LETTER: Another Republican leads down the path of war
Donald Trump cannot “end” Iran’s nuclear program. Iran retains the scientific knowledge and technical expertise. At best, he can slow it down, maybe by a year, through bombing.
We’ve seen this movie before. GOP President George W. Bush took us to war with Iraq based on claims of weapons of mass destruction. Vice President Dick Cheney insisted he had independent intelligence confirming WMDs. His source? New York Times articles that had been based on leaks from Mr. Cheney himself. The Times later issued a public apology.
On day one of “Shock and Awe,” the United States killed 100,000 innocent Iraqi men, women and children. Iraq had no WMDs. The war was a permanent stain on U.S. history.
Fast forward. President Barack Obama negotiated a treaty with Iran that effectively halted their nuclear weapons program. U.S. intelligence agencies consistently reported that Iran neither had nuclear weapons nor an active program to develop them.
Enter Mr. Trump. He tore up the treaty and now claims he has “special sources” contradicting our own intelligence.
Once again, a Republican president is talking war based on “secret” evidence the public isn’t allowed to see. We’ve fallen for that trick before. We can’t afford to fall for it again.
