Peter Beinart likens the current effort to start a war with Iran to previous American provocations like the Gulf of Tonkin and Remember the Maine incidents that were used as pretexts to start, respectively, the Vietnam and Spanish-American wars. He may be on to something.
The conventions of mainstream journalism make it difficult to challenge America’s self-conception as a peace-loving nation. But the unlovely truth is this: Throughout its history, America has attacked countries that did not threaten it. To carry out such wars, American leaders have contrived pretexts to justify American aggression.
In the case of the Spanish-American War, the precipitating cause was an explosion on an American military ship in Havana’s harbor. No one ever proved sabotage, but that didn’t keep Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Heart from declaring otherwise in their competing newspapers.
Likewise, we don’t really know who is responsible for recent attacks on merchant ships in the Gulf of Oman, but there sure seem to be a lot of publications willing to take the government’s word that it was Iran’s doing.
As Beinart details (joined separately by Max Fisher in the New York Times), conflict with Iran has been relentlessly pursued by National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They have clearly been goading Iran into making some kind of aggressive response, and perhaps they have succeeded. Today brings news that Iran shot down an American drone.
They want some kind of casus belli, and they’ll keep pushing and pushing until they get one.
Unfortunately, there is no shortage of other people in this country who want to change the regime in Iran by force, and they understand the same thing that Pulitzer and Hearst understood. Americans are basically uninterested in being a colonial power but they’ll defend themselves with fury when attacked.
To rally support for colonial adventures, we either need to provoke an attack or, failing that, make up an attack that did not actually occur.
Obviously, it’s preferable if there is at least a scintilla of truth involved but this hasn’t historically proved to be a necessary ingredient.
At this point, the warmongers have the key positions in the administration and the yellow journalists are all lined up, so all that is left is convincing the president. I don’t think Trump is eager to start a war with Iran, but he’s also the last person on earth I want to depend on to be sane and rational.
And Iran has known all this forever.
Trump does not seem to want a war with Iran. He even suggested it may have been some trigger happy general made a mistake. In the end I doubt he can stop it. There are likely war mongers on both sides and Trump has long played into their hands with his silly rhetoric and prancing tough guy stance. So I certainly don’t like the idea of trusting him.
Yes, but the reason Trump does not want a war is because Putin told him ‘no’. So Trumps compromising position is what is preventing Bolton and Pompeo from slinging bombs at Iran.
Life is so odd.
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Malcom Nance is now predicting war on Twitter. Says Bolton has his ear. Do you believe him?
Just read that the planes were in the air, and Trump called them back. So yes, I believe Bolton had Trumps ear. For the hour it took to get into the air.
Bolton must be pulling his hair out. He’s dedicated his life to war with Iran, and traded constant humiliation and back biting for this singular chance. He’s so close he can taste it, actually got the bombs on the way…..and Trump humiliated him again.
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God, I just had an evil thought.
Could Trump be so venal, so evil, that he sees this is Bolton’s one desire above all else, and will use it to constantly debase Bolton, like he (Trump) does to everyone below him? War as personal humiliation.
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Heather Digby Parton speculates that it was Cucker Tarlson.
What makes no sense to me…we seem to be prepared to go war with Iran because they shot down one of our flying robot killing machines and not Iran’s nuke program.
The war in Iraq spread like a brush fire and killed a million people. A debtor nation starts another illegal war. We are truly insane. Here is an idea ease the sanctions get back in the nuclear treaty. Quit listening to Netanyahu’s bullshit and try to act human. The Iranians are suffering from the sanctions keep kicking a dog and he will bite.
Lets start a Gofundme account to pay for the drone. The only language Trump understands.
The worst part of this is that the news comes from a man who averages 6 lies a day. So was that drone in international air space? The Iranians might be telling the truth. It’s awful to have to entertain conspiracy theories just because you can’t believe the president.
Note that the aborted strike makes clear the Joint Chiefs were perfectly willing to start a war with Iran without the slightest discussion of the matter by Congress. Without the democratically illegitimate regime bringing any evidence to the nation. Without the corporate media even so much as suggesting the impropriety of the planned attack. So the dyed in the wool militarism of the nation is on full display.
With powerful elements of both nations perfectly willing to commence a war, we are in precisely the position of the sleepwalkers of 1914. The halfwit Trumper is far more like Kaiser Wilhelm than Hitler in terms of being able to control the “process”. A war is at least a 50% likelihood at this point.
Hello, Dems? Anyone willing to denounce (electoral college prez) Trumper’s bellicose Iran policy and demand that the Constitution be followed before we go to war with Iran? Anyone?