President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise: no new wars. But like most politicians, he hasn’t had a problem throwing those campaign mottos aside when it suits him.

The notion that Trump was a realist or a restrainer, the polar opposite of former President George W. Bush’s neoconservatism or former President Joe Biden ‘s liberal internationalism, was always a mirage. Trump isn’t immune to dropping ordnance. Nine months into his second term, his administration has already unleashed two military engagements in the Middle East : the first a monthslong bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen and the second a U.S. operation to destroy Iran ‘s three major nuclear sites. Both could be charitably described as kicking the can down the road. The Houthis continue to threaten civil

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