{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1726086,
        "msgid": "why-did-us-presidents-before-trump-reluctant-to-go-to-war-with-iran-1778226951",
        "date": "2026-05-08 14:04:09",
        "title": "Why Did US Presidents Before Trump Reluctant to Go to War with Iran?",
        "author": "Nashih Nashrullah",
        "source": "REPUBLIKA",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Politics",
        "summary": "Former US Secretary of State John Kerry revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persistently urged US administrations from George W. Bush to Joe Biden to launch military action against Iran, but all presidents refused except Donald Trump. However, even during Trump's first term, the push was not realised due to concerns from Defence Secretary James Mattis and Pentagon bureaucracy about uncontrolled escalation and dire outcomes. This highlights longstanding US caution towards military confrontation with Iran, as echoed by former officials like Robert Gates, who warned of catastrophic consequences that could accelerate Iran's nuclear programme.",
        "content": "<p>REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, WASHINGTON\u2014Former US Secretary of State John Kerry\nsparked widespread attention during his appearance on The Briefing\nprogramme with former White House spokesperson Jen Psaki on 10 April. In\nthe interview, quoted from Al Jazeera on Friday (8\/5\/2026), Kerry\ndisclosed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had for years\ncontinuously pressed US administrations\u2014from the George W. Bush era,\nthrough Barack Obama, to Joe Biden\u2014to launch a military strike against\nIran. Yet all those presidents rejected it, except Donald Trump. Kerry\u2019s\nstatement raises a major question: if Trump indeed supported a hardline\napproach towards Iran, why did he not actually carry out Netanyahu\u2019s\nrequest during his first term? The answer can be found in the memoirs of\nMike Pompeo, former CIA Director and Secretary of State in Trump\u2019s first\nadministration. In his book, Pompeo wrote that the then-Defence\nSecretary James Mattis, along with the Pentagon bureaucracy, was deeply\nworried if a conflict with Iran truly erupted. \u201cMattis once said to me:\n\u2018Michael, if we go up against Iran, they will control the escalation,\nand we will end up in a very bad situation,\u2019\u201d Pompeo wrote. Before\nMattis, Robert Gates, former Defence Secretary under Bush and Obama, had\nalso warned that a US or Israeli military strike on Iran could have\n\u201ccatastrophic\u201d consequences and instead drive Iran\u2019s nuclear programme\nfurther underground, making it even harder to stop.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/why-did-us-presidents-before-trump-reluctant-to-go-to-war-with-iran-1778226951",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}