Thread by @DanDePetris

Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a few emails and messages asking why I’ve been all worked up over this Iran thing. Others have said I’ve gotten too personal in my attacks. So, without further ado, I’ll try to explain myself a bit and tell you where the angst is coming from.

I’ll preface this by saying that I’m honored many of these people think I’m so important (I’m not) and have so much influence (I definitely don’t).

My favorite targets are Dubowitz (really, everybody at FDD), Boot, Pompeo, Bolton, Trump, Michael Rubin, Cotton & Graham.

I’m going hard after them b/c every person on this list (there are more) has helped create the current pool of shit we are swimming in right now. This is a self-inflicted disaster of epic proportions, initiated by the laughably poor advice & actions of each of these people.

FDD is the clearinghouse of the administration’s Iran policy. Maximum pressure is the brainchild of this organization. Getting out of the JCPOA—a non-ideal nuclear accord that nonetheless served a purpose—was a key component of it.

The assumption for getting out was easy enough to understand: it wasn’t perfect, so the mighty U.S. needed to get rid of it and pressure the Iranians to sign a deal that would give us everything. Bankrupt their economy and they will eventually come back & beg for relief.

And if the Iranians refuse to give us everything we want, including a permanent deal with no sunsets, no enrichment of any kind & no nuclear infrastructure, that meant the pressure wasn’t sufficient. Washington just needed to ratchet the dual up.

Of course, what the world has seen since that time is how callous, shallow, and pathetic the maximum pressure strategy is. The intellectual foundation of the administration’s policy, cooked up by hawkish think tankers and ideologues, is weak.

As realists predicted even before the maximum pressure policy was initiated, Iran has responded wigh more aggression rather than capitulation. The near-miss strike on Iran last week is the culmination of an escalatory spiral that can be traced to the anti-diplomacy crowd.

What really pisses me off is that the very people who sold Trump on the this approach are getting lavish press from reporters who are either lazy or uninterested in quoting other people. Dubowitz is quoted constantly, and he acts as if he’s some sage with a good record.

Column space in the Washington Post, the WSJ, the Atlantic, The NY Times, and other outlets are filled with hawkish establishmentarians who either treat Iran as if it’s the 21st century-version of the Persian Empire or equate leadership with pressure or military action.

Boot’s column today, which is frankly a disgrace and essentially labels Trump a weakling with no stomach for pulling the trigger (Boot tries to have it both ways by saying he doesn’t want a war) is pretty much the garbage the American people are served. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/…

And then in the Atlantic, we have this from Kori Schake, who connotes credibility with whether a president makes a terrible mistake (like bombing another country without planning for the consequences). Is this the best the fp intelligensia can muster? theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

So, if I seem angrier than usual, it’s b/c the American people are not being served well from those who have run the roost for so long. And the media, instead of challenging them, are their enablers. But with zero accountability, guess we shouldn’t expect anything different.

Cc: @thomasjuneau @NarangVipin @Nick_L_Miller @MarkTFitz

Apologize for any typos. There are a few.