In other words, this wasn't just a matter of peripatetic Trump; it was a matter of an ongoing tension between the fervently Zionist neocons, represented by the likes of Bolton and Pompeo, and the military realists, as represented by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Dunford. Let's not-as hawkish Republicans and Democrats certainly will try to-hide that tension in the tale of Trump's personal inconsistency.
That tension defines something that Trump and every American president is inconsistent about. In the US context, that Trump changed his mind in the direction he did at the last minute is, again, extraordinary-one might even say "courageous."
Sure, better not to have ordered the attack in the first place, but, in such circumstances, I'll take reconsideration and second thoughts to sticking to one's guns.
What we see here is that, for all his bluster, Trump knows when to be scared of a fight that will certainly hurt and not benefit the US, unlike the missionary (whether Zionist, Christian, or secular "humanitarian") interventionists-including past presidents Obama and Bush, the man "progressive" impeachers would have president, Mike Pence, and every one of the present Democratic contenders, with the possible exception of Sanders or Gabbard. Certainly, in the same circumstances (having decided for the neocons, still getting pushback from the military), none of those Democrats, with the noted exceptions, would have made the re- consideration Trump did, and we would be at war with Iran now.
Anti-Trump lefties may not want to recognize how radical Trump's decision to call off the Iran strike was, but senior Republicans sure do.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a not unimportant player in the unfolding impeachment drama, said Trump's decision to cancel the Iran strike "was clearly seen by the Iranian regime as a sign of weakness." To which Trump responded, in tones matching Obama's best anti-stupid-interventionist campaign rhetoric: "No Lindsey, it was a sign of strength that some people just don't understand!" Republicans were likening Trump's refusal to strike Iran over the drone downing to Obama not striking Syria over the chemical weapons "red line" pretext. Having Republicans and his own advisors see him as "all too reminiscent " of Mr. Obama" is not a look that will help Trump among imperialist Republican senators.
Indeed, that remark of Graham's was made after Trump's second dramatic failure to respond with military action-this time to the September 14th Houthi attack on Saudi oilfields, which was framed by neocon Pompeo as an "act of war" by Iran and, implicitly, against the United States. Even the liberal NYT accepted the framing that Trump "let down his Arab partners by failing to respond more forcefully to Iranian aggressions." quoting one Gulf political scientist that: "Trump, in his response to Iran, is even worse than Obama."
What's important for the purposes of impeachment possibility, of course, is whether Trump's Republicans allies see it that way. And they do. Here's Graham again: "This is literally an act of war and the goal should be to restore deterrence against Iranian aggression which has clearly been lost." There it is: Trump "lost" deterrence against, is "losing" the Middle East to, Iran.
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