War with Iran would be a really bad thing

As he proved many times over during the Iraq War, Juan Cole is far more reliable in commenting on affairs in Iraq and Iran than US government officials who speak officially in support of a war policy. He posts about Trump, Troll-in-Chief, wags the Impeachment Dog by Going to War with Iran 01/03/2019:

The madman in the White House has been sulking and raging for weeks about his impeachment proceedings, tweeting manically on some days more than 100 times. With the release by JustSecurity.org of unredacted emails on the Ukraine scandal showing that Trump personally (and illegally) withheld congressionally mandated military aid to an ally, the Republican defense of the president is collapsing. Some GOP senators such as Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski seem to be weakening on calling witnesses and subpoenaing records for the Senate trial, and the Democrats only need four Republican senators to ensure a proper proceeding, which would certainly put Trump’s presidency in peril.

It is extremely suspicious that Trump has abruptly begun trafficking in the sanguinary merchandise of all-out war just at this moment when his throne is on the brink of toppling.

As Cole and every other expert and most laypeople actually paying attention knew when the Iraq War started, taking out Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq would drastically tilt the balance of power in that region toward Iran. Now we're here:

Now, by murdering Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Jerusalem (Qods) Brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, Trump has brought the United States to the brink of war with Iran. Mind you, Iran’s leadership is too shrewd to rush to the battlements at this moment, and will be prepared to play the long game. My guess is that they will encourage their allies among Iraqi Shiites to get up a massive protest at the US embassy and at bases housing US troops. 

They will be aided in this task of mobilizing Iraqis by the simultaneous US assassination of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Forces. Al-Muhandis is a senior military figure in the Iraqi armed forces, not just a civilian militia figure. Moreover, the Kata’ib Hizbullah that he headed is part of a strong political bloc, al-Fath, which has 48 members in parliament and forms a key coalition partner for the current, caretaker prime minister, Adil Abdulmahdi. Parliament won’t easily be able to let this outrage pass. [emphasis in original]

Nick Serpe writes (Stopping the War This Time Dissent 01/03/2020):

But if the recent past is any indication, there are some things we should be prepared for regarding elite discourse in the United States. Media figures and politicians who supported the Iraq War will come out with sympathetic readings of the killing of Qassim Suleimani. They’ll point to the many years of conflict between the United States and Iran since the revolution in 1979. They’ll give credence to Defense Department statements about how this attack was necessary to prevent worse violence. They’ll call for us to line up behind patriotic symbols if and when Iran retaliates.

Here is Trita Parsi's take on the current situation, Iran Expert Trita Parsi: We may already be at war with Iran The Hill 01/03/2020