Has Trump's decision on Iran put America on the path to war?

Agree with what Bernie is saying, and nothing we have not discussed on SW.

What Bernie does not discuss, but hints at, is the fact that this is completely driven by an alignment of interests, between Israel's hard right wing and the Sunni led oil Gulf states.

The extreme Sunnis, who brought us ISIS, and the Israeli extreme right, may seem like strange bedfellows, but in fact, radical Sunni Islam, has no interest in anything beyond its current borders, and as long as it is given access to Islam's holy sites, it cares very little about what happens to the West Bank. After all, they treat the Palestinians who work in their countries, as if they're disposable.

Trump just wants to be Trump. His Middle East policy, is dictated by a number of extremists, and this includes his former bankruptcy attorney, who is now out Ambassador to Israel, and his inauguration committee Chairman, an extremist Christian of Lebanese ancestry, who can't get over what the Palestinians did to Lebanon (from his own perspective).

To Netanyahu, it's about Hezballah, and without Iran, Hezballah cannot exist. Hezballah, may be religiously driven, but the rank and file, and a good part of the leadership, are not religious fanatics. As in, you're not going to find any of them strapping explosive belts, and blowing people up in the name of religion. They are, however, committed to the end if necessary, to resisting ISIS, and whatever succeeds it, as well as driving Israel out of disputed tiny piece of land, in Southern Lebanon. They would also be happy to see a Lebanon style, single State solution in Israel.

The difference between Hezballah's wet dream and Netanyahu, is that the former is one where all religions co-exist, and the latter is one where all Palestinians are driven out of the West Bank, and Israeli Arabs are reduced through attrition.

Trump is completely clueless about what all this means, and only sees power as the only factor. This is why I don't rule war out. Both Netanyahu and Lieberman are itching to attack Iran, as it is Hezballah's master.

If Israel initiates action, short of nuking Iran, which is not something the world community is going to stand for, they will fail, and it will turn into another Iraq entanglement that will draw in both the Russians and the Chinese.

The best course of action, would have been to leave things be. Iran's secular middle class grows stronger by the day. When the treaty sunsets, the likelihood is that the Mullhas will no longer be in power, and in their place, will be a secular democracy, not another quest for the bomb.

We all but guaranteed that this is not going to happen, unless Europe manages to control the situation.

PS: yes, the current Iranian regime is bad, their support for Hezballah is bad, their support for Assad is bad. It is up to Europe now to negotiate an exist for Assad, that guarantees Syria's minorities, will not be under an extremist Sunni majority, and addresses Hezballah's issues with Israel. We, the US, are no longer a reliable and impartial broker.

His refusal to countenance ( or even read ) European proposals which addressed his supposed concerns about the failings of the deal , strongly suggests that military action is inevitable , whether that be by the US or Israel(It's Netanyahu who's really calling the tune here , not Trump). Sanders' Iraq analogy is correct , as is the certainty of the catastrophic consequences that will follow any such action. It's hard to believe that the folly of Iraq could be repeated so soon , until you are reminded that the current occupant of the White House is actually a madman.

no the europeans are trying to fix stuff with giving iran better deals...

if anything this has isolated america and they are now the4 bad guys in the conflict

It's possible. Trump needs to distract the American people from all of his BS. And there is no better distraction than a war with a Muslim country.

Fingers crossed, better heads in Congress will prevail.

Maybe. The dems have been screaming that Trump will get us into multiple wars for awhile now.

Weren't you all so sure just 6 months ago that we were going to war with North Korea? How's that going?

Well, North Korea has shown that you can still develop nuclear weapons with a shoestring economy and near constant famine, so the economic factor isn't as big a hurdle as it once was. If we're not willing to use diplomacy, the only other option to prevent nuclear proliferation comes down to espionage or force, both of which are temporary measures that may face backlash that in turn makes Iran even more determined to get the bomb.

Basically, I'm of the opinion that nuclear proliferation is inevitable. All we can do is try to slow it down without exacerbating the situation and hope to cope with the nuclear future.

Whether America itself is on the path to war I don't know but Trumps recent actions have done nothing to aid peace in a region that has been a powder keg for decades.

And Bernie would know anything about it why ? He is a socialist and a card carrying Trump hater... So anything he says it totally tainted with hate and envy.

I don't think so. Too bad that the Europeans and others won't back Trump.

We are [i]already[/i] at war with Iran.

The State Department accuses Iran of supporting the brutal reign of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and terrorist groups and militias in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Iran also continues to test ballistic missiles, despite a United Nations Security Council resolution forbidding such tests while the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by President Barack Obama is in force.

They are not American allies. Far from it.

Wow what another Trump post don't you people need more material. Nobody's listening he's there for seven more years get over it you lost you will lose again

tRump is still hoping to stay out of trouble by distracting everybody.

I get that impression, which is pretty terrifying. Iraq was politically isolated, had no allies of major significance, was a complete economic ruin, and is flat as a pancake.

Iran is none of these things. But with the Saudi vs Iran stuff in Yemen and Syria as bad as ever and now Israel becoming its worst self I see them all wanting to drop their major rival. If that happens, it is going to be very, very ugly.

Between US foreign policy ( which really doesn't have a good record) and Trump, something has to go completely wrong. Better off to accept it and hope you're not in the middle.

This one is not even about America. Israel just wants to be sure Trump has its back for what is about to happen. They will solve this Iran thing..

The article makes perfect sense to me. Thank you for sharing.

Bernie sanders..... lolz

[image deleted].. I'm ready