Trump goes to war despite ‘America First’ agenda

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has drawn the United States into war with Iran despite decades of declared aversion to foreign entanglements, particularly in the Middle East, and repeated promises to focus primarily on the Western Hemisphere with an “America First” agenda.

Trump’s argument for joining Israel in attacks on Iran’s leadership, military and critical infrastructure this weekend was that Iran posed unacceptable and imminent risks to U.S. and allied interests.

Similar arguments were made following Trump’s action last month to remove former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power in a military strike.

Yet even his closest advisers have been unable to point to a specific threat from Iran against the United States that would require urgent action. Trump said a previous strike on Iran had “wiped out” its nuclear capability, and the Defense Intelligence Agency said in a report last year that Iran was likely 10 years away from having a missile capable of reaching the United States.

While the Iranian government’s top brass were killed in the first hours of the attacks, a leadership vacuum in Tehran, coupled with bitterly divided Iranian diaspora opposition groups, could drag the United States into exactly the kind of protracted conflict Trump has said he wants to avoid.

Less than two days after Operation Epic Fury began, U.S. lawmakers, diplomats and Middle East experts have offered conflicting assessments about the road ahead.

A Middle East diplomat said Arab countries were particularly disappointed that the United States and Israel chose to move forward with the military option when diplomacy remained possible and were “very concerned” about possible escalation. “This is precisely what we did not want,” said the diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

The diplomat said de-escalation is of “paramount” importance because the longer the strikes continue, “the worse it will be not only for the region but also for the whole world.”

Trump supporters, however, disagree.

“America First is not isolationism,” said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Trump ally who has long supported military action against Iran. “America First does not bury its head in the sand. America First must not get entangled. We will not have troops on the ground in Iran. But America First is about killing those who wish us harm and who have tried to destroy us in the region, to take them off the table.”

Graham and other Trump defenders argued that the president acted quickly when necessary and not before exhausting nonmilitary options. They point to his order to eliminate the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard during his first term, his strikes last June against several of Iran’s most important nuclear facilities and the Maduro operation.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, predicted that Republican lawmakers and, more importantly, voters would support Trump even if they support the president’s America First policies.

“I suspect you will see overwhelming support from Republican elected officials in Congress, who are accountable to our constituents in places like Arkansas and in every state across the country, when we return to the Capitol later this week,” Cotton said.

Although Trump has raised the prospect of a return to negotiations with Iran, Democrats, who claim the war is illegal because it was not approved by Congress, remain skeptical and point to the difference between Iran and Venezuela, where the transition of power has been relatively smooth.

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said: “I think and I fear that we are witnessing only the opening salvos of what could be not a back-and-forth conflict, but what could be a sustained war in the region. And our record of sustained wars in the Middle East leaves something to be desired.”

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Az. and a veteran, said he wants to see a strategy from the president. “What concerns me here, you know, is what’s happening now… I don’t want to see a broader conflict in the Middle East.”

One of the leading advocates for a congressional vote on Trump’s action, Sen. Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, added: “Haven’t we learned anything from 25 years of war in the Middle East? Haven’t we learned anything?”

Graham and Kelly spoke on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Cotton and Warner spoke on CNN’s “State of the Union” and Kaine spoke on “Fox News Sunday.”