Iran is Not Iraq, Trump is Not Bush

Bombing Iran Doesn’t Make Trump a Neocon, Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon Should Chill Out. Bombing Iran Won’t Split MAGA

Most of us conservative Republicans, at least those of us who have been around for a while still have bitter memories of the George W. Bush administration. Bush 43, as opposed to his father Bush 41. This bitterness springs from primarily but not exclusively from his foreign policy blunders. Such blunders never should have been supported by conservatives, but I guess out of loyalty to the Republican Party most of us fell in line.

Who can forget that unfortunate time in American history. Fox News host/cheerleader Sean Hannity spent 8 years leading the cheers for Bush, today Hannity would have no memory of it, but since Bush was the head of the Republican Party, we, and not just Hannity got tarred by his failures. We naturally feel burned for voting and supporting him. In short, he hurt our credibility. Bush was so bad that it took us two Presidential election defeats to return to power.

What exactly did Bush do that is memorable? Well, he led the Party into supporting two wars, and at least one of those wars was clearly a mistake. We spent hundreds of billions of dollars, lost thousands of U.S. soldiers, and found no weapons of mass destruction and to top it off, as if that weren’t bad enough, none of it was actually in America’s interests.

How did the Bush administration get us into Iraq? Well, it was believed, Colin Powell told us, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but even if they didn’t the dictator Saddam Hussein would eventually get them and use them. In addition, the proponents of the war, neocons, believed that if Iraq would be liberated from Saddam Hussein, and with our help (billions of dollars) they could build a democracy and the world would be better off for it. In fact, democracies would spread. This was quite a theory.

Imagine if the father of modern conservatism, Edmond Burke, came down from heaven and attended one of Bush’s cabinet meetings, and heard Cheney and Rumsfeld discuss this theory. That is that we go to war to spread democracy. He would have stood up and said this is insane.

What exactly did Bush do that is memorable? Well, he led the Party into supporting two wars, and at least one of those wars was clearly a mistake. We spent hundreds of billions of dollars, lost thousands of U.S. soldiers, and found no weapons of mass destruction and to top it off, as if that weren’t bad enough, none of it was actually in America’s interests.

How did the Bush administration get us into Iraq? Well, it was believed, Colin Powell told us, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, but even if they didn’t the dictator Saddam Hussein would eventually get them and use them. In addition, the proponents of the war, neocons, believed that if Iraq would be liberated from Saddam Hussein, and with our help (billions of dollars) they could build a democracy and the world would be better off for it. In fact, democracies would spread. This was quite a theory.

Imagine if the father of modern conservatism, Edmond Burke, came down from heaven and attended one of Bush’s cabinet meetings, and heard Cheney and Rumsfeld discuss this theory. That is that we go to war to spread democracy. He would have stood up and said this is insane.

Why did Bush adopt a neoconservative foreign policy? Why did he buy into the crackpot theory that building democracies around the world was in America’s interests? Why did he believe the nonsense that democracies don’t go to war with other democracies? Well, my theory is that Bush, a former governor, didn’t know much about foreign policy or world history and unfortunately, he surrounded himself by some bad advisors, who exploited this ignorance. Bush, not knowing any better, took bad advice and invaded Iraq. The invasion would be a “cakewalk” claimed neocon Bill Kristol. In 2024 Kristol backed Kamala Harris for President. If only we Republicans stopped listening to Bill Kristol in the 1990’s we might have saved lives and billions of dollars. The Weekly Standard should only have been used to line bird cages.

Bush will be forever remembered as a bad or mediocre President at best because he adopted a neoconservative foreign policy, which advocates regime change, advocating democracy, even at the point of an American machine gun, and nation building in the image of a western country. Many associate neoconservatives with the belief that America is needed to be the world’s policeman, and even globalism.

Fortunately for America and the world, the people who advised Bush, people like Paul Wolfowitz, Bill Kristol, Dick Cheney among others, are out of the Republican Party. No one will ever listen to them again, but sadly a high price was paid for listening to those fools.

With that background today we are on the verge of another war, this time with Iran. A country next to Iraq. And on the right, there is a concern that Trump will go down the same path as Bush in 2002. Some on the right say that the Republican Party will move back to a neocon and globalist foreign policy. Two examples of such fear mongering can be found on social media and from pundits and influencers. like Candice Owens, Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon.

There is Speculation that Trump will give the green light to a military operation in Iran soon, and many conservative influencers are worried that from there another Iraq quagmire will begin. In addition, the media and even people on the right are claiming that a possible strike on Iran could split the MAGA movement. For example, radical nutjob congresswoman Majorie Taylor Greene claims that our involvement in Israel’s attack on Iran could possibly split the MAGA movement. She said, “It’s going to fracture it, and it’s already fracturing it,” Greene said. “It is not anti-Semitic to say that we do not want to go to war against Iran or any other country.”

Well, MAGA is for America first, and denying Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is in America’s interest. According to a Fox news poll, 73 percent of Americans believe that Iran getting a bomb is a threat to America.

The right’s claim that our attacking Iran could lead to another Iraq is nonsense. Trump has been consistent. He has said since 2015 that we can’t allow Iran to get a bomb. He recently restated that view, “we’re not looking for a long-term war . . . I only want one thing—Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, that’s it,”

Secondly, Trump, unlike Bush, has expressed no interest in regime change in Iran. Just the opposite he said, “I want Iran to prosper,” and “I don’t want to do anything that will hurt anyone, but Iran can’t have nuclear weapons. We don’t want to take away their industry or their land.” Trump’s words are not the words of a neocon.

He just knows that Iran can’t have a nuke because it is not in America’s interest or the worlds. If Iran gets a bomb it will lead to an arms race in the middle east. Every country will want one. We can’t have that.

He also probably believes that right now there is a window of opportunity to prevent Iran from getting a bomb, and that while Israel is doing a good job, with our help we could obliterate Iran’s nuclear program. We can make sure the job gets done.

I’m sure Trump, like all civilized people, would like to see the Islamic regime in Tehran fall. He’d like to see Iran become free and live up to her great potential. What a great thought, a free Iran, an Iran where their beautiful women can throw away their hijabs.

But Trump is not in favor of overthrowing the Iranian government or starting another endless war, he is simply and correctly making it clear that Iran can’t have nuclear weapons. And if it takes U.S. military action to get it done fine. He has held that position since 2015.

David Shephard is the author of two books. Elections Have Consequences, A Cautionary Tale.

Norton’s Choice:An Inside Politics Exposé: Shephard, David: 9781892538802: Amazon.com: Books