Trump is already making the US look weak though, he did nothing over North Korea, whilst talking up a crisis, and he'll do nothing over Iran. He's basically humiliated himself in regards to Russia and completely flipped his stance on China (from his election campaign).

The result of all that North Korea rhetoric, he just looked stupid. North Korea knows as long as it doesn't actually attack the South, US or Japan, the US can't do anything to them.

Similarly, Iran. There isn't a military solution that doesn't completely f**k up the stability of the Middle East. There is no proxy he can use to fight and back - as the US wisely did against IS.

All his done, is undermine the process that the rest of the world seems to think was making progress. If he takes on Iran, the US has to win, and quickly, and then occupy another hostile Middle East nation (another Iraq and Afghanistan).

Otherwise, whatever actions the US takes, will result in Iran accelerating its nuclear program, and breaking off any chance of a negotiated settlement.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

The ultimate point being that the withdrawal happened in the way the Iraqis wanted it. Obama tried to negotiate keeping combat troops in Iraq right up until the end; the deal stumbling on legal protections for US service personnel that Iraq refused to give (you can't operate in a war zone if shooting someone can result in your arrest for murder).

So, yes, Obama campaigned on ending the war in Iraq and withdrawing troops - which was going to happen anyway - and also on ending the war in Afghanistan, which he did not do. It's impossible to know what Obama would have done without being handcuffed by the State of Forces Agreement but, considering he tried very hard to get out from under that agreement, it seems likely that getting out of Iraq was another campaign promise he was prepared to break.

Yes, taking credit for it was ugly. As I have said, there was a lot about Obama's presidency that I didn't like. Doing this was dumb politics and set Clinton up to be branded as the "creator if ISIS" by Trump. Honesty on all things at all times is the best policy; and one rarely practiced by politicians.

We don't do possession; we do defense and attack. Everything else is just wa**ing with a football.

Well the alternative to preventing Iran developing nuclear weapons would have to be military action, as without a deal that has value to them, they'll have no incentive not to develop nuclear weapons.

If the US just does its usual, few bombs and a missile or two, then Iran will adapt. Short of bringing down the entire regime, I can't see an alternative to the current deal that could be effective.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
[Link]

Trump has expressed dismay that the US has all these nukes but never uses them. He also wants to increase the size of the nuclear arsenal 10 fold; which is why Tillerson called him a "f***ing moron".

Trump is a petty and vindictive bully who operates on emotion, without facts and without consideration of the consequences of his actions. I am as certain now that Trump will launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike on someone as I was certain that this would never happen with any previous president.

We don't do possession; we do defense and attack. Everything else is just wa**ing with a football.

Most people I talk to seem to regard what Truman did as the only option. Even though there was no requirement for an unconditional surrender.

Times change.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

There is a debate as to whether the second was really necessary - the inference being that one was for the Russians - but the logic for the first was pretty flawless.

Times do change, and we now have accords and agreements about using nuclear weapons which didn't exist in WW2 because, of course, the bombs weren't prevalent then.

One of the disturbing things about Trump's saber-rattling at North Korea is that he seems to conflate the population of the country with the dictator under whose boot the live (if you can call it living). He has threatened to wipe out the entire population because he doesn't like what Kim Jong-Un is doing. That's not how this works.

We don't do possession; we do defense and attack. Everything else is just wa**ing with a football.