By Denis Korkodinov
The statement by the US president about the reluctance to launch a rocket attack on Iran as a reaction to the downed American drone was regarded by opponents of the White House as a manifestation of weakness.
According to them, Donald Trump, thus, made a “fatal mistake”, as Barack Obama, who refused to attack Syria, once committed. However, this behavior of the American leader is probably due to prudence.
Opponents of the US president that Donald Trump lacks the determination that Ronald Reagan had that sent troops to Iran in 1988 as a result of the attack on the US destroyer USS Roberts. A similar comparison is used by the “American hawks” in order to defeat the head of the White House to the immediate start of the war with the ayatollah regime.
As for the policy of Barack Obama, it can hardly be called indecisive. It, most likely, was very cautious, since the predecessor of Donald Trump understood that a war could have lead to the collapse of the United States.
In this regard, Barack Obama preferred to use diplomatic pressure without resorting to open military threats. So, after the publication of information on the use of chemical weapons by Syria, Barack Obama appealed to Congress for permission to use military force.Having no support among the majority of the congress, with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, he persuaded Syrian President to admit the presence of chemical weapons and he forced him to start a disarmament policy. And, despite the fact that Damascus refused to destroy all its chemical arsenals, however, under the pressure of the international community, it eliminated 1,300 tons of chemicals.
Meanwhile, Ronald Reagan’s efforts to bomb Iran were unsuccessful. So, the damage to the Iranian infrastructure was minimal. However, Washington managed to organize provocations against five Iranian ships and an oil platform.
Baghdad at the time expressed support for the United States, but this did not prevent him, in solidarity with the Ayatollah regime, to attack American ships near Iran’s borders. In response to such a turn of events, the Ronald Reagan administration refused to put pressure on the regime of Saddam Hussein.
In addition, Ronald Reagan refused to accept military force far after October 23, 1983 in Beirut was a terrorist act in the building of the US Embassy. Then, as a result of the suicide bombing, more than 200 US troops were killed. According to Washington, Iran was related to the organization of the attack. And many Americans called for the White House to take revenge by sending troops into Tehran. But the US president was against it.
Thus, Ronald Reagan was as careful in dealing with the ayatollahs as Barack Obama or Donald Trump. The current head of the White House, each time refusing to attack Iran, is guided by the experience of its predecessors, who were aware that they could have been defeated in the event of a war with Tehran.
However, Donald Trump is being pressured by “American hawks” led by Mike Pompeo and John Bolton, who are very likely to get a military strike on Iranian targets. Under these conditions, Donald Trump could cooperate with Russia in order to induce Iran to begin the negotiation process. This could prevent an escalation of the conflict. But after the accusations of the American leader that he is cooperating with Russia, a dialogue mediated by Moscow is unlike.
(The views expressed in this article belong only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights)