The Worst President At The Worst Time
Trump's handling of the Iran crisis was spectacularly stupid, even for him.
by Bob Cesca
WASHINGTON, DC – It’s difficult to fully emphasize how badly Donald Trump has handled the Iran crisis. Everything he’s said and done, especially the bombing raid last Saturday night, has encouraged Iran to continue its development of nuclear weapons.
This entire predicament would never have happened, including the exchange of fire by Iran and Israel, if Donald hadn’t withdrawn the United States from the carefully negotiated Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The so-called Iran Deal allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to verify on the ground that Iran had all but ceased its enrichment of uranium. The extent of Iran’s compliance can be bar-graphed – once the deal was signed, its uranium enrichment immediately ended as though it slammed into a brick wall.
It went on like that for more than two years until Donald tore it up. And why did he withdraw? Because he believed his bullshit reputation for being a dealmaker and thought he could do better.
He had four years, spanning two non-consecutive presidential terms to cut a better deal, but he couldn’t do it, obviously, because the seldom reported fact is that he’s ridiculously out of his depth. He has no business engaging in statecraft or diplomacy. I’d wager that he couldn’t accurately point to Tehran on a world map, much less understand the geopolitical history of the region, the details of the original JCPOA, or how to communicate with Iranian leadership. His only available tactic is to yell in all caps on his failing social media app. As we’ve all observed, it doesn’t work.
And because he couldn’t do better – because shrieking on Truth Social didn’t work and was never going to work – he was left with few other options other than to use military force. His bombing of three underground facilities in Iran, however, has only managed to incentivize Iran to continue its goal of attaining nuclear warheads.
According to independent reporting by CNN, CBS News, New York Times, and others, the U.S. airstrikes failed to destroy the targets. Not only that, but separate reports indicate Iran moved its uranium out of the facilities prior to the strikes – possibly because Donald’s big mouth provided Iran with plenty of advance notice. Now, according to these reports, Iran’s nuclear program is only delayed by a few months.
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The allegedly minor delay might not matter due to another report via the former president Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, that Iran could acquire warheads from elsewhere. To be clear: we should absolutely take this news with a huge grain of salt given the source. But when it comes to nuclear weapons, it’s fair to be concerned. Again, a former game show host who believes the Declaration of Independence was signed after the Civil War is involved.
At the NATO summit in The Hague this week, he decided to invoke the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And he did this twice. I hope it translates into Farsi without seeming like a threat. He might’ve been repeating something he heard someone else say and didn’t mean anything by it, but then again, he might’ve intended to send Tehran a signal that he was willing to do the same to two Iranian cities. More incentive for Iran to eventually defend itself with its own nukes, all because Donald is an ungainly moron who only knows bullying and antagonism.
Likewise, he keeps insisting despite intelligence reports to the contrary that he “obliterated” the enrichment sites and that Iran no longer possesses the means to build warheads. CIA Director John Ratcliffe issued a statement on Wednesday, likely at the request of the White House, suggesting the same. But Donald, by his own admission, doesn’t know for sure. During a press conference in the Netherlands this week, Donald said the damage assessment is “very inconclusive" and "we don't know" if the bunker busters destroyed the sites. He’s just assuming the bombs worked because refusing to admit defeat is wired into his walnut brain, and his political status depends on the unwavering image of success. He’ll never deliberately admit to failure.
Whether he realizes it or not, he’s daring Iran to prove him wrong. We don’t want Iran to prove him wrong. But if you’re Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the super power is threatening the security and sovereignty of your nation while emasculating you on the world’s stage, what do you do? I don’t think we want to know the answer to that question.
To be clear: it’s possible Iran will back off, agree to shut down whatever remains of its centrifuges, and things will be okay. However, the near future of the region is so unpredictable, it’s difficult to know where everything will ultimately land and I’m done trying to forecast what’s next. But what we know is the most unstable, most unqualified, and least honest president in history is deeply involved and that means there’s a strong likelihood it’ll end badly.
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All true, except I think he could now point to Teheran on a map since FOX TV showed a map of where he bombed. We know he watches FOX like all his sychophants.
Perfectly written and courageous. Unfortunately the assholes that need to read it won’t and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t believe it. This country is in for several difficult and damaging years. One hope would be a strong showing for the democrats in the mid term elections. Democrats have got to get their shit together and make some strong plans to combat this menagerie of fools and criminals trump has surrounded himself with.