The Drums of War

Donald Trump's national security advisor John Bolton is a major warmonger. He was all for the Vietnam War but avoided being sent into combat by serving with the national guard, which was almost never sent overseas in that era.

During George W. Bush's administration, he was a big supporter of the disastrous Iraq War. He also wanted the United States to take proactive military action against Cuba because of claims that they were developing biological weapons, something that turned out to be complete fiction.

And now, as Trump's national security advisor, he's itching to go to war with Iran. Trump himself seems enamored of military action and shows no hesitancy to take military action against Iran.

You may have heard in recent days about two oil tankers explosions on a Japanese and a Norwegian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Soon after the attacks, before there was any solid intel, the Trump administration blamed Iran. The Japanese shipping company that owns the damaged tanker disputed that claim.

Against this background, NBC published an excellent piece yesterday (link here) with the title "Trump blames Iran for the tanker attacks. But let's be skeptical of his administration's pro-war bluster."

This excerpt says it all: "the speed in which the Trump administration officially blamed Iran should give us pause, given John Bolton’s long history of fabricating intelligence in favor of war. The mere process of gathering evidence — let alone conclusive evidence — of how the attack on Thursday was conducted and who was behind it would take days and weeks, not hours."