Chuck - From the very beginning of the Trump admin. I have watched Bolton with forebodings - I think he has been very cunning to stay around for as long as he has, but, of course, he represents part of that extreme Neo-Con group on whose support Trump relies, so Trump is most likely in a quandary what to do about him. I do not now believe that Trump wants a war. He is simply pandering to what he thinks the American public wants and that is a continuation of the greatness of America, or at least the propaganda version of it and includes a threatening attitude, obvious and very visible measures against China etc. In the end a trade war benefits no-one, a war benefits certain industries - maybe that's the thinking.
Margaret Thatcher derived huge voter benefits from aggressiveness as shown in the Falkland wars, the whole British public was behind her. Such lessons are not lost on fellow politicians, and are probably just something that's part of their DNA anyway.
We, too, need America to remain the big bad bully, because we do rely on them in case of ........ certain countries surrounding Australia who might have an eye on the big empty land etc. - I understand that.
I do not understand the U.S.' obsession with Iran, though, especially since it tripped them up once before. I have thought it through from Israel's point of view (who IMO are a bastion of the West, and more specifically the U.S.), but cannot for the life of me see any advantage of such an entanglement for Israel, except perhaps on prompting from a conservative U.S. - as in what is happening now.
Lets hope those chess pieces make the right moves for us all.
