GOP's Tom Cotton blasted as ‘delusional’ for claiming that war with Iran could be won in only ‘two strikes’

During an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that aired on Sunday, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas called for military action against Iran and insisted that a war with the country could be won with only “two strikes.” And the Washington Post’s James Downie, in a column published Sunday evening, stresses that Cotton is “delusional” if he believes that.

Cotton told “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan that a “retaliatory military strike” against Iran is necessary because of “unprovoked attacks” on two oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. According to Cotton, a war against Iran could be won with “two strikes, the first strike and the last strike” — and Downie, in his column, responded that Cotton doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

“This is, to put it mildly, delusional,” Downie asserts. “Cotton, who served in Iraq, surely knows that tens of thousands of troops were insufficient to ‘win’ that war.”

Downie elaborated, “Iran is more than three times larger than and about twice as populous as Iraq. Even the military plans ordered up by hardliners such as National Security Adviser John Bolton envision as many as 120,000 troops deployed to the region.”

Reportedly, President Donald Trump has become frustrated over Bolton’s push for war in Iran. And Downie writes that Trump is not as “irresponsible” as others where Iran policy is concerned.

“Iran policy is a rare instance where the president — though he has certainly helped create the current crisis — is not among the most irresponsible people influencing his administration’s policy,” Downie notes. “Even President Trump, who believes that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is his friend, surely is smart enough to know that another Mideast war would be a bad idea.”

However, Downie adds, Trump is under great “pressure” to intervene militarily with Iran.

“Trump faces plenty of pressure to remain as antagonistic as possible toward Iran from Republicans both inside and outside the White House — not to mention countries such as Saudi Arabia that would gain from a U.S. conflict with Iran,” Downie writes.

The Post writer wraps up his column by stressing that Cotton and other GOP war hawks have yet to learn the painful lessons of the Iraq War.

“We are stuck with Cotton and other young Republican senators such as Ben Sasse (Neb.) who are all too happy with bellicosity toward Iran,” Downie observes. “So much for a country learning from its mistakes.”