Trump's laying the groundwork for a proxy war with Iran in Syria
Donald Trump's bloodlust for war in the Middle East risks chaos
Trevor Timm
Lost among the deluge of stories about the Russia investigation and the Republicans’ push to take healthcare away from millions of people, the Trump administration is laying the groundwork for a disastrous regional proxy war against Iran in Syria and possibly beyond.
Foreign Policy reported recently that key officials within the Trump administration are “pushing to broaden the war in Syria, viewing it as an opportunity to confront Iran and its proxy forces on the ground there.” The strategy was being advocated over objections from the Pentagon, but it doesn’t seem to be deterring White House. As the Washington Post made clear just a few days ago: Iranian and US forces have already been directly clashing in the region, and officials are busy planning the “next stage” of the Syria war once Isis is defeated - a plan that centers around directly attacking the Iranians.
On Monday night, the White House seemingly laid down its marker. In a surprising statement that seemed to catch even the Pentagon off guard, press secretary Sean Spicer warned that Syria was planning another chemical weapons attack and “would pay a heavy price” if it came to pass. United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley quickly chimed in on Twitter saying that any further attack would “be blamed on Assad, but also on Russia & Iran who support him killing his own people.”
The White House is almost looking for a reason to launch yet another potentially catastrophic war in the Middle East, right in the middle of the most complex civil war we’ve seen in decades. There is no telling what chaos and destruction such a move would bring, but you can see the war wagons aligning within Trump administration circles as they prepare to move ahead with it anyways.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/27/donald-trumps-bloodlust-war-middle-east-iran-chaos
