Day 887: Trump wants another endless war in the Middle East or doesn’t understand basic military terms (or both)

With tensions escalating between Washington and Tehran— as the U.S. nears a two-decade stay in Afghanistan — it’s logical to wonder if there’s an actual plan to any of Donald Trump’s rhetoric and near military strikes. That is especially true after Trump needlessly tore up a deal with Iran that was effectively working to keep them from developing nuclear weapons and has seemed shocked that there has been more volatility since then.

Reporters pressed Trump about basic details, including whether exit strategies exist for getting out of Iran, should there be an actual war between the nations.

Trump’s response was that he didn’t need an exit strategy.

Maybe he wants another endless war costing trillions of dollars as another generation of Americans is shipped off to the other side of the world. Or maybe — and probably more likely — Trump doesn’t actually understand what the term “exit strategy” means.

The term largely means the same thing in military parlance that it means in the business world, but Trump’s response to reporters seems to indicate that he thinks the term means a surrender or retreat or something else entirely. An exit strategy simply means minimizing losses — life and economic — after a predetermined objective has been achieved.

George W. Bush had no exit strategy for the war in Iraq, and that lack of planning was evident throughout his tenure. It seems should things escalate even more with Tehran, Trump hasn’t learned from history and wants to engage the exact same non-strategy as Bush did.

887 days in, 575 to go

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