President Trump’s folly: a war with Iran

Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal will pave the way for a war with Iran. The mullahs continue in power by characterizing the United States as the “Great Satan,” an enemy bent on attacking Iran. Now they have all the evidence they need that the United States cannot be trusted, while Iran has been meeting the requirements of the deal.

Here’s what to look for in the coming months: Iran’s economy will continue as it is with many of our allies continuing to do business with Iran, despite Trump’s bluster. Attacks on Americans (and American embassies and military installations) will increase as Iranian proxies around the globe are compelled to act against the American enemy. New American hostages will be taken in places as diverse as Lebanon and Nigeria. Trump will not have an answer for all of this, although he will continue to rely on the half-truths of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu for misrepresenting the state of play in the Middle East.

Our president is dangerously uninformed about the consequences of what he trumpets; he’s the proverbial bull in the china shop who leaves a trail of destruction wherever he goes. The war with Iran will end worse than the war with Iraq. More costly, more dead, and the United States isolated as a threat to the rest of the world. Michael Varga, Wilton Manors (U.S. Foreign Service, retired)