Hi MM,
Well, my gut tells me that the only reason we're in this place is because of the immature and ill-advised actions of our current president. Somehow, I can't imagine that he's going to be the best to handle anything since his handling of it so far is why we're even having this discussion today on June 20, 2019.
Iran was, according to all available data from all the other nations involved in the agreement, doing pretty much what they were supposed to be doing. There was a relative peace and calm between Iran and other nations. Then, for seemingly no discernible reason Trump dropped out of the agreement and began screwing down sanctions on their people. Making life as tough as he could for them just because he could. However, that's pretty much the nature of Trump. Has been most of his adult life. Make 'em bleed! That's his motto to live by.
Now, Iran is in a position where they have to fight back to live. Here's an excerpt from a report concerning the build up to the current situation:
The current standoff began in
May 2018 when President Trump reneged on the deal and later implemented a new “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, which included economic sanctions punishing countries purchasing Iranian oil.
The U.K., France, China, Russia and Germany pledged to abide by
the terms of the deal. Nevertheless, U.S. sanctions against Iranian industry at a time when Iran was complying with the deal are
collapsing the Iranian economy.
The White House claims its “maximum pressure” policy is working – that Iran is cutting aid to malevolent allies and proxies in the region,
including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah and Hamas.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo maintains, without evidence or a tangible timeline, that grueling economic conditions created by the U.S. will turn frustrated Iranians against their leaders,
provoking regime change.
Notice that Mike Pompeo maintains that this action will hopefully force a regime change. Once again, U.S. feels perfectly ok with playing out against the political structure of other nations, but...let any of those other nations want to play in our sandbox and it's off with their head. Presently, Trump is working diligently to change the leaders of government in Iran and Venezuela. Why? These are both leaders that it seems apparent have at least as much support, and were put in their positions by a nation of people that gave them at least as much support, as got Trump where he is.
Iran: The
President of Iran is
elected for a four-year term by direct vote and not permitted to run for a third term or serve for more than 8 years in the office. The current
President of Iran is Hassan Rouhani, assumed office on 3 August 2013, after the 2013
Iranian presidential election.
Venezuela:
Presidential elections were held in
Venezuela on 20 May 2018, with incumbent Nicolás Maduro being re-
elected for a second six-year term. ... Maduro was inaugurated on 10 January 2019, leading to the 2019
Venezuelan presidential crisis.
Let me ask you, would you feel it right that Russia try to sway governance in the U.S.? How about Great Britain or Canada or China? Would we want any of them working to overthrow the duly elected leader of our country? Just think, if Trump had waited just two years, Rouhani would be out of Iran just because he would have served as long as he could according to their own constitution.
God bless,
In Christ, ted