Just as we have other options aside from war, it’s worth considering how limited Iran’s appetite for war with the United States actually is.
Erupting first with concerns over an imminent “World War III” and a fast-impending military draft, social media reactions to the killing of Quds Force Commander Qassam Soleimani last Friday have looked like a funhouse of hysteria. The media appears to be leading the charge, frantically egging the Iranian regime to retaliate through utterly fantastical predictions of what comes next. Much of this hyperbolic reporting stems from the fact that the very thesis of the Iran Deal — and years of Ben Rhodes-generated talking points — are being thoroughly tested.
As journalist Seth Frantzman noted, much of the Iran Deal was sold on the premise that, if we did not strike a deal with the mullahs, we were risking all-out war with the Iranian regime. Trump’s partial withdrawal from the deal, combined with the recent killing of Soleimani, reveals that in order for the logic of the Iran Deal to still hold water, war must now be all but inevitable.
The Obama administration frequently parroted this false binary, purporting that appeasement and war were the only two options for dealing with the hegemonic aims of the Iranian regime. The talking point was repeated with stunning frequency until it became the unimpeachable consensus of the national security talking heads and Democratic politicians alike.
Those who suggested otherwise — like Sen. Tom Cotton, in a particularly hysterical and ugly episode — were routinely mocked or belittled by those within the Iran Deal’s heavily propagandized echo chamber. This consensus also helped shield the administration from criticism, even as $150 billion in Iranian assets were unfrozen and nearly $1.4 billion in U.S. dollars were sent to the regime.
After years of peddling this binary, our media shows scant interest in the massive area that lies between all-out-war and appeasement and surrender. Indeed, as we’re learning under the Trump administration, there are a multitude of options available at the disposal of the United States, including...
