‘Chills Down My Spine’: Ex-State Dept. Official Warns That Trump Is Taking America To War

Former State Department spokesman Marie Harf said on Saturday that Donald Trump’s rhetoric toward Iran in recent weeks is eerily similar to what we heard in the run-up to the Iraq war.

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In an interview that aired on MSNBC, Harf said that the Trump administration is perpetuating a “cycle of escalation” that she says “could end very badly.”

“It sends chills down my spine,” she said. “The rhetoric I have seen coming out of the Trump administration over the past month feels so much like the lead up to the war in Iraq.”

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The former State Department official said:

The truth is, no, we do not have to go to war with Iran today. It sends chills down my spine, too. The rhetoric I have seen coming out of the Trump administration over the past month feels so much like the lead up to the war in Iraq. They’re cherry picking intelligence, they’re upping what they consider to be the threat. And, look, there is a real threat. I don’t want to downplay that. But what worries me the most, Alex, is that something like this happens, or the Iranians do something else that is a provocation and we get locked in this cycle of escalation where John Bolton – don’t forget John Bolton is still there – Mike Pompeo push President Trump so he feels like he can’t back down and then we’re in this cycle of escalation that, quite frankly, could end very badly. There’ is no reason to go war with Iran today. We can counter them in many, many other ways. The Trump administration doesn’t seem to have a strategy to do that and that is scary to me.

Trump is pushing America to another unnecessary war

As MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow reported this week, the Trump administration has been quickly blaming Iran for a series of recent attacks – including oil tanker attacks – in the Middle East.

The only problem is that the administration hasn’t really presented evidence to support their claims. In some instances, as Maddow pointed out, other foreign actors have already taken credit for attacks the White House is now blaming on Iran.

None of this is to say that Iran is not a threat to the United States. It’s clear that they are and have been. But what has changed now is that this administration appears eager to start another Iraq-style war in the Middle East.

Donald Trump campaigned on the idea that America should not get involved in any other needless military conflict in the Middle East. It’s an idea the most Americans agree with after seemingly endless conflict in that region of the world.

Now, as Trump’s presidency crumbles under the weight of scandal and incompetence, he is marching the United States toward another unnecessary war.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.