Megalomaniacs and religious zealots in US pushing for war against Iran

The Trump administration could actually exploit the current crisis with Tehran to negotiate a peace deal if the State Department was not led by a rapture-seeking zealot, former United Kingdom (UK) ambassador to Syria Peter Ford told Sputnik.

The United States and Iran appeared close to war after President Donald Trump ordered the drone assassination of top Iranian general and Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani at Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

“[Former US Secretary of State Henry] Kissinger used to say never waste a good crisis. A statesman would see mortal danger but also opportunity to strike a grand deal. With deterrence momentarily established a wise US would cash in its chips while it is ahead and do a backstairs deal,” he said. “Somehow I don’t see rapture-seeking [US Secretary of State] Mike Pompeo as today’s Kissinger.”

At a religious summit in 2015, then-congressman Pompeo, apparently in reference to the fight against same-sex marriage, said Christians would continue the struggle until the rapture, which is the moment many evangelicals believe they will ascend to heaven.

Ford said Iran in retaliation will likely target US forces in Iraq in hopes of ensuring they are evicted.

“Iran has no choice but to demonstrate that it is not deterred from taking actions designed to persuade the US to ease sanctions,” Ford said. “The very existence of the Islamic Republic is at stake.

Blood must have blood.”

Ford also warned to look for trouble in the Gulf region, Afghanistan and for Iran to “up the ante on the nuclear dossier.”

Iran would be braced for further US reprisals but unless these cross the only red line left, Iran‘s actual borders, Iran would probably keep in reserve its ultimate deterrents, Ford continued.

These included “annihilating US forces in Syria and… Hezbollah launching thousands of missiles at Israel,” he said.

Trump’s established record of reckless risk-taking did not offer reassuring prospects for the maintenance of stability and peace in the region, Ford commented.

“Given that the US war machine is now manifestly in the hands of an easily manipulated, reckless gambler, that is not a soothing prospect,” he said.

It was possible that administration hawks had manipulated Trump, or followed Israel‘s urging to kill Soleimani to prevent some new peace deal from being worked out, Ford observed.

“Just maybe, the hawks working the Trump puppet, or Israel, engineered the opportunity because they were afraid Japanese diplomacy might have been about to bear fruit with a Trump tempted to strike a deal with Iran,” he said.

The New York Times reported on Monday, citing five Trump administration officials speaking on condition of anonymity, that the plans to assassinate Soleimani had been developed at least since June 2019.

Megalomaniacs and religious zealots in US pushing for war against Iran