WASHINGTON: To retaliate or show restraint? Toughen sanctions or negotiate? The US administration, divided between hard-line hawks and a Donald Trump who fears plunging the country into another"endless" war, is struggling to define its strategy against Iran - as demonstrated by its uncertain response to recent developments in the Gulf of Oman.
But Aaron David Miller, a former negotiator in both Democratic and Republican administrations, does not see the recent attacks as"sufficient for a casus belli." Pentagon spokesmen have stressed that neither American interests nor personnel have yet been attacked -- making it an issue affecting global maritime traffic that should be settled at the international level.
Last year Trump pulled the US out of the multinational 2015 accord that was designed to prevent Tehran from producing nuclear weapons. But with supreme Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei flatly refusing to talk, Trump seems uncertain how to proceed.
It was designed that way .. False Flag