President Donald Trump accused Iran of making threats on Sunday before issuing one of his own that makes it clear he is steering the nation recklessly toward a major war.
Under pressure from National Security Adviser John Bolton, who has made it clear he wants an American invasion of Iran, Trump has been upping the ante in recent days by ordering a carrier group to the region and is considering sending 120,000 troops to the Middle East while looking for any excuse to launch an attack.
Trump has gone from withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal for no reason to slapping sanctions against the Iranians and now as he looks for an excuse to invade he is escalating his rhetoric by accusing the Iranian government of threatening American interests while issuing a threat of his own.
If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 19, 2019
Trump’s claims are unsubstantiated as usual, but other world leaders are trying to prevent such a catastrophic war from breaking out.
Even European diplomats fear a war in the region as they deny Trump officials’ desired photo-ops to make it seem like they are working hard to prevent conflict.
Iran certainly doesn’t appear to want war.
“We are certain…there will not be a war since neither we want a war nor does anyone have the illusion they can confront Iran in the region,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.
Indeed, Iran would be a formidable foe for a war-weary United States military, especially since the Islamic republic would likely have support from Russia and China.
Even former Naval Intelligence officer Malcolm Nance, who has engaged in combat with Iranian forces in the 1980s, warned against going to war.
“Iran is not the force we fought in the 1980s,” he said on Sunday. “They are a competent, large-scale military with 3 million men. They have been preparing for a defensive war with the United States. As a nation, 83 million people will stand up against us…Iran is Vietnam War-level combat.”
58,000 American troops were killed during the Vietnam War. By comparison, only 4,400 were killed during the Iraq War. Trump’s threats and posturing will only make tensions between Iran and the United States worse, which makes war a strong possibility. And when that happens, Trump won’t be able to count on support from our NATO allies because he has alienated them.
This is a dangerous time for the United States and the world, not because of Iran, but because of Trump.
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