(01-06-2020 05:14 PM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  So, in another post I asked some questions. You going to answer them? It’s OK with me if you don’t (literally OK). I already know the answers.

I already answered the questions earlier, but I will do so again:
(1) Should Trump have taken out Soleimani? I don't have enough information (and likely neither do you). Members of both George W. Bush's administration and Obama's administration have said that they had opportunities to take out Soleimani, but did not do it because those Presidents (and their advisers) believed the risks of escalation outweighed the benefit of taking out one really bad guy. So the question that needs to be answered for me is ... why now? Trump probably had opportunities before last week, so what changed the calculus so that he acted last week?

(2) Yes, I supported the Iran detail (retrospectively, I didn't really follow it at the time because I was paying less attention to foreign policy pre-Trump). It obviously wasn't perfect, but Iran was behaving much better while it was in effect. The fact that Russian, China, and Europe all supported it really tells me all I need to know, because that collection of countries can't agree on a lot (with or without the USA's involvement).

(3) No, I did not support Trump's decision to withdraw. Again, Iran was behaving better while it was in effect. They destroyed a good chunk of their capability. Even if you believe the inspections were not sufficient, that is one part of the deal. The answer isn't to rip it up, but rather to improve it.

(4) Yes, Obama should have kept his word with the red line in Syria (or maybe better, not drawn the red line). Obama screwed that up.