A scant 11 months after suggesting the United States invade Venezuela, president Donald Trump is threatening the invasion of another of his foes -- Iran.
His threat of war is being seized upon by the more warlike members of his Cabinet, especially National Security Adviser John Bolton, as the green light for regime change in Iran. Authoritative White House sources cited by some U.S. media outlets suggest the Trump administration has indeed launched a campaign designed to overthrow the theocratic and Islamist government ruling Iran.
The Trump administration has gone on an internet offensive to push regime change, unleashing speeches and social media attacks designed to stoke unrest among the Iranian population to the extent a popular revolution is fomented against the regime.
These same officials said Trump will pressure Iran's leaders with tough sanctions and an information campaign meant to erode their support among the restive public. Angry Iranians have launched the largest street protests since 2012 in protest of the soaring cost of living and plummeting value of the Iranian rial.
Recent statements from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also confirm Trump's regime change operation is already in motion. A clear sign of this is the very public White House support for Iranian demonstrators, many of whom are demanding the formation of a more moderate, secular government replacing the hardline Muslim fundamentalist leaders.
The clearest sign yet that regime change in on Trump's mind is his incredibly violent rant yesterday to a seemingly innocuous statement by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani: "America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars."
In an angry tweet highlighting his fighting word in all capital letters, the man who dodged military service five times shouted to Rouhani:
"NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE.
"WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!"
Iran quickly brushed aside this twitter rant by Trump and countered with an all-caps twitter rant from Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that said: "COLOR US UNIMPRESSED: The world heard even harsher bluster a few months ago. And Iranians have heard them -- albeit more civilized ones -- for 40 yrs. We've been around for millennia & seen fall of empires, incl our own, which lasted more than the life of some countries."
"BE CAUTIOUS!" he yelled at Trump.
