U.S. President Donald Trump has once again demonstrated why he is the most dangerous head of government in the world.
Last week in a move that stunned the international community but largely pleased his support base, Mr. Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal.
His reasons for this monumental foreign policy blunder were as absurd as they were baffling. He described the deal as the worst he had ever encountered and cited its failure to effectively curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its destabilizing activities in the volatile Middle East as the prime factor behind his decision.
The deal, as it may be recalled, was the brainchild of the Obama administration and was signed by all the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Because Germany which is not a member of the Security Council also signed the deal, it came to be known as the P5 + 1. Or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
It was designed largely to contain an over ambitious Iran, essentially to stop it from obtaining a nuclear bomb. Sanctions which had crippled Iran’s oil dependent economy were lifted to entice the Islamic republic.
On the face of it, the deal, experts say was good, in that Iran was going to be watched for 15 years and if it did not stick to the deal, sanctions will immediately be re-imposed and the country isolated yet again.
Things were moving smoothly until Trump’s stunning announcement. Indeed, according to monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran had not breached any of the terms spelled out in the deal and was doing everything possible to stay true to its obligations.
But Trump’s move not only dealt a blow to Iran’s hopes of returning to the fold of the International community once again since 1979, it also angered and alienated America’s European allies who had warned that a withdrawal from the deal would be a huge betrayal of trust and could erode faith and confidence in other international agreements.
Trump’s decision was reckless, short sighted and jingoistic. And not unexpected, it has been roundly condemned by critics and rightly so. His thoughtless action has put the world in a very precarious situation. Iran has threatened to resume its nuclear activities.
And that in turn has the Saudis talking of getting their own atomic bomb. Israel emboldened as never before continues to warmonger. In other words, the world is not so safe after all, thanks in large measure to the shenanigans of the super-ignorant Mr. Trump. Remember he pulled the United States out of the Climate Agreement and moved the United States embassy to Jerusalem in complete defiance of world opinion.
We should have seen this coming; Trump is not only an erratic and unpredictable leader, he is also a show boater, someone who wants the world to think he is a tough-talking, no nonsense, take it or leave it, leader. He knows little about global affairs, about international norms and agreements that have held the world together since the end of the Second World War.
So anything he does is geared towards pleasing the 35 percent of Americans who still think he is the best president ever to take up residency in the White House. The world should therefore expect more of this depressingly ugly behavior the next two years.
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