Team Trump is pushing Iran — for peace

Headlines this week might make you think President Trump is itching for war with Iran. Truth is, he doesn’t need to, because his sanctions are working — as Tehran’s response proves.

Yes, Team Trump sent a Navy carrier battle group into the Gulf, and on Wednesday, the US embassy in Baghdad also ordered all non-essential, non-emergency staff out of Iraq immediately.

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But this was part of a response to intelligence reports that Iran may be about to strike US interests in the region, most likely via one of its terrorist or “independent” militia proxies.

And that intel seems well-founded, since Tehran’s orders were likely behind the attack on four tankers in the Gulf this week and the bombing of a Saudi oil-pumping station by Yemeni Houthis.

The Iranians’ motive? To push back against US sanctions, or at least to intimidate Team Trump into not tightening them further — because those sanctions are on track to cost Tehran billions in lost oil revenues, potentially putting the regime itself at risk.

But anti-Trumpers insist on seeing a march to war. “White House Reviews Military Plans Against Iran, in Echoes of Iraq War,” screamed The New York Times. “With Bolton whispering in Trump’s ear, War with Iran is no longer unthinkable,” fretted The Guardian, referring to National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Please. As the Times story itself notes, the “military plan” to send 120,000 troops to the Middle East is merely an updated version of old contingency planning — advance thinking on how to respond if Iran hits US forces or speeds up its nuke program. The Pentagon updates plans and dozens of contingencies all the time, as it should.

And while the left believes its own cartoon portrait of Bolton as a warmongering madman, he in fact is a career diplomat, albeit a conservative realist in the classic GOP tradition.

Painting the plan update as saying anything about White House intentions amounts to the “fake news” that the president called it — even as he signaled resolve by noting, “We’d send a hell of a lot more troops than that,” if need be.

Team Trump has zero desire to send fresh troops into the Middle East, and doesn’t need them to squeeze Iran. This show of force is all about warning Tehran to drop its plans for aggression.

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