Bernie Sanders: John Bolton Wrong On Iran Just Like Iraq, "But I'll Give Him Credit For Chutzpah"

[Uncle Joe]

Needless to say, I disagree with John on a whole lot, but I will give him credit for chutzpah.

This is a man who was a key adviser to President Bush, George W. Bush, in urging him to get involved and to invade Iraq because, supposedly, Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

As I think most Americans now know, that effort in Iraq was the worst foreign policy disaster in the modern history of this country. We lost 4,400 American soldiers, brave soldiers, 31,000 wounded, half-a-million Iraqis dead.

And then Bolton talks about, appropriately so, the increased influence that Iran now has in Iraq. Yes, that's true. And that's precisely because of the war in Iraq.


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/05/13/bernie_sanders_john_bolton_wrong_on_iraq_wrong_on_iran_but_ill_give_him_credit_for_chutzpah.html

There is a video of the interview on the link.

[still_one]

1. The same folks who gave us the Iraq War, are the same ones in charge of ME policy now

[Uncle Joe]

2. + all that exists

[Uncle Joe]

4. That's the price of unintended consequences.

Beginning with the 1953 overthrowing of the democratically elected government of Iran and installing the the dictatorial Shah regime.

Of course his iron hand and torturous ways of the Shah drove the Iranian People to religion; the only escape they could find if not relief in this world then it would be the next one.

As the Shah's evil dominated that nation, the keepers of their Religious Institutions became enthralled with their growing power and were corrupted by it.

Having said that the United States and UK are primarily responsible for the estrangement we experience today from the Iranian Nation.

The idea that invading Iraq which is predominately Shia would some how weaken Iran instead of in fact strengthening it was a strategic mistake of enormous magnitude which only compounded the tragedy.

Today from a strategic standpoint it relegated the U.S. to the choice of fundamentalist Iran and the dictatorial monarchy of Saudi Arabia.

We condemn the former while supporting the latter but this explosive situation was only made worse by our invasion of Iraq.

Iran is much better armed, has almost three times the population of Iraq, not counting their millions of sympathizers in Iraq and if we end up in a war with Iran it will be infinitely more devastating and costly.

[malaise]

5. Anyone remember the Iraq v Iran war

when the US gave Iraq chemicals to attack Iran?

[Uncle Joe]

6. I do malaise, they were the enemies of our enemies,

that didn't work out so well.

[Uncle Joe]

7. Iran-Saudi Arabia proxy conflict

"The Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict (sometimes referred to as the Iran–Saudi Arabia Cold War[55] or the Middle East Cold War)[56] is the ongoing struggle for influence in the Middle East and surrounding regions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[57] The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wars in Syria,[58][59][60] Yemen,[61][62] and Iraq.[63] The rivalry also extends to disputes in Bahrain,[64] Lebanon,[65] Qatar,[66] Pakistan,[67][68] Afghanistan,[69][70] Nigeria,[71][72] and Morocco,[73] as well as broader competition in North and East Africa,[72][74] parts of South Asia,[75] Central Asia,[76][70] and the Caucasus.[77]

In what has been described as a cold war, the conflict is waged on multiple levels over geopolitical, economic, and sectarian influence in pursuit of regional hegemony.[30][78] American support for Saudi Arabia and its allies, Russian support for Iran and its allies, and increasing Chinese involvement on both sides have drawn comparisons to the dynamics of the Cold War era, and the proxy conflict has been characterized as a front in what Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has referred to as the "New Cold War."[79][80][81][82]

(snip)


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Saudi_Arabia_proxy_conflict

"Chinese on both sides"