Isolated over Iran
Re “U.S. quits Iran deal,” May 9
President Trump’s decision Tuesday to exit the Iran nuclear deal is problematic in the same way his withdrawal from the Paris climate accord was. Both decisions ignore the reality of globalization.
Trump says canceling the agreement will make America safer. As far as Iran is concerned, time will tell if he’s right. But what’s clear right now is that America has affirmed itself as an unstable force in the world. We have frightened and antagonized our enemies and our allies, and in doing so have jeopardized the support we might otherwise have counted on for unknown future events.
Trump apparently believes the United States will never need anyone else’s support. Tuesday’s decision may prove to be a grave miscalculation, brought about by our president’s dangerous mixture of hubris and ignorance. David Herlich Morgan Hill, Calif.
One of candidate Donald Trump’s strongest promises was to get the U.S. out of the horrendous Iran nuclear deal. It was one of the reasons he was elected.
The president has kept that promise. So why are the media so incredulous?
Many Democrats in Congress opposed President Obama’s executive decision on Iran in 2015, so why are they now whining about our current president’s action to repeal it? Are they hypocrites?
Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry are also lamenting the president's announcement. They should understand the meaning of the term “former” and accept the fact that they no longer are in authority. Jim Blumel
Santa Clarita
Despite the urging of allies (Great Britain, France and Germany), adversaries (Russia and China) and even Defense Secretary James Mattis, Trump has withdrawn the United States from a nuclear agreement that was eminently effective.
This is a manifestation of Trump’s narcissism. He has never gotten over Obama’s tweaking of the “birther in chief ” at the 2011 White House Correspondents Assn. dinner.
Trump is determined to destroy anything and everything that Obama achieved for the sole purpose of feeding his very fragile ego. From climate change to healthcare to foreign policy, this president is not serving the nation or the world at large but simply his own petty self-interest.
Heaven help us. Barbara H. Bergen
Los Angeles
Trump’s action on the Iran nuclear deal is rightly and roundly denounced for many reasons, but here is one we don’t hear about enough: the economic damage.
The immediate loss is that suffered by those companies in the United States now hampered by new sanctions in completing contracts or entering new ones. But the much greater loss is for our future.
Indications are that the other countries will continue to honor the agreement, as will Iran because it needs the economic benefits that come with the sanctions being dropped.
One such party is China. We may be in first place when it comes to the size of our economy, but China is hot on our heels. And Trump has now turned over to it the second-largest, and perhaps hungriest, economy in the Middle East. Rick Dunn
San Diego
Trump’s message to Iran: Get nukes first, then I’ll talk to you, just like North Korea. Chris Norby
Fullerton