An open letter to the president reads: “A war with Iran, either by choice or miscalculation, would produce dramatic repercussions in an already destabilized Middle East and drag the United States into another armed conflict at immense financial, human, and geopolitical cost.”
These are not the words of Donald Trump’s chorus of opponents on the Hill, or left-columnists in the “opposition” press, but instead members of America’s defense establishment, cautioning against a further build-up against Iran. A twoscore group of retired admirals, generals and ambassadors say, “As President and Commander-in-Chief, you have considerable power at your disposal to immediately reduce the dangerous levels of regional tension.”
The group’s organizer, Rear Adm. Michael E. Smith, U.S. Navy (ret.), told me Tehran could be reasoned with without military confrontation—but only if freelancing hardliners in the administration, most prominently National Security Advisor John Bolton, are put in their place.
These are not the words of Donald Trump’s chorus of opponents on the Hill, or left-columnists in the “opposition” press, but instead members of America’s defense establishment, cautioning against a further build-up against Iran. A twoscore group of retired admirals, generals and ambassadors say, “As President and Commander-in-Chief, you have considerable power at your disposal to immediately reduce the dangerous levels of regional tension.”
The group’s organizer, Rear Adm. Michael E. Smith, U.S. Navy (ret.), told me Tehran could be reasoned with without military confrontation—but only if freelancing hardliners in the administration, most prominently National Security Advisor John Bolton, are put in their place.
aircraft carrier and helo by U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew Callahan/Released is licensed under Flickr U.S. Government Work
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