1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Having tried so successfully to evade military service during the Vietnam war, it seems our president should have more caution when he threatens American boots on the ground in the Middle East war he started. If Iran is indeed ‘obliterated’ and defeated like we hear daily why hasn’t Trump declared the win and call it a day? We know why. Because he can’t. Because they aren’t. You hope that America would have learned from experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan that there's no such thing as a short war in that part of the world. Once troops are committed, it's hard to bring them home. Polls show Americans divided along party lines in their support of the war. But while Reuters found that 65% of Americans expect Trump to commit ground troops to the mission, only 7% say they would support that decision. Before a president asks the country to sacrifice its children to war, he should convince them the objectives are in the nation's best interests. And that the goals are achievable. So far all the world sees are scatter-shot reactions, considered by the hopeful to be evidence of a strategy. That’s some wishful and deluded thinking. Just like that coming out of the Oval. National security officials were always keenly aware of Iran’s ability to create an energy crisis by blocking the strait of Hormus. That very scenario is now unfolding. Leaving Trump with no exit strategy beyond wishful thinking. He seems consistently naive about how things can happen. He seems to believe that if he says it and keeps saying it there’s always a hope that what he says will come true. But that’s what children do. It’s not what presidents are supposed to do. The problem is he can declare victory all he wants but if he doesn’t get a ceasefire, he’s got nothing. When he or those around him started publishing memes of war as a video game, raising money by using pictures of our dead coming home, and doing the kind of tasteless things that he can do, he’s basically sending a message of weakness, not a message of strength, to the world. And that is what the world sees right now. So of course he’s having problems trying to get allies to respond when they’re not sure he knows what he’s doing. A Tomahawk missile hit a girls’ school in southern Iran on the first day of the conflict, killing at least 175 people, most of them children. We did that. Trump sought to blame the attack on Iran, claiming its security forces are “very inaccurate” with munitions. Any other president of the US would have recognized the mistake and apologize for what happened. He didn’t do that. Confirming an ugly American image that people around the world may have. This is Trump’s baby. Nobody else is responsible for what we’re seeing unfold in Iran. Except perhaps the GOP Congress who refuses to do its job.