship from threatening America and our core national security interests”; This is a worrying sign that Washington may be involved for the long term. The new Peace Corps president-for-life vowed to “devastate their missile industries” and “destroy their navies.”
Then came an unexpected confession: “The lives of brave American heroes may be lost, and we may suffer casualties. This often happens in war, but we are not doing this for now. We are doing this for the future, and this is a noble duty.”
Reality TV president Trump understood how hopeless his outlook would appear if American soldiers and women returned home in body bags, sacrificing their lives for a cause the public little understood and even less believed in.
Democratic senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona and Iraq war veteran, responded on social media: “He’s willing to sacrifice working-class children who dodge the draft. How helpful.”
Trump warned members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to lay down their weapons. “You will be treated fairly with complete immunity, or you will face certain death.”
But he saved the most extraordinary statement for last. Warning the Iranian people to stay protected because “bombs will fall everywhere”, Trump made the following call: “When we are done, take over your government. It will be yours to take it. This will probably be your only chance for generations.”
“For years you asked for America’s help, but you never got it. No president was willing to do what I wanted to do tonight. Now you have a president who gives you what you want. Let’s see how you respond.”
There it was. After years of railing against neocons, foreign unrest, and regime change, Trump was calling for the overthrow of the Iranian government. The ghost of Donald Rumsfeld was smiling at him; John Bolton and Lindsey Graham high-fived; Bush was dancing with joy; This man makes people miss me!
What happened? Nothing out of character. Whether he was building casinos in Atlantic City or starting his own ill-fated airline, Trump was always a reckless gambler. Politician Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, killed Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, imposed massive tariffs on trading partners and captured Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Experts warned of disaster every time; Each time something less than Armageddon happened, and so Trump felt increasingly emboldened to roll the dice again. (Even demolishing the East Wing of the White House was now a matter of action, let others ask questions later.) But Iran is a gamble of an entirely different magnitude, and the president has yet to articulate a long-term strategy beyond hoping for the best. The lesson of Iraq is that regime change is the easy part, but what happens next can be hell.
But still, the real winner is the man who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by María Corina Machado and who protected her! – launched Operation Epic Fury on a world that wasn’t ready. As Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, he tweeted: “Trump’s second term has been the worst-case scenario.”
