According to a report yesterday in the Washington Post, written before the Iran-U.S. meeting held today in Rome, brawls are going on in Washington over whether to bomb Iran. In Washington the divide falls between the warmongering neo-cons, led by Mark Dubowitz, head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and close friend of Mike Pompeo, and a faction led by J.D. Vance and Tulsi Gabbard, who are concerned about the second order effects of military strikes on Iran’s nuclear program. Dubowitz, of course, is not a member of the administration, but he’s long been a voice in Washington for a military hard line on Iran.
The Post notes that Gabbard recently selected a skeptic of Iran intervention, Navy Reserve officer William Ruger, as a top aide. Trump also heard from outside advocates for diplomacy including conservative podcast host Tucker Carlson, the officials said. The more cautious advisers note that U.S. intelligence assesses that Iran has not committed to building a nuclear weapon and that a bombing campaign would probably spark a far broader regional war.
