Once again, Trump has sullied America’s good name, and any semblance of trustworthiness it once enjoyed, and was “humiliated” in the process by the world’s leading nations. Trump is renowned for balking on his and his businesses’ dealings, and now he has taken another step toward making America in his own pathetic dishonest image. Subsequently, America’s image is so tarnished by Trump that any global leadership America once had vanished as the the world’s leading nations are “stepping over America” and moving forward.
There have been rumors over the past several months that in October or November Trump would make a move to expedite a conflict with Iran; partly to sate the warmongers in his cabal and further enrich the military industrial complex, and partly to fulfill Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for America to wage war against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Trump’s loyalist advisor, Steve Bannon promised early in Trump’s administration that America would start a war with Iran prior to its eventual war with North Korea; Trump is on schedule to make Bannon’s pledge a reality.
Last week Trump refused to certify that Iran was in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreed upon by Iran and the so-called P5+1 nations (America, United Kingdom, China, France, Russia and Germany). It’s the Iran Nuclear Deal that Israel and its representatives in the House and Senate railed against last year. In decertifying Iran’s compliance with the nuclear agreement, Trump ignored the prevailing arguments by American intelligence officials’ claims that Iran was in full compliance and that the “accord” was crucial to the United States’ national security interests.
The action doesn’t scuttle the deal, but it is a first step toward inciting a war with Iran and a sign to the rest of the world that under Trump, America cannot be trusted and is no longer a world leader.
In what is being touted as “a humiliating moment” for Trump, the other P5+1 signatories reaffirmed their commitment to the Iran nuclear deal. Obviously, America no longer has any credibility in the world and is now relegated to an observer position. A former diplomat noted what foreign leaders already know;
“Under Trump the world will move on and the United States is in the room but we’re not going to have the influence that we had.”
In reaffirming its commitment, Russia issued a damning indictment of America, not Iran, for violating the terms of the agreement in “spirit and letter.” Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov said:
“Trump administration officials have violated not only the spirit, but also the letter of the JCPOA, with a number of their actions.”
China said it is siding with Russia and the European signatories and is “pushing past Trump’s position on Iran to keep the deal intact.” China understands, unlike the moron in the White House, that in pulling out of the deal with Iran, it “doesn’t look good” and “sets a bad precedent” for any hopes of striking a deal with North Korea to curb its nuclear weapons program. Former Secretary of State John Kerry said yesterday that Trump’s actions “worsens” any hope for a peaceful settlement to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Even the deal’s critics in Congress now realize that it is in “the best interest of all parties to stay in the deal,” but Trump has a war to start on Israel’s behalf no matter how many times he has been told Iran is fully compliant with the terms of the JCPOA.
The organization responsible for verifying whether Iran has been in compliance, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported that yes, “Iran has been fulfilling the commitments it entered into under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).” Add to the IAWA verification, American intelligence, America’s top military brass, Israeli intelligence, and Trump’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have all verified and assured Trump that “there is no evidence that Iran has violated the terms of the deal.”
It is noteworthy that Trump certified the deal twice before, but after his Defense Secretary, Jim Mattis, joined the rest of the world last week reporting directly to Trump that Iran was and has been in full compliance with terms of the deal, Trump said “no they’re not” and decertified Iran’s compliance.
Of course Trump and plenty of congressional representatives from Israel want a war with Iran and it is obvious that decertifying its compliance is a step towards what former Trump advisor Steve Bannon said was America’s next war in the Middle East. That is bad enough, but worse is the idea that no nation on Earth can trust anything America says or any agreement it enters into ever again.
Trump’s actions can’t scuttle a deal among 7 nations on its own, but his intent of levying new sanctions on the Islamic Republic will violate the P5+1 groups’ part of the agreement and in turn allow Iran to restart its nuclear program according to the terms of the deal. On top of that tragedy, North Korea now knows for certain that any negotiations, much less an agreement, with the United States will not be honored because there is a dishonest dotard in the White House
America’s image was already damaged by allowing a corrupt con man to enter the White House. And it hasn’t helped that the malcontent Trump has unilaterally insulted every nation’s leader except those ruling Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Philippines. America may have a powerful military, but that is where its leadership and exceptionalism ends. Because although it was once a world leader, with Trump in the White House the world is moving on while America becomes a deceitful outlier without an iota of credibility or leadership in the world.