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Impeachment: What Lies Beneath?

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That is exactly why Serious People in Israel and the United States would really, really want to have someone other than Donald Trump as President if there is going to be a war with Iran: It's more than a fear that Trump won't go along with it. (After all, he despises Iran, and can usually be made to do what the neocons want.) It's that Israel won't, in this instance, be looking to strike some weapons depots. It will be trying to eliminate the perceived strategic threat Iran poses and any possibility of retaliation--quickly, thoroughly, and for decades at least. That means destroying as much of the country as quickly as possible. Given Iran's size (680,000 sq. mi.), strength, and tenacity, that means Israel will use overwhelming and ruthless force--including, I think, nuclear weapons. And Iran and its allied forces will strike back against all countries and all forces it considers complicit in the attack, everywhere they can reach. In that situation, Israel will need not only US military support, but, perhaps more importantly, the backing of an American president who projects the kind of leadership that can solicit the support, or at least the forbearance, of countries in the region, European countries, and the "international community". That is not Donald Trump.

So, if there is preparation for a war with Iran going on behind the scenes, one can easily imagine that Israel will use every tool in its kit to emplace the American leadership it considers most helpful--maybe someone who isn't openly mocked by his closest allies. Those tools include the strong financial, political, and other kinds of incentives at its disposal, which can be quite effective in changing Senators' votes, and, perhaps, some of the handiwork of Mossad agents Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

But that's a huge "if". I accept that this is speculation, if not entirely baseless. Call it a paranoid political thought experiment, which adds some spice to the excruciatingly boring impeachment theater.

Of course, there is no way of knowing if there will be an attack on Iran in the next six months. (That's the kind of thing that would be a surprise at any time.) Although for the last six months there has been so much concern in the US government that "the prospect of a confrontation with Iran continues to rise" that a bipartisan congressional coalition attached an amendment (constitutionally redundant!) to the NDAA specifically preventing national-security-threat, all-roads-lead-to-Putin Donald Trump from waging war against Iran without congressional authorization. Which was just dropped from the final version of the NDAA passed by the Democratic-controlled House. 'Cause constitutional duty. This was in the national interest of the United States, and whatever national benefit it gives to Israel for its interests and plans is purely coincidental.

I also agree that there's nothing we can see out there strong enough to overcome, for at least twenty Republican Senators, the punishment they would face from their constituents for voting against Trump. The only visible hint of danger right now for Trump comes, as always, from himself. If he browbeats Mitch McConnell into orchestrating the extensive, multi-witnessed extravaganza of a trial that Trump seems to want, he'll be opening a pandora's box of potential traps.

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Former college professor, native and denizen of New York City. Blogging at www.thepolemicist.net, from a left-socialist perspective. Also publishing on Counterpunch, The Greanville Post, Medium, Dandelion Salad, and other sites around the net. (more...)
 

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