Oil Men, Farmers And GOP Senators Clash Over Drastic Move That

The strange thing about this clash is that everybody agrees on the destination. Oil men, farmers, and GOP senators all say the war with Iran needs to end and end quickly. The fight is over what a quick exit actually costs. Farmers want diesel below four bucks. Producers want stable markets, not a ceasefire that sends prices on a roller coaster. Senators want to make sure a sudden pullback doesn’t look like Trump got scared.

That last part is the real worry. Everyone wants off this ride, but nobody trusts the exit. A drastic move might work, but a drastic mistake could drag us back into the Middle East quagmire we just spent twenty years trying to leave. The people who grow our food and pump our oil are tired of paying the price for long wars. They have a point. But senators are right that how we leave matters almost as much as leaving.

We think Trump deserves credit for wanting out. He never bought into the forever-war crowd. That has been his instinct all along, and it is a good one. Ending a war is not the same as running from it. The question is whether the next move is a genuine exit or a frantic one. The president should listen to the folks back home, the ones who would rather see a stronger America at home than a bigger flag somewhere overseas.

A quick end and a smart end can be the same thing. But if those senators are holding their noses over a rushed deal, the administration ought to slow down and look at the details. We don’t need a war with Iran. We don’t need a surrender either. We need a conclusion that lets our allies trust us and our enemies know better. The oil men and farmers can live with that. The senators should get on board.