Trump's Making His Contribution To Middle East Madness

By Chris Rossini

We really could have skipped all the arduous debate on Iraq during the last presidential campaign. First, Trump was against the Iraq war from the very beginning ... Then supposedly he was for the war, before he was against it ... Trump denied that and insisted that he was always against the monstrous disaster in Iraq.

You know what all of that amounts to?

Nothing but a big waste of time.

Now that actions are being chosen, and we've moved beyond mere words, it's clear that President Trump has decided to make his contribution to the madness in the Middle East.

When it comes to Iraq, Eric Margolis gives us the facts:

We are now moving rapidly into stage II of Levantine Madness as the US boosts its intervention in the war-torn Mideast.

Five thousand US troops are back in Iraq to bolster the shattered nation’s puppet regime that is propped up by American bayonets. New Iraqi military formations have been formed, totally equipped with modern US M1 Abrams tanks, Humvees, and fleets of trucks. More US forces are on the way.

This is Iraq we're talking about....Iraq!! 

Where's the change that Americans were voting for?

The knee-jerk excuse that 'Well, Trump didn't create the mess in Iraq, but he's now stuck with carrying on' is pure bubkas. 

The President can bring the troops home at any moment. He's choosing not to. 

This is not a new concept in America's history of failed wars. Let's go back to when the U.S. government finally had to retreat from Vietnam. The same exact excuses were being used to keep American troops mired there.

Please read the following words from Murray Rothbard very carefully. 

They were written in 1968.

Every time that you see "Vietnam," replace it with "Iraq" in your mind:

“A lot of people throughout the country are beginning to realize that getting into the Vietnam war was a disastrous mistake. In fact, hardly anyone makes so bold as to justify America’s entrance into, and generation of, that perpetual war. 

And so the last line of defense for the war’s proponents is: Well, maybe it was a mistake to get into the war, but now that we’re there, we’re committed, so we have to carry on.

A curious argument. Usually, in life, if we find out that a course of action has been a mistake, we abandon that course and try something else. This is supposed to be the time-honored principle of ‘trial and error.’ 

Or if a business project or investment turns out to be an unprofitable venture, we abandon it and try investing elsewhere. 

Only in the Vietnam war do we suddenly find that, having launched a disaster, we are stuck with it forevermore and must continue to pour in blood and treasure until eternity.”

Americans were hoping that Trump would 'abandon the course' that was taken by prior presidents in Iraq and the Middle East.

He is not.

We must 'continue to pour blood and treasure' into a failure.

Another opportunity for peace and prosperity goes down the drain.