8/2/2019

EU/IRAN/SANCTIONS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WAR: “George H.W. Bush led a coalition of some three dozen countries that kicked Saddam Hussein’s Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991. George W. Bush had his ‘coalition of the willing’ behind the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. But so far, Donald Trump’s coalition to protect oil tankers from alleged Iranian aggression appears to have just one member — the United States. The British have demurred, the French are noncommittal and the Germans on Wednesday [7-31-19] flat out said no. They’re all still smarting from the president’s exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which they say is partly responsible for Tehran’s suspected bellicose behavior. They’re also worried that aligning with the U.S. on such an initiative could drag them into a war with Iran. Those concerns have only risen this week after Trump imposed sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister.”

Nahal Toosi, “Trump’s coalition of one,” Politico, August 2, 2019 5:04 am