Even Democrats Keep Thinking Iran Is Worse Than Saudi Arabia
Peter Beinart
The 2020 candidates are resisting the latest brush with war, but they’re not going far enough.
Updated at 11:42 a.m. ET on May 22, 2019.
With ideas like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal, the 2020 Democratic presidential contenders are challenging the ideological parameters that have defined American domestic policy since the Reagan era. If only they were doing so on foreign policy too.
Consider their responses to President Donald Trump’s recent escalation with Iran. Yes, one Democrat after another has called on Congress to prevent Trump from going to war. But Democrats have not frontally challenged the core assumption underlying Trump’s belligerence: that Iran is a uniquely malevolent actor in the Middle East.
Even as he criticized Trump’s recent actions, Representative Seth Moulton last week called Iran “a major threat to our national security.†In a statement emailed by her staff, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand condemned its “malign activities.†Senator Cory Booker has in the past insisted that the United States “be more vigilant than ever in fighting Iranian aggression.â€
Read more at: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/democrats-are-letting-hawks-define-iran-debate/589882/
Not a bad take, Iran at times, seems like a "bogey-man", even back to the Axis-of-Evil days. We should be cautious but not go overboard. But I'm no expert, maybe the intelligence exists for us to watch out for Iran. Just my 2 cents.
