(We Didn't) Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran…Yet

We don’t know what will happen next in Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo today is in Riyadh—rarely a happy portent for U.S. foreign policy—talking up a “global coalition” against Iran, as President Donald Trump vows to enact new “hard-hitting” sanctions and, you know, warns of “obliteration like you’ve never seen before.”

And yet! Trump last week did what too few U.S. presidents do, which was a) call off a military strike, b) do so in the name of disproportionality, and c) say as much in public. And so the first chunk of today’s Editors’ Roundtable edition of the Reason Podcast, featuring Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, and Matt Welch, includes praise and analysis of the president’s reticence. The gang also talks about this tweet…

When our Country had no debt and built everything from Highways to the Military with CASH, we had a big system of Tariffs. Now we allow other countries to steal our wealth, treasure, and jobs – But no more! The USA is doing great, with unlimited upside into the future!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2019

…and foreshadows the staggering amount of check-writing that will be promised in this week’s opening round of Democratic presidential debates.

Audio production by Ian Keyser.

‘Ghosts, 18‘ by Nine Inch Nails is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Relevant links from the show:

“Trump Is Right: Killing Innocent Iranians Would Be a ‘Not Proportionate’ Response to Downed Drone,” by Eric Boehm

“War With Iran May Have Been Avoided Due to Trump’s Fondness for Fox News,” by Elizabeth Nolan Brown

“If Trump Doesn’t Want a War With Iran, He Should Stop Pushing Iran Towards War,” by Daniel DePetris

“Will Today’s Global Trade Wars Lead to World War III?” By Daniel Drezner

“Nationalism and Socialism Are Very Bad Ideas,” by Deirdre McCloskey

“Deficit Politics May Have Gone Away, but Debt and Deficits Are Worse Than Ever,” by Peter Suderman

“Bernie Sanders Wants To Cancel All Student Debt and Make College Free, at a Cost of $2.2 Trillion,” by Robby Soave

“Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren Unveil Dueling Trillion-Dollar Climate Policies,” by Christian Britschgi

“Elizabeth Warren’s Budget Math Still Doesn’t Work,” by Alex Muresianu

“Reparations Are More Likely to Divide the Nation Than Heal It,” by Steven Greenhut

“How to Build Infrastructure During an Age of Sequester: Reason Foundation’s Robert W. Poole,” by Nick Gillespie

“With Toy Story 4, the Toy Story Series Is Now Hollywood’s Greatest Franchise,” by Peter Suderman