To the editor: President Trump may be searching for an endgame in the Iran war of his own making, but it will be a needle in a haystack task for him given his reckless braggadocio, which is constraining his acceptable options (“Trump is searching for an endgame to the Iran war,” March 15).
He can’t exert regime change or reach his other goals without making unconscionably massive further investments and potentially putting boots on the ground, and yet he can’t afford to pull a TACO, either. Are we doomed to another “forever war”? It is clear that Donald J. Trump is the mission creep we fear.
Tim Geddes, Huntington Beach
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To the editor: Trump has put us in a situation similar to that of a cat finding itself on a tall tree branch. He has no idea how to get out and is now calling for countries he has denigrated repeatedly for help in the quagmire he created.
John T. Chiu, Newport Beach
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To the editor: As a 96-year-old Korean War veteran and son of an immigrant foot soldier who served with Pershing in the trenches in France in World War I, this war is not one that I think my family will remember with pride. I wonder, with the stark options we are now facing, why do we not hear more about supporting Reza Pahlavi, the former shah’s son? Even though Trump has briefly dismissed identifying him as a prospective future leader of Iran, he remains a very viable pro-Western secular leader.
Recent reports from Iran say he has upward of 30% of the population supporting him. Chants of “long live the shah” are sometimes heard during protests. Certainly in the Iranian communities that have emigrated abroad in the last 50 years, he would have vast support.
Pahlavi has advocated for a democratic, non-religious, secular government to replace the clerical regime now ruling Iran. He often emphasizes the separation of religion from state affairs in his stated political goals.
What better alternative than those being suggested flippantly by Trump or a drawn-out, unpopular war?
Robert L. Turner, Los Angeles
