As we head toward the end of the Trump presidency people are starting to worry about the damage he will do as he leaves. There were reports regarding leaving the Open Skies agreement, not ordering replacement aircraft and scrapping the existing aircraft. People have questioned the speed this was carried out recently.
Now reports are coming in that Israel is concerned that they might be attacked by Iran in response to a US attack on a nuclear facility in Iran. There are reports that Trump has been advised by Pompeo and others that he should not carry out the attack. You start to wonder about some of the staff clear outs that have been going on in the defence area.
Apparently the plan is to attach a nuclear facility in Iran that has a store of Uranium around 12 times more than was allowed under the Obama agreed deal. Remember the deal that Trump withdrew from. Everything started with a bully type stance – it was just about an agreement – just paper. But here is the possible cost – war involving nuclear facilities.
And just to be clear have a look at the Geneva convention related to Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1), Article 56. Or maybe Article 8 2. (b) (iv) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. This says you should not attack a facility that would cause major harm to the environment by releasing dangerous materials. It is likely that an attack on an Iranian Nuclear facility would be challenged as a war crime.
There are other costs – the BBC report from a Trump supporting coal town that elected him to save their work. Trump made a lot of noise about restoring coal – but in his presidency the closure of coal mines accelerated over the last four years of the Obama period. That town will now face paying a price – maybe even the end of the town.
Sadly the words and posturing did little at the time, but the delay is almost over and it is time to pay the price.
A lot of people have been worried about paying the price for a Christmas relaxation of the COVID rules. We are about to see what that will be like because of the Trump posturing and the Thanksgiving family get togethers. In two to three weeks we will get an indication of the price the USA will need to pay for getting families together – and the price we might need to pay for Christmas.