There’s a quote from MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough making the rounds, presumably in defense of President Trump’s attack on Iran’s nuclear development facilities, of which I’m skeptical. Not of its authenticity but of its perspicacity. Here it is from the Daily Mail:
On Monday, the famously left-leaning Scarborough, 62, argued that Trump had no other choice.
‘I find it hard to believe that Bush 41, Bush 43, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton – you know, go down the list – any president wouldn’t have felt compelled to take that strike,’ the former Florida Republican explained.
He also said Trump was left with ‘no good options’ when it came to a solution.
Conspicuous by their absence from that litany are Barack Obama and Joe Biden. I don’t believe either of those presidents would have attacked Iran’s nuclear development sites, diplomacy working or not.
As for me I have already said that I think the action was illegal and immoral. I also think that sort of military action has a way of coming back to bite you in the butt.
So, here’s my question. Would Joe Biden have bombed Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan and, if so, why didn’t he?
“famously left-leaning” Joe, what a long strange trip.
I think he probably included Obama and Biden. He’s basically saying this is a no-brainer that any President would do and he gave a couple of examples from both parties that were prominent when he was in Congress. If this is correct, then excluding Obama and Biden would be highly critical.
As to your question, I think this is hard to tell because I don’t think Trump would have bombed these facilities a month ago. I’m not sure he would have done it unless Israel had bombed them first. I think the timing was an opportunity that did not exist when Biden was POTUS and the risks posed by Israel’s limited impact on Iran’s nuclear capabilities changed the cost-benefit calculations.
That’s the key point, PD. Given the same circumstances. That’s what Mr. Scarborough DID NOT say.
I think where Joe was being particularly disingenuous was implying that all of the recent Presidents have planned for this action. I don’t doubt there have been longstanding operational plans to attack Iran, particularly with use of bunker buster bombs directed at nuclear facilities. But having operational plans are different than having an intention to bomb. Stated another way, even if we assume Biden wouldn’t have authorized this bombing, I have little doubt that he would wanted an operational plan and the supporting military capabilities just in case.
I used to listen to Morning Joe every morning until around the time Trump was elected and noticed a tone shift. The show was more interesting when there was a reasonable people can disagree attitude. This passage was more of an ad hominem approach in which there can be no informed disagreement.
I find it hard to guess. Netanyahu worked pretty hard at alienating Obama so maybe not? Biden gave Israel pretty much everything they wanted except the really big bombs. So maybe yes?
Steve