I'm John Batchew with Anatole-Levin of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

He's ahead of the Eurasia

program, and that includes the fleet, the naval fleet, and the air fleet gathered around Iran.

To do what? To achieve what? We did not have any detailed understanding from the president's

address of the State of the union, there's

enough firepower there to take on the whole continent. But to do what? We have a couple of

minutes, Anatole, presuming the president shoots and doesn't call them home, what does he achieve?

Do we know? Has anybody written that down?

As far as I can see, no. I mean, it's like the run-up to the Iraq war, but even worse,

because there at least you had some idea. I mean, it was fatuous, but some idea of, you know,

the new regime you wanted in power. Here you have nothing. I mean, what you have in the background, of course, is the Israeli desire simply to destroy Iran to break it up as a state,

which, you know, Israeli experts and even, you know, ministers have been completely candid about.

But that isn't supposedly U.S. strategy. So, you know, we must still hope that,

that, you know, Trump will make this great display of force and then we'll settle for a compromise.

As I said, I mean, if the Iranians are willing to open up their economy to the

U.S. and the U.S. is willing to moderate its security demands, that would be a good deal,

I think, so we just have to pray that that is possible. Calling the fleet home, is that

imaginable? Well, if Trump can spin this as a victory achieved by

a show of force, I mean, Trump has been extraordinarily good, well, because his base has tolerated

it, whether they will go on doing, so I don't know, but extraordinarily good at making threats, climbing down,

and then presenting this in public as a success.

Let us hope that this is what will happen in the case of Iran.

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