Iran Amok Again

The conditions in the Middle East that existed before the assassination of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani seem to have been restored, now that the Iranian government has admitted to shooting down a Ukrainian jet airliner by accident after having denied it.  The Iranian people are mad at the government for not being straight with them, and they're tired of being taken for fools by their authoritarian leaders.

And all the world is wondering and watching . . . not watching Iran, but watching Donald Trump and wondering how he's going to screw this up.

Every time something happens in the Middle East to the United States' advantage, Trump seems to undermine the very country he promised to put first and restore greatness to.   And the Democrats still haven't figured out how to respond to unfolding events either, if Nancy Pelosi's convoluted effort to criticize Trump for escalating tensions with Iran that may have led to the downing of this jetliner - with a lot of Iranian students - while making clear that she does not support the actions of Iran's government is any indication.  She was immediately attacked as pro-Iran, which, as I warned, is a good strategy in a culture that favors slogans over nuance.

Fortunately, Pelosi doesn't have to worry about that so much when Trump and his Cabinet are stepping on their own and each other's toes.  They can't even agree on whether or not multiple embassies were targeted by Soleimani before they took him out, and Trump reportedly authorized the operation back in May or June of 2019 and waited for the right (read politically expedient) moment to carry it out.  Yet, while a majority of Americans agree that the assassination of Soleimani makes the country less safe, a plurality of Americans supported the operation.  And the Iranian government has made it clear that they're not done with avenging his death just yet.

I think the best thing for America to do is let events in Iran run its course while keeping an eye out for possible proxy retaliations for Soleimani's death in the near future.  The protests in Iran right now could lead to a new regime in a relatively short time because that's more or less how the revolution against the Shah transpired - strikes and protests against his reign that began in late 1977 and picked up steam in late 1978 led to the Islamic Republic in early 1979.  This time I suspect that the timetable will be quicker.