Threat or Strategy?

With Donald Trump, through the confrontation with Iran, an argument for defense (and justice) returns.

It was the late 1990s. Bill Clinton, the Democrat who had kicked Republicans out of the White House, faced what would be the most critical moment of his second term: the impeachment process that became one of the tabloids’ favorite subjects.

Clinton was facing a vote on removal as president due to the Monica Lewinsky drama. One president, one infidelity, the second impeachment in the history of the country. A gold mine for the sensationalist press and strong television fodder. (The subject is still material for documentaries, including an upcoming television series.)

At the same time, and because this was politics so dependent on public opinion, the then-president of the United States made decisions that, while highly questionable, would ensure a sufficient deflection of attention to minimize congressional pressure.

Thus Iraq became a target of military intervention once again.

The enemy’s position on weapons, and the defense of the Armed Forces, was utilized strategically so that the press bypassed explosive headlines about the Lewinsky affair in favor of explosions in the Arab world.

Years later, a disavowing George W. Bush took advantage, as much as he could, of the 9/11 tragedy.

Again, the patriotic argument appeared to validate a mandate that promoted a narrative which positioned the U.S. as a leader. Few orders are as precise as those that lead to fear and collective paranoia.

Those weapons of mass destruction that justified intervention never appeared. Everything connected to al-Qaida originated in Washington.

So many years have passed, and now the defeated Osama bin Laden is only a postcard image drawn by the Pentagon. But it all enabled Bush to finish his term as the president who defended his country and his citizens.

On Jan. 3, the third day of 2020, the world awoke to an alert. The U.S. had assassinated an Iraqi leader whom it blamed for the death of hundreds of soldiers and citizens, neither more nor less than one of the hawks of the Iranian regime.

Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Tehran Accords a few months ago caused the tension that recently beset the American Embassy in Baghdad, where Qassem Soleimani was executed after local demonstrations. These are some of the reasons that led the president to order the deployment of at least 3,000 soldiers to the region. That, and Iran’s threat that it would respond at “the right place and time.”

And this escalation made world headlines on the first Friday of the new year. The argument for the defense of (and justice for) the American people returns. There’s nothing like the tension of war to redirect a spotlight. Trump himself tweeted a U.S. flag yesterday; war could break out, and he will be there to defend his country. And with that, maybe perhaps if he is lucky, he will force the Senate to delay for as long as possible the remaining trial on impeachment charges.

Even though the Republican majority in the Senate assures against Trump’s removal from the White House, a distraction hurts no president. Even less when it succeeds with a proven cause.