The Word Is Treason

Giving aid and comfort to the enemy in the name of political gain

According to the New York Times,

The Trump administration said on Thursday that it planned to remove sanctions on Iranian oil, an unorthodox move intended to lower surging crew prices, which have hurt US consumers and helped Iran profit. The strategy would be a sharp reversal from years of maximum pressure sanctions aimed to cripple Iran’s economy.

Well, that seems like a rather anodyne way to describe what I personally find mind-blowing.

David Kurtz, over at Talking Points Memo, had a more accurate take:

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything as tortured, corrupt, and upside down as Donald’s attempt to save his own political skin by lifting sanctions on Iran so that it can sell its oil and stabilize energy prices while simultaneously conducting a war against Iran.

Tortured, corrupt, and upside down. There’s another word I’d like to add to that list, but before I get to that, what exactly is Donald doing here?

First of all, he’s showing us very clearly that he had no idea what was going to happen after he launched his illegal, unconstitutional war. He had no idea, even though it should have been patently obvious, that Iran was going to use its best, if not only, strategic advantage—closing the Strait of Hormuz to all traffic except its own—to create economic chaos. He had no idea because, despite the fact that he knows nothing, he thinks he knows everything.

Second, because of his failure to anticipate Iran’s move, oil is now $100 a barrel. It was at $62 per barrel the day before the war started. In a desperate attempt to mitigate the consequences of his recklessness, Donald is lifting sanctions on Iran so that it can sell oil in the hopes that that will bring oil prices down. In other words, Donald is allowing Iran to sell extremely expensive oil which will help it more effectively finance its ability to fight back against the United States.

Tortured, corrupt and upside down—all apply to what Donald is doing. But the other word that is even more applicable here is treason.

In Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution, treason is defined very narrowly.

[It] shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.

How else, other than giving our enemy aid and comfort, are we to define Donald’s actions? He is creating the conditions in which it’s possible for the country against whom he started a war to fight more effectively against us, thereby endangering our service members, thousands more of whom are on their way to the Middle East to fight his misguided and corrupt war of choice.

The President of the United States of America is lifting sanctions that were put in place to keep Iran from spreading its influence and developing nuclear weapons while reining in its military capabilities.

Donald Trump is, in the starkest possible terms, making it easier for a country with whom we are at war to kill Americans.