Trump and “Madman Doctrine”
The weaponization of dementia: Enabling genocide and (nuclear?) aggression — and destroying democracy.
On December 20, 2016, I emailed Dan Ellsberg:
Thought of you the other day re Kissinger and Trump -- wondering to what extent Trump is implementing a version of “Madman Theory”. Any thoughts on that?
Dan replied later that day:
No. He just IS a madman; I only hope his having nuclear weapons in his negotiating arsenal doesn’t enflame his use of his own madness. (He doesn’t need any instruction about the uses of madness, I’m sure.)
I thought then, and think now, that Dan was wrong about this. I think Trump has utilized “Madman Doctrine” in the past and may be using it now — so I put out the news release below today.
I don’t know if he’s doing it now. He’s openly threatening to nuke Iran: “The entire country could be taken out in one night. And that night might be tomorrow night” as Decensored News highlights. See my piece “Imperial Israel’s Nuclear Threat: A Clear and Present Danger.”
I’ve for years thought that part of the role of “presidents” is as suicide bombers for the Empire.
Additionally, and regardless, as with the Biden script, getting Vance in as president will avoid a primary process, minimizing the possibility of a bit of democracy breaking out. So Peter Thiel creation JD Vance gets to the White House with minimal scrutiny.
See my pieces about how Biden’s alleged dementia was timed to destroy the 2024 DNC primaries and “rebrand Genocide Joe as Geriatric Joe”.
Drop Site News reports: “Trump issues another deadline to Iran; Strikes on universities, petrochemical plants; Israel strikes WHO vehicle in Gaza” and “Iran Rejects Temporary Ceasefire, Says It Has Already Laid Out Terms for Agreement.” AntiWar.com reports: “U.S. Loses at Least Six Aircraft in Iran War Since Friday.”
SINA TOOSSI, stoossi@internationalpolicy.org, @SinaToossi
Toossi is a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy.
He just appeared on CNN and posted: “I tend to read much of Trump’s bombast as his version of ‘madman doctrine’ signaling. In other words, an attempt to convince the other side that he is totally unpredictable and capable of extreme escalation. He does sometimes follow through, but when he does it is often more limited than the rhetoric, or he ultimately pulls back, which has more often been the pattern. But if he escalates as he threatens here, what comes next? …”
Toossi recently wrote the piece “How Washington’s Iran Groupthink Led to a Global War” for The Nation: “The war now engulfing the Middle East is already making Americans less safe and less prosperous, yet it is exactly where Washington’s approach to Iran has led.
“What makes this moment so troubling is not just the scale of the conflict, but how it grew out of years of distorted debate, where Iran was reduced to simplistic, fear-driven narratives and serious warnings were brushed aside.
“Americans were not calling for a war with Iran. Polling showed clear opposition, including among many Republican voters. Yet for years, Washington’s foreign policy establishment — the officials, think tanks, and media voices that shape U.S. policy toward other countries — moved in the opposite direction. This was not a misunderstanding of public will. It reflected the kind of debate Americans were given, one that had already been narrowed to favor confrontation over restraint. At its core, the question was not simply which policy to pursue, but whether diplomacy would be allowed to work at all. …
“It reflected years of sustained pro-Israel political pressure and the influence of powerful donors, most notably Sheldon Adelson, the late gambling magnate who was the largest financial backer of Trump’s 2016 campaign and a fierce opponent of the deal, closely aligned with Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline stance on Iran.” Toossi’s prior pieces include “The Iranian Voices America Isn’t Hearing.”
Also see IPA news release: “Are Trump and Netanyahu Trying to Fuel an Arab-Iranian War?“
For the future perhaps democracy's should make it a condition that people running for President ought to have mental health tests not only to see how rational they are but how calm and rational they can be under high stress. I always remember how cool JFK was with the Russians in the Cuba episode.
I also remember of the old film The Caine Mutiny with Humphrey Bogart as the Captain of the warship. His officers can see he's gradually breaking down mentally. Something has to be done but they're confused themselves about what to do. Eventually the Captain is relieved of his position.
Being a President of the ship of state is quite a bit more worrying than a sea Captain but the importance of tests of say - logic, perceptiveness, astuteness, even common sense, ect., is vital.