Ex-National Security Adviser: Trump Is Leading America To A ‘Catastrophic’ War With Iran

Former national security adviser under Barack Obama, Ben Rhodes, had a chilling warning on Thursday about Donald Trump’s march to war with Iran.

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In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Rhodes said the Trump administration clearly doesn’t understand the complicated dynamics in the region – and the consequences of their recklessness could be “catastrophic.”

“If you think that you can just start a military confrontation with Iran and it won’t escalate, you don’t know anything about the mindset of the Iranian revolutionary guard, the Iranian regime,” the ex-national security adviser said. “They can retaliate in Iraq and Afghanistan and Israel and Lebanon – across that region. Potentially terrorist attacks beyond. ”

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Rhodes said:

If you think that you can just start a military confrontation with Iran and it won’t escalate, you don’t know anything about the mindset of the Iranian revolutionary guard, the Iranian regime. They can retaliate in Iraq and Afghanistan and Israel and Lebanon – across that region. Potentially terrorist attacks beyond. This is not a simple war. This is a bigger, more sophisticated country than Iraq or Afghanistan was, and look how at how those wars went. So I think we have to be taking this moment incredibly seriously. And I hope that I’m wrong. I hope that this doesn’t lead to a war. But I think the risk of it is such that people need to be making more noise. Some Democrats are doing that in Congress. I’d like to see more saying this would be illegal, this would be potentially catastrophic. And I’d like to see them saying you are not authorized to do this and we want a resolution to prevent a war with Iran.

Trump is directly responsible for the escalation with Iran

By pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement that Barack Obama secured during his presidency, Donald Trump set in motion the instability we’re now seeing in the region.

While that act – pulling out of the Iran deal – was bad enough at the time, the tensions between the two countries have only escalated in recent weeks as John Bolton and Mike Pompeo tighten their grip on U.S. foreign policy in the post-Jim Mattis era of the Trump administration.

The administration has also been quick in recent weeks to blame Iran for attacks in the Middle East without providing sufficient evidence to the public. As Rachel Maddow pointed out on Monday, Secretary of State Pompeo has even blamed Iran for an attack that the Taliban already claimed credit for.

Ultimately, what we are seeing play out in the region is the direct result of this president’s actions. As ex-national security adviser Ben Rhodes said on Thursday, the consequences could be disastrous on a global scale.

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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.