Under the presidency of George W Bush (2001-09), the US administration was riddled with neocon crazies (or "fucking crazies" as then secretary of state Colin Powell once memorably referred to them), who recognised no difference between US and Israeli interests, and were responsible for tearing Iraq limb from limb from 2003 on.
In addition to its share of neocon crazies, such as national security adviser John Bolton, and special representative for Venezuela Elliot Abrams, the current Trump administration contains yet another layer of lunacy - Christian Zionists, such as vice president Mike Pence and secretary of state Mike Pompeo, who are itching to do to Iran what Bush and his neocons did to Iraq.
For example, could the annals of US foreign policy possibly furnish anything quite as crazy as the following exchange between Chris Mitchell, Middle East Bureau Chief of the US Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), and Pompeo at a recent press conference in Jerusalem?
Q: "Could it be that President Trump right now has been raised up for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from the Iranian menace?"
A: "As a Christian, I certainly believe that's possible. It was remarkable - so we were down in the tunnels where we could see 3,000 years ago... the remarkable history of the faith in this place and the work that our administration's done to make sure that this democracy in the Middle East, that this Jewish state remains. I am confident that the Lord is at work here." (Secretary of State Pompeo to CBN news: God may have raised up Trump like he raised up Queen Esther, David Brody, cbn.com, 21/3/19)
(For those unversed in obscure biblical lore, Esther, a Jewish queen of the Persian king Ahasuerus, is credited with interceding with her husband to save her people from the plotting of his evil adviser Haman.)
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Carey Moore critiques the Book of Esther from an archaeological viewpoint:
https://www.andrews.edu/sem/inministry/uploads/2014coursesyllabi/archaeology_and_esther-moore.pdf
From the generous Conclusion - aspects of the rest of the text are much more sceptical:
"The Book of Esther is an historical novel. Just as a beautiful pearl results from successive layers of a colorful, lustrous substance being added to a solid grain of sand, so the Book of Esther may very well have a solid, historical core — the story of Mordecai, and possibly even the story of Esther — to which have been added a number of legendary and fictional elements, notably, the harem tale about Vashti and, quite possibly, the "historical" basis for what was once a non-Jewish festival, the festival we now call Purim."
Certainly no basis for rationalising an attack on another country in the 21st Century.
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