There He Goes Again: Trump Threatens Iran With Death And Destruction – OpEd

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani threatened the U.S. that it could face the “mother of all wars” should it attack Iran. He also warned that if the U.S. closed down his country’s oil exports, he would consider closing the Persian Gulf to all oil shipments. This would disrupt commerce for all nations bordering the Gulf, including its mortal enemy, Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump, not one to bullied in a public setting, fired back in his own inimitable all-caps Twitter-rant style (above).

We’ve seen this movie before: when the U.S. president reacted to a similar threat from North Korea. Here’s how he answered:

This reminds me of the time Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” and went all the way to Singapore to meet with Kim Jong Un and came back with nothing but a piece of paper and a broken promise. pic.twitter.com/NgROiDFUOb

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 23, 2018

What was the result? A summit for the North Korean at which he got to shine on the world stage in return for…nothimg.

So we’re supposed to believe that after Trump was played by Kim, that he will let loose the Tomahawk missiles on Iran?

Hey, that movie flopped the first time. The remake won’t be much better; likely much worse.

The main difference between North Korea and Iran is that the former has a powerful ally, China. When faced with such military and economic power Trump invariably folds. Iran on the other hand has no similar ally. Russia perhaps, though the bonds are far less strong between them. So should Trump want to go full-nucjear on Iran, as his largest donor, Sheldon Adelson, has long urged, Trump would face much less opposition.

This article was published at Tikun Olam