Trump and Iran Stand Down after Iran’s ‘Proportional Response’ Involves No Casualties

Jan. 8, 2020 (EIRNS)—President Donald Trump issued a formal statement on the Iran crisis from the White House with the top military brass and Secretaries Mark Esper and Mike Pompeo behind him. He announced that there were no American casualties from the Iranian ballistic missiles which targetted two U.S./Iraq bases in Iraq this morning, and saying that “Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.” He castigated Iran for its support of “terrorist” movements across the region since the 1979 coup by the mullahs, calling Gen. Qasem Soleimani the “world’s top terrorist,” responsible for training “terrorist armies, including Hezbollah,” killing Americans in Iraq, and attacking the Baghdad Embassy.

But he also called on the country signers to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, to dump that deal and begin negotiations for a new deal with Iran, which will assure that Iran never builds a nuclear weapon (which Trump had asserted as his opening statement), and further stated that “ISIS is a natural enemy of Iran. The destruction of ISIS is good for Iran, and we should work together on this and other shared priorities.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche observed the fact that this was clearly a step back, but that we are not out of the danger zone for war, even global war. Trump’s characterization of Iran is still that of John Bolton. The fact that the British Empire role in instigating these crises, aimed at keeping the U.S. in conflict with Russia and China, must be asserted and addressed if the situation is to be resolved positively. The methods established by the 1648 Peace of Westphalia are the only long-term solution.