A REMINDER: The "cognitively irresponsible" presidency 2018: TRUMP ABANDONED Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

                

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The "cognitively irresponsible" presidency Aaron Rupar and Thor Benson · February 7, 2025 Read full story

If he does decide to initiate another military conflict, it almost certainly won’t involve any ground operations. Trump took office saying he would end America’s “forever wars,” but only those who weren’t listening very closely believed he had no appetite for overseas military adventurism. Trump loves a good bombing campaign, but favors operations that are quick, involve minimal risk to US personnel, and don’t require him to clean up after whatever mess he made.

In the first year of his second term, Trump bombed seven different countries: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, Somalia, and Nigeria. That’s not exactly a record of restraint, but it shows how he likes to operate.

Though Iran’s ballistic missiles and proxy groups are part of the official rationale, Trump is focused on the country’s efforts to develop its nuclear capacity. That’s why it’s so important to remember that we had an agreement with Iran that did, in fact, constrain its nuclear program. It was called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and it was painstakingly negotiated by the US, Russia, China, France, Germany, and the UK, and finalized in mid-2015. In exchange for sanctions relief, it put in place a monitoring system to ensure that Iran could not enrich uranium beyond what was necessary for civilian use. (Iran has always claimed, not very persuasively, that it has no intention to build nuclear bombs.)

When Trump took office in 2017, his own military and national security advisers tried to convince him that the JCPOA was working and would stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. But because it was negotiated under Barack Obama, Trump convinced himself that it was a disaster, and in 2018 he abandoned the agreement. To no one’s surprise, Iran then resumed its efforts to reach the capacity to produce nuclear weapons, leading us toward the place we are now.

He hasn’t even tried to persuade anyone

While Americans are well used to the cycle we’re in — escalating tensions, belligerent statements from both sides, a seemingly unstoppable march to war — there has been a gaping void where we normally find a vigorous propaganda effort.

We all know how it works: The president gives a big speech explaining what his goals are, administration representatives fan out to make the case, members of Congress debate whether it’s a good idea, diplomats are sent to persuade allies that they should join in the effort, and all of that creates waves of news coverage and analysis that help the public understand what’s at stake and what the potential outcomes are.

In its extreme version (e.g. the Bush administration’s preparation for the Iraq War), the government creates bogus narratives and fake evidence of the terrible danger America is in if we don’t immediately let loose with all our spectacular capacity to rain hellfire down on any country anywhere in the world. But even that presumes that without the legitimacy of public support, the war can’t proceed.