Trump’s Iran War Echoes Iraq – but Differs in Key Ways

A quarter-century after the attacks of 11 September 2001, US President Donald Trump is facing an increasingly unpopular war with Iran that has drawn comparisons with the prolonged conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Trump campaigned on a promise to end foreign wars and focus on American economic interests. Sina Toossi of the Center for International Policy in Washington argues that the Iran campaign has broken a post-Iraq and Afghanistan constraint against launching another open-ended war in the Middle East and could leave Trump’s successor with an entrenched US-Iran confrontation.

The White House rejects the comparison. Unlike the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US has relied mainly on air and naval power rather than large-scale ground deployments, and administration officials argue that the campaign has severely weakened Iran militarily and economically.

After six months of fighting, however, the conflict has settled into a war of attrition. Attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz have pushed US gasoline prices higher, while analysts cited by Reuters say Trump and his aides underestimated Iran’s resilience and its ability to disrupt global energy supplies.

Public opposition to the war has grown ahead of the November midterm elections, potentially threatening Republicans’ chances of retaining control of Congress. Trump is also fighting with far less international backing than the US initially enjoyed in Iraq and Afghanistan, with many European and Asian governments resisting calls for support and Gulf states seeking to de-escalate the conflict.

Supporters of Trump reject the idea that he has led the US into another “forever war”. Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies argues that the confrontation is part of a much longer conflict between Washington and the Islamic Republic and says US military pressure will ultimately succeed.

(Reuters, max)