There's some confusion developing in the base right now about regime change โ perhaps thanks to war hawks deliberately muddying the waters.
The Iranian regime is bad. We support popular sovereignty. If the Iranian people want to bring down their government and put in a new one that respects human rights and desires peace with its neighbors, they will have our full support.
But there is a vast difference between a popular revolution and foreign-imposed, abrupt, violent regime change. We learned that difference 22 years ago. Saddam was never popular. But when America violently toppled him, we became the enemy invaders, and the government we installed became the unpopular occupation government. The government we installed was linked inextricably to a humiliating military defeat โ which badly undermined its legitimacy.
Forced regime change creates a power vacuum that is filled by the most violent forces in a society. It exacerbates ethnic tensions โ especially when there is a foreign power picking winners and losers while being totally unfamiliar with a nation's complex social dynamics. It happened to us in Afghanistan, it happened to us in Iraq, it happened to us in Libya, and it would happen again in Iran.
Anybody who tells you regime change is easy is kidding themselves. Every country has its government for a reason. Abruptly throwing that into turmoil isn't just risky, it's reckless.
REPORTER: Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon.
TRUMP: I don't care what she said. I think they were very close to having one.
Dude is right. I love my @hornets, but I despise this rigged league. The @NBA is a scripted joke, pretending itโs real competition while manipulating outcomes behind the scenes. At least the @WWE has the decency to admit itโs entertainment. The NBA is just bad theater in denial.