Donald Trump and his supporters believe that he is a great “negotiator” with business acumen that no one can touch. Trump has also argued that he knows more than some generals. He also said he would bring the troops back from the Middle East. Let’s look at the inconvenient facts.
What did Donald Trump accomplish with the targeted killing of Qasem Soleimani?
On Tuesday night we learned exactly what Donald Trump has accomplished with Iran.
1. Donald Trump united the Iranian people to one cause – avenging the Soleimani killing. Donald Trump loves to argue that he has huge crowds at his rallies. Any picture of the Iranian crowds mourning Qasam Soleimani’s death clearly show crowds much larger than any Trump crowd. Before Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani, there was Iranian unrest over their government’s oppression. Now, the Iranian people are firmly behind their leaders.
2. Iran has the capability to strategically attack targets of their choosing. The Iranian missiles surprised most military observers because of their capability to hit targets. Not only was Iran militarily able to retaliate but it also now understands how to respond to provocations on a geopolitical level to both demonstrate resolve while keeping the status quo politically with other nations. France, Germany and the UK are unlikely to rally behind Trump. Iran’s response to the Soleimani killing allows the major nations to stand down and not intervene in the Trump-Iran temper tantrum.
Most importantly, Iran for the first time attacked and targeted U.S. military assets with conventional military weapons sending a strong message that it is ready to fight, if necessary. Barack Obama never had to deal with Iran targeting U.S. military assets conventionally. Donald Trump, on the other hand, was in charge when Iran attacked U.S. military assets with conventional military weapons.
That is a clear message.
In the end, Iran clearly outplayed Donald Trump. Trump, meanwhile, unlike the Iranian leaders is dealing with a severely divided country.
The reasons for the killing of Qasam Soleimani remains murky at best with even some Republicans questioning whether Donald Trump did the right thing in ordering his death.
In the end, the tit-for-tat between Donald Trump and Iran is simple: Iran reached out and touched Trump, in response, Trump ordered more economic sanctions on a country that already has so many economic sanctions applied to it that new ones mean nothing.
Clearly, Donald Trump has no clue.
