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Iran's nuke program is more advanced than 4 years ago. Trump let Iran out of nuclear restrictions for no good reason, and damaged the Western alliance in the process.
Iran is also more powerful in the region, not less.
Utter failure, foreseen by many whose warnings were ignored. https://twitter.com/AP/status/1345370656737808387
Iran is also more powerful in the region, not less.
Utter failure, foreseen by many whose warnings were ignored. https://twitter.com/AP/status/1345370656737808387
With the Trump administration on the way out, here's a look back at what I wrote about their Iran strategy. When I say the failure of that strategy was easy to foresee, I mean I called it from the beginning (as did others).
Jan 6, before Trump took office.
https://arcdigital.media/trump-vs-iran-f411ed01c97?source=friends_link&sk=adc7c527043f68669241840664d31981
Jan 6, before Trump took office.
https://arcdigital.media/trump-vs-iran-f411ed01c97?source=friends_link&sk=adc7c527043f68669241840664d31981
June 5, 2017: The Saudis and some Israelis want the US to go hard against Iran "in the vain hope Iran will capitulate," but capitulation won't happen so throwing away gains in pursuit of it would be a mistake. https://arcdigital.media/trump-forfeits-global-leadership-797829e09af3?source=friends_link&sk=16412a6b656d70c337f12c74ac03e67c
July 20, 2017: Trump botched the Qatar crisis.
"Trump sees the situation as good guys (Saudis) vs. bad guys (Iran). But — and I can’t believe I have to write this — the Middle East is complicated."
The result: Qatar closer to Iran, Iran stronger in region. https://medium.com/rantt/its-hard-to-overstate-how-badly-trump-botched-the-qatar-crisis-77f5033c99b5
"Trump sees the situation as good guys (Saudis) vs. bad guys (Iran). But — and I can’t believe I have to write this — the Middle East is complicated."
The result: Qatar closer to Iran, Iran stronger in region. https://medium.com/rantt/its-hard-to-overstate-how-badly-trump-botched-the-qatar-crisis-77f5033c99b5
Oct 5, 2017: The "Madman Theory" won't work on Iran
https://arcdigital.media/withdrawing-from-the-iran-nuclear-deal-is-trumps-worst-decision-so-far-a88356e3ff2c
Oct 8, '17: Scrapping the Iran deal will hurt the Western alliance
https://arcdigital.media/scrapping-the-iran-deal-could-break-the-western-alliance-6412fab60670
Oct 14, '17: Trump's speech scrapping JCPOA misguidedly ignores Iran's domestic politics https://arcdigital.media/the-big-hole-in-trumps-iran-deal-speech-ff1a81285acc
https://arcdigital.media/withdrawing-from-the-iran-nuclear-deal-is-trumps-worst-decision-so-far-a88356e3ff2c
Oct 8, '17: Scrapping the Iran deal will hurt the Western alliance
https://arcdigital.media/scrapping-the-iran-deal-could-break-the-western-alliance-6412fab60670
Oct 14, '17: Trump's speech scrapping JCPOA misguidedly ignores Iran's domestic politics https://arcdigital.media/the-big-hole-in-trumps-iran-deal-speech-ff1a81285acc
March 18, 2018: Trump's Iran strategy is failing and that failure will become progressively more obvious, which means he'll come under increasing pressure to Do Something.
(Thankfully US v. Iran military confrontation has remained fairly limited) https://arcdigital.media/donald-trump-is-going-to-bomb-iran-5f29632fb25d
(Thankfully US v. Iran military confrontation has remained fairly limited) https://arcdigital.media/donald-trump-is-going-to-bomb-iran-5f29632fb25d
May 8, 2018: The US withdrew from the Iran Deal, but it has no idea how to get a "better deal" because, unlike in 2015, Iran isn't under multilateral pressure. Even if you think Obama was wrong, we can't go back in time and recreate pre-deal conditions. https://arcdigital.media/iran-deal-opponents-keep-making-these-four-bad-arguments-b926bf9135a8?source=friends_link&sk=af2771ee6708701819b20e02347629a8
Sept 27, 2018: The US scrapping JCPOA without cause, besides letting Iran out of restrictions, is aligning JCPOA proponents against the US.
Bush and Obama built an anti-Iran coalition. Trump flipped that into sympathy for Iran and anger at the US. https://arcdigital.media/trump-united-the-world-against-america-over-the-iran-deal-19d25743e91c?source=friends_link&sk=dbf5210906ae96d1871f0b31108d6f7a
Bush and Obama built an anti-Iran coalition. Trump flipped that into sympathy for Iran and anger at the US. https://arcdigital.media/trump-united-the-world-against-america-over-the-iran-deal-19d25743e91c?source=friends_link&sk=dbf5210906ae96d1871f0b31108d6f7a
