Trump Confronts Iran—Without Allies, a Defense Secretary, or a Coherent Policy

Source: www.motherjones.com - Thursday, June 20, 2019
Early Thursday morning, the United States military accused Iran of an “unprovoked attack” on a Navy drone flying over international waters, spurring President Donald Trump to tweet that the Islamic Republic had “made a very big mistake.” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard acknowledged the attack but said the drone had been positioned over Iran, an allegation the Pentagon flatly rejected . The Associated Press   summed up the dispute this way: “The different accounts could not be immediately reconciled.” “It sort of reminds me of someone divorcing their spouse and then going back to the ex-spouse and saying, ‘You can’t be unfaithful to me.'” More than a year after Trump walked away from the nuclear deal negotiated by his predecessor, President Barack Obama, the United States and Iran have entered an increasingly hostile chapter in their relationship. In this tense, uncertain moment for both countries, the precise location of a US drone—be it over the Strait of Hormuz or in Iranian airspace—is just one of several events of international importance that American allies, experts, and government officials can hardly reconcile. The US has accused Iran in recent weeks of bombing at least six oil tankers in the region and using its proxies in Yemen to attack Saudi Arabia. But Thursday’s incident marked a frightening turning point, with Tehran taking responsibility for an attack on a US military asset. The crisis comes at a moment when relations

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