(New York) The eminent figure of the neo-conservative movement that promoted war in Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, William Kristol celebrated the death of “America first” before the attack of the United States against Iran.
“” America first “is dead, if it has already existed,” he wrote last week in the morning newsletter on the Bulwark site. He then reacted to the debate raging among the supporters of Donald Trump on the question of whether the latter should continue to negotiate with Iran or resolve to drop bombs to destroy the nuclear installations of this country.
According to Kristol, ex-chief of staff to vice-president Dan Quayle, none of these choices corresponded to “America first”, an expression of isolationism advocated by several followers of the Maga movement.
“The slogan” America first “is an attempt to short-circuit the serious debate that we must have on our foreign policy. But as the Israel-Iran crisis demonstrates, in one way or another, we will be involved. We are all globalists now. »»
This point of view explains why singers of “America first”, including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Marjorie Taylor Greene, felt betrayed by the military temptation of Donald Trump in the Middle East.
Temptation which obviously turned into reality when the president gave the green light to American strikes against the three main nuclear installations of Iran.
“I really fear that my country is weakened by this, I think we will see the end of the American Empire,” said Tucker Carlson during an episode of Steve Bannon’s Balado show. He spoke of direct involvement of the United States in the Israel-Iran conflict.
“It will also end, I believe, as Trump’s presidency,” he added.
Donald Trump was soon to call the comments of Fox News as “eccentlled”.
But one of her greatest allies in Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene, replied that there was nothing “eccentric” to see in the involvement of the United States in another military conflict in the Middle East an affront to the concept of “America first”.
“Foreign wars, interventions and regime changes place America last, kill innocent people, ruin us and eventually destroy us,” said Georgia’s representative last week. “It is not eccentric. This is what millions of Americans voted for. This is what we believe to be “America first”. »»
“Peace craftsman”
But is the idea of ”America first” is the Carlson, Bannon and MTG the right one? During a recent interview with the magazine The AtlanticDonald Trump answered this question by explaining that he alone can define this concept.
“Since it was I who created the expression” America first “and that this term was not used before my arrival, I think it is me who decides this,” said Trump. “For those who say they want peace, one cannot have peace if Iran has a nuclear weapon. So, for all these wonderful people who do not want to do anything to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon, it is not peace. »»
Let us move on that Donald Trump cannot claim the paternity of the expression “America first”, which was used to identify an isolationist group which anti-Semites and pronazis have been grafted like Charles Lindbergh before the Entrance of the United States into the Second World War.
It must be admitted that Donald Trump gave a definition of “America first” during his second inauguration speech, which does not exclude the use of military force abroad.
“Our armed forces will be released to focus on their mission alone: defeating the enemies of America,” he said, arousing applause. “We will measure our success not only by the battles we win, but also by the wars that we finish-and perhaps more important, the wars in which we never enter. The inheritance of which I will be the most proud will be that of a peaceful craftsman and a unifier. This is what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier. »»
Donald Trump announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran on Monday. Two days earlier, he welcomed the complete destruction of the three main nuclear installations of Iran following American strikes. This assessment was perhaps premature, but, combined with the announcement on Monday, he pushed supporters of “America first” to proclaim that the 47e President had just made sure of the Nobel Peace Prize that he has been coveting for years.
“President Trump will win the Nobel Peace Prize, without a doubt!” Exclaimed the Republican senator from Alabama, Katie Britt, on Fox News on Monday evening. “You look at what he did with Congo and Rwanda. You look where he is with Pakistan and India and what he did there. And then you look at this – what everyone was talking about, but that no one thought possible. He brought peace to a region that needed stability. He has shown what the policy of “America first” is really. »»
All this, of course, could change. But, for the moment – and to paraphrase Mark Twain -, the rumors of the death of “America first” are greatly exaggerated.
