Our allies would have helped Trump clear the Strait of Hormuz if he hadn’t alienated them with his hostile foreign policy and insults.
You can add the Iran war to the list of Trump’s betrayals that were enabled and then tolerated by his subjugated Republicans in Congress. They need to be replaced by Republicans he doesn’t control. So, vote for them in the upcoming Republican primaries.
Many Republicans have strengthened the world’s respect, trust for and cooperation with America with thoughtful and effective foreign policy:
- President Theodore Roosevelt, aided by his Republican Congress, established the United States’s right to intervene in Latin America in order to maintain stability. Unlike Trump’s war, Roosevelt’s administration was quickly successful in reducing European interference in Latin America and the Caribbean. Roosevelt’s foreign policy was clear — to “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick,” meaning,negotiate peacefully while maintaining a powerful military. Trump launched his attack while he was pretending to negotiate.
- Arthur Vandenbergas chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee worked with Democratic President Truman to forge bipartisan support for NATO and the Marshall Plan – a plan that rebuilt Europe after World WAR II and spread American influence throughout the globe.
- Unlike Trump, President Reagan won the cold war without military action. And while standing at the gate of the Berlin Wall, Reagan successfully admonished Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev “to open the gate and tear down this wall.”
- John McCain warned the U.S. of Tehran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons early on, and that they would be used to sponsor and provoke terrorism. He also advocated a tougher stance with North Korea, prevented Trump’s repealof Obamacare, saving21 Americans their health insurance, and was a dominant voice in building America’s global influence and strong military.
- Richard Nixon was the first President to visit China, meet with its leaders and open diplomatic relations. The improved relationship was key to counterbalancing Russia’s global influence. It also developed in to a broader policy of détente between the major powers.
Historically, European countries have played central roles in maritime security operations of the type they denied Trump. They possess advanced naval capabilities and have a long record of participating in securing international waterways. Indeed, Europe joined the United States in NATO-led and ad hoc missions to maintain global stability.
But Trump trashed those relations with his constant disparagement of NATO, his withdrawal from international agreements, including the Iran nuclear deal, his insults of European countries and their leaders, the surprise (and illegal) tariffs and not alerting our allies in advance of the bombings. It all exhausted Europe’s diplomatic trust in America. History shows that when the United States consults allies to align strategies before acting, they are much more willing to help.
It’s a pity because securing the Strait requires coordination with other countries, intelligence sharing, and a legitimate political purpose that Trump never had. First he told us he’s bombing Iran to achieve regime change, then switched his reason to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, all while claiming he had productive talks with Iran on the “complete and total resolution of hostilities” in the Middle East. Iran denied it.
All were lies. Preventing Iran from developing a nuclear bomb was already accomplished by his last attack on Iran. His real reasons for bombing and killing thousands were to distract voters from the Epstein scandal and his punishing economy, for leverage to declare an emergency as an excuse to deploy American troops on U.S. soil, to delay the midterm elections, and prove he can do anything he wants. Had he not trashed those relationships, the United States might have assembled a powerful multinational force and cleared the Strait.
Sitting Republicans could have prevented this war by joining Democrats in impeaching and convicting Trump. Waiting for them to rein him in is foolish.
Perhaps the most difficult challenge to a new Congress will be to recapture the honor, trust and respect that sitting Republicans allowed Trump to diminish a respected global leader to a nation widely mocked, distrusted, and shunned.
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