#us-foreign-policy

#us-foreign-policy

The threat of terrorism from the Middle East was a consequence of American involvement, not the reason for it. If the US had not been involved since the 1940s, Islamic militants would have little interest in attacking it.

The sooner it [the Iran war] ends, the better for everybody. Such gatherings are not typically used to fight geopolitical battles. You don't get people shouting at one another at these things.

Four days into this situation in the skies over Tehran, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said, 'We're not at war right now.' This was, rather, a 'very specific, clear mission-an operation.' Operation does seem to be the preferred word in government talking points, even as it encompasses assassinating an ayatollah, torpedoing an Iranian naval ship, blowing up fuel depots and a desalination plant, and losing the lives of (so far) eight American service members along the way.

It might seem obvious enough, one year into Donald Trump's second term, that he will leave behind an enormously destructive-and plenty durable-domestic legacy. He is the president who urged on a violent insurrection, transformed a major political party into his personal cult, and yanked America in a far more nativist direction. The old free-trading Republicans are now full converts to Trump's manic tariff regime. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary are stacked with Trump appointees, validating his right-wing policy.