QOTD -- Trump's Good And Bad Reasons For War

 

"...The difference between him and the neocons of the Bush era is that they had grandiose ambitions of spreading democracy across the Middle East and beyond, and they convinced themselves that they were acting for the good of those populations and the whole world. Trump couldn’t give a rat’s ass about democracy or the people of the Middle East. But that doesn’t mean he has any qualms about launching a vigorous bombing campaign every month or two. In the first year of his second term, Trump bombed seven different countries (Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Venezuela, Somalia, and Nigeria).

"The Trumpian view isn’t that the U.S. shouldn’t intervene militarily around the world, it’s that there are good reasons and bad reasons to do so, and we should only do so for the right reasons. In his view, bad reasons include: fostering democracy, protecting human rights, discouraging imperialist aggression, and supporting allies. Good reasons include: plunder, culture wars, revenge, pique, and because war is cool..." --  Paul Waldman, in his "Cross Section" Substack on "What Both Journalists and MAGA Voters Misunderstood About Trump and War."  He's been a narcissistic sociopath all his life.  It takes some powerful self-delusion to think of him and what he would do with enormous power any other way.

Meanwhile,