1/Trump came into office with zero foreign policy experience. He immediately began insulting our traditional allies, such as Canada and Germany.
2/He also came into office with an obsession to undo everything President Obama did. Moreover, his view of Iran has never changed since the 1979 hostage crisis.
3/Indeed, Trump appears to be ignorant of the fact that international law exists that limits the actions states can take on the international stage, particularly in the form of violence.
4/This combination of factors made him pull the US out of the deal that Obama helped craft with Iran, despite advice from foreign policy policy experts. Once Trump pulled out of the agreement, he had no coherent policy toward Iran. Countermanding Obama WAS the policy.
5/Trump claimed that through the deal, Obama gave Iran billions of dollars because of the deal. He did not disclose that the money already belonged to Iran, and did not come from the US Treasury.
6/It was money frozen in banks throughout the world due to sanctions attempting to address Iran’s nuclear program. Iran was only beginning to gain access to its own money because nuclear experts had confirmed Iran’s compliance with curbing its nuclear program.
7/Iran also had a claim against the United States for purchasing weapons during the Shah’s reign, which were never delivered due to the Iranian Revolution.
8/At any rate, once the United States pulled out of the Iranian agreement, Iran stepped up its aggression against the US. Iran has also threatened to reestablish its nuclear program.
9/Iran, meanwhile, has begun to establish relations with the new Iraqi Government.
10/When Iran’s aggression resulted in the death of a US contractor, Trump retaliated. Iran responded by supporting the trespass of the US Embassy in Baghdad. Trump again retaliated with a military strike that killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani.
11/Trump defended the military strike claiming Soleimani had participated in the killing of Americans in the past, and was planning operations against Americans in the future. However, the US did not reveal specifics, leaving its military act questionable under international law.
12/Trump then threatened strikes against 52 targets, one for each of the hostages from 1979. He warned that he might strike culturally significant targets. Such a move would be clearly in violation of international law.
13/Not surprisingly, the Iranian Government and people were angered over the death of their military leader and the threats against culturally significant sites. Query whether traditional US allies would have supported such actions by the United States in retaliation.
14/Taking a page from Nazi propaganda tactics, Trump has created Iran as an enemy. Patriotism was defined as supporting Trump against this enemy. Anyone who opposed or questioned Trump’s actions were labeled as “supporting the enemy,” “unpatriotic,” and “supporting terrorists.”
15/Meanwhile, the Iraqi Parliament voted to end the US presence in Iraq, and asked the United States to begin planning its withdrawal. The vote was because of the killing of Soleimani on Iraqi soil.
16/Removing troops from Iraq will make fighting ISIS more difficult and will enhance Iran’s influence over the Iraqi Government.
17/In sum, Trump’s ignorance of foreign policy, his obsession with Obama, his lies, his inability to seek experts, his isolation from US allies, all worked to the disadvantage of the US in the conflict against ISIS, and in the balance of power in the Middle East with Iran.
18/Indeed, Trump likely came right to the edge of starting a serious war against a formidable foe with no defined policy goal. All toll, Trump’s Middle East foreign policy, including the abandonment of the Kurds, has been an unmitigated failure./finis
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