From George W to Trump: Choking on Cake

President George W. Bush dialed up the bullshit meter and offered Americans yellow cake.  And while the Iraq war officially ended in 2011, the Afghanistan war became America's longest war - extending far beyond President Bush's time in office.  We lost over 7,000 U.S. military service members and greater than 53,000 suffered wounds because of deployment into operational theaters.

We choked on the cake.  And it was all so unnecessary.

 https://spyscape.com/article/saddam-husseins-fake-uranium

Regarding Afghanistan, I supported hunt-and-kill teams using our best hunters: Navy Seals, Delta Force, etc.  When I was in uniform, there was a popular item at the commissary.  It was a deck of cards with the faces of 52 terrorists whom we sought.  My belief is our Special Forces could have easily kept America safe.  Instead, we chose to flush 2.3 trillion U.S. dollars down the toilet.

In his first term, President Trump promised to end the war in Afghanistan.  In his campaign for a second term, he promised Americans that we would not be engaged in military adventurism.   

He lied to "We the People" ... whipped up a cake... and now we are choking on this cake too.   And what Trump has done with his, "Hold my beer while I try this" (trick) - is to assure that succeeding administrations will be tasked with cleaning up the vast geopolitical consequences of his decision as Commander-in-Chief.   The Director of the C.I.A.,  Vice President J.D. Vance,  Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and so many others with foreign relations and intelligence backgrounds cautioned Donald J. Trump.  Being unteachable, because as he stated at G7, "I am the boss!" there was an unwillingness to carefully consider the opinion of others.  Minimally, he should have taken a step back to address their qualms. Minimally, the decision should not have been made in unilateral manner.

Since we were completely off-target regarding Iran's missile stockpiles and military capabilities, I believe it is possible they have already grasped the deadly chalice.  And it is possible we know it.  But we also know it is easier to leverage sanctions and actions from a position of "We cannot let Iran have nuclear capabilities" than to leverage any conversation from a position, "Well, we know they have a nuclear bomb.  So what is our Plan B?"

That Plan B - in my mind - would primarily focus on Iran's willingness to sell "just enough" to make a dirty bomb to country X, Y, or Z.  So sanctions drop - and greater levels of vigilance prevail.

And the question must be asked:  If achieved and held in reserve as a deterrence,  what makes Iran any more dangerous than Russia... China... Pakistan... India... Israel... the United Kingdom... North Korea... or another nation which might already be part of this exclusive club?

Would it not be better, if already in possession - or nearing completion of a program - to draw them into the well-established ROE's (rules of engagement) which are fully understood by those in the Nuclear Club?

This whole thing kind of reminds me of a prior generational fixation with not dying from "The Big C!" As I finally said to my mother, "Oh, Mom. There are a thousand things that can kill you."

So we will continue to choke on that big Cake that President Trump has served us.  But I doubt it is what will kill us.

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