The Wall Street Journal is reporting in increasing detail
on President Trump’s Thursday decision to not attack Iran, providing
reports from aides that described Trump as very reluctant to be dragged
into another war.
Trump reportedly told one of his confidants of his inner circle that
“these people want to push us into war… it’s so disgusting.” He added
that in his view “we don’t need any more wars.”
Signs are that much of the cabinet was pushing for a US attack, but Gen.
Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a more
wary assessment of the outcome of such an attack. This is a surprising
revelation since the Pentagon’s brass had been suggested to be hawkish
as well.
Trump praised Dunford for calling for caution, calling him a “terrific
man and a terrific general.” Trump added that he was happy to see
division within his team on the matter, though some within his
administration, notably those who didn’t get the war they wanted, are
made about the internal schism.
On Thursday morning, when the attack was planned, John Bolton and Mike
Pompeo summoned national security officials for a breakfast, and to talk
about the US drone being shot down. Officials claimed that the group
was “unanimous” in favor of attacking Iran, though others denied that
Dunford, who was present, had supported the attack.
Trump is increasingly favoring Gen. Dunford on matters of foreign
policy, and that likely put him in a better position to express
opposition to the strike. Trump appears to have already been inclined
against such a strike, especially if it killed anyone, which would’ve
given Dunford the benefit of telling Trump what he wanted to hear.
Dunford’s opposition is also fueling allegations of military lawyers
being the backchannel through which President Trump got the formal
estimate of 150 killed in the attack, which he says is what made him
decide against it.
Some reports claim the military’s lawyers sent the estimate to White
House lawyers, who passed it along to Trump. Others are denying this,
and accusing White House lawyers of inventing the whole estimate
themselves. Trump confirmed being unhappy with the vague estimates he
was initially offered on the attack plan, saying we “wanted an accurate
count.”
This has fueled a lot of disputes within the administration that the
estimate was too high, though Trump dismissed this as largely irrelevant
to his decision, saying “anything is a lot when you shoot down an
unmanned drone.”
Trump Rejected Attacking Iran: ‘We Don’t Need Any More Wars’
Gen. Dunford one of few officials said to back Trump's position
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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