Editorials & Other Articles

basically his own deification. In some ways, he's practical: he's not going to continue to pursue something that looks more and more like it will tarnish his image as a powerful winner.

Hawkish constituencies have been trying to push US admins into attacking Iran ever since the Shah was overthrown and replaced with a regime less amenable to US exploitation.

I think the "success" of Trump's action in Venezuela deceived him into believing the arguments of those hawkish constituencies that knocking over Iran would be relatively easy. Now that that's proved not to be the case, I think he's looking both for a way out and for scapegoats to blame.