Trump's Iran Policy Is Brain-Dead

Well, that didn't take long. 2020 is less than a week old, and U.S. President Donald Trump has managed to stumble into another pointless and dangerous crisis with Iran. It is the near-inevitable result of his myopic approach to the entire Middle East (and especially Iran) and another demonstration of Washington's inability to formulate a coherent and effective policy toward any important global issue.

When did this country get so bad at strategy?

In fairness, the problem predates Trump, although his own incompetence, impulsiveness, indifference to advice, and uncanny ability to pick third-rate advisors has made the problem worse. The end result may be more innocent lives lost—some of them American—and a further erosion in the United States' global position. And that's assuming that Trump's ordering of the killing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qassem Suleimani doesn't lead to all-out war....