https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/06/17/iran-us-blowup-possible-since-trump-quit-nuclear-deal-column/1471389001/
How did we get here and, more troubling, exactly where are we going? Amidst all the hype, spin and storytelling from both sides, here are some harsh truths about the Trump administration and its Iranian adversaries.
The Iranian regime is authoritarian, ideological and repressive, a serial human rights abuser and regional troublemaker. But we now find ourselves in a dangerous situation largely as a result of a great unraveling begun by the Trump administration's unilateral decision last year to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
The accord — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — was flawed, to be sure, and didn’t address Iran’s aggressive regional behavior or its ballistic missile programs. Even so, it was still a highly functional arms control agreement that imposed significant constraints on Iran's nuclear program for at least for a decade or more.
Campaigning hard against the agreement, candidate Trump vowed to renegotiate or leave what he deemed the worst agreement ever negotiated. Then as president, he pulled out of the agreement and launched his "maximum pressure" campaign. The administration reimposed sanctions on banking and petrochemicals and, in the past several months, has made a major effort to reduce Iran's lifeblood — its oil exports — to zero. As intended, all of this has wreaked havoc on the Iranian economy.
USA can either become a pacifist, small player, and not get involved in wars, or it can remain the world superpower that it has been for nearly a century.
ReplyDeleteIf they allow Iran , N. Korea to get nuclear arsenals, and don't check Chinese expansion, they will become subservient to China, and the world will become a more dangerous place. Britain used to be a superpower, but no longer is, and has lost its Empire. USA could follow in that direction if they choose the Democrat path.