By Walt Zlotow
On February 28th Trump made the most self-destructive presidential military decision in America’s 250 years. He sucker punched Iran with a massive bombing campaign while falsely negotiating a peace deal.
It has backfired spectacularly.
Iran’s been preparing for Trump’s sabotage of US peace with Iran for 10 years. Back in 2016, candidate Trump campaigned to withdraw from Obama’s signature foreign policy accomplishment, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA) which certified Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and set the stage for détente with Iran.
Bankrolled by the Israel Lobby which wanted Iran destroyed as a hegemonic Middle East rival, Trump followed orders and withdrew from JCPOA in 2018. He didn’t get around to attacking Iran in first term, but began stowing the seeds of war on day one of term two.
February 28 was his third try at destroying the Iranian regime to rid Israel of its last remaining regional rival. The 12 day war Israel initiated last June 13 failed to crush the regime; indeed, Iran’s missiles so damaged Israel they called on Trump to affect a ceasefire. Trump declared victory, claiming his one off bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites “obliterated them.”
Undaunted by failure, the US and Israel tried again in late December. They had their spy networks infiltrate the peaceful antigovernment protests, turning them violent. The plan was to create so much violence Trump could unleash a second bombing campaign to save the Iranians being slaughtered by their government. But Iran quickly quashed the protests bringing peace to the streets and upending Trump’s depraved plan to bomb again.
January brought the third crack at ousting the Islamic regime. Trump set up new false peace deal negotiations to sucker punch Iran again. No one off attack this time. The massive strike of February 28 was designed to inspire the Iranian people to rise up, oust the Ayatollah, then bow down to their new US, Israeli masters. Three days was all that Trump planned to topple the regime, and neuter Iran as an Israeli rival.
Two things upended Trump’s masterstroke. The Iranian population rose up all right, not to oust their government but to oust the US, Israeli invaders. Second, this time Iran was prepared with a brilliant missile defense that is demolishing US military resources in the region and causing the most massive damage to Israel in its 78 years.
So what has Trump wrought? He lost the war by day 3. Iran stands strong, proud and determined to outlast the US, Israeli military goliaths. He’s seeing his Middle East military bases bombed and degraded. He’s seeing Israel bombed night and day with little means of defending themselves. He’s seeing America’s weapons stores evaporate. Trump is seeing the US inexorably being pushed out of the Middle East.
America’s credibility as a fair negotiator on matters of war and peace is gone. No nation aside from Israel can trust a thing Trump’s advisors negotiate. Trump has astoundingly and stupidly put the world economy in crisis, headed down as 20% of its oil supply is gone from Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Gas hit 8 bucks a gallon in LA today. Every product using petroleum will soon cost more.
Trump is trapped. He cannot win but cannot withdraw from the war costing a billion dollars a day. His plan to prevail in 3 days has turned into a nightmare that will dog his remaining three years if he manages to survive in office that long.
Trump may physically reside in the plush quarters of the White House and the opulence of Mara logo. But his degraded brain and heartless soul reside in Iran’s version of Hotel California where Trump hears this refrain based the iconic 1976 rock song playing on an endless loop;
Last thing Trump remembered
He was running for the door
Trump had to find the passage back to the place he was before
“Relax,” said the Ayatollah
“We are programmed to receive
You can check-out any time you like
But you can never leave!”
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL
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Expect TACO Trumpery to do his usual ”Chicken Out” strategy and announce to the world that ”his genius strategy” has rid the world of the US arsenal of dangerous weapons.
Uhm ….. Where is the naval escort for oil tankers in the Straits of Hormuz?? Nowhere to be seen!!
Indeed, a minion was authorised to excuse ”the delay” due to other wars, rather than a bellicose shouting from the roof-tops of how the US Navy was (allegedly) controlling the whole Persian Gulf.
History shows that everything TACO Trumpery touches turns to manure at enormous expense to everybody else. Iran is no different.
Things are going so well for the Trumpster and his puppeteers,that they are all in line for Nobel Peace Prizes.
The idiocy of this administration will be chiselled into the walls of the caves where the few survivors are forced to live.
It amazes me that a country as small as Israel can cause as much disruption in the world as it does. I would suggest though that the US is the vassal state and Israel the master, aided by an incredibly wealthy and powerful lobby of Zionists who have infiltrated governments and civil societies around the world, including, clearly, Australia.
Strange too that we have not heard a whisper (nothing on main TV News networks) about the mighty naval carrier strike forces that sailed into those waters prior to the aerial attacks! Did they ever get there to keep the vital waterways open and safe, or are they ‘vapourware’ that exist only in the deluded mind of the Donald? Putin must be rubbing his hands with glee as he sees new markets opening for his stockpiles of oil and gas. What a global mess DTrump has created, especially for the majority already doing it hard.
Walt Zlotow,
What a wonderful use of a modern cultural reference to end the article.
Superb!!
And the thought just occurred to me, as we are discussing the place of middle powers on Binoy’s article, how great it would be if the US, unable to leave, brought about its own economic destruction.
Such a downfall would take place over months or years, but history would look back and state that the US was brought down by a middle power.
I can only dream.
From CNBC yesterday — Iran has sent at least 11.7 million barrels of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began, all of which were headed to China, according to vessel-tracking data.
Many ships have “gone dark” after Tehran threatened to attack any vessel attempting to pass through the waterway.
Iran has also resumed loading tankers at the Jask oil and gas terminal along the Gulf of Oman, south of the Strait of Hormuz, which could add additional capacity to its crude shipments.
This is not a “Trump disaster”, this is a US disaster.
Harry,
I think you mean the Nobbled Themselves Prize.
Could someone please calculate the cost to the rest of the world for this “excursion”.
@4th Hoarseman:
When the oil stops, everything stops.
When the psychopaths reign supreme, all humanity is lost.
Symptom of the three corrupt autoritarian amigos Trump, Putin and Netanyahu with US fossil fueled Koch Heritage & Evangelicals’ Project Esther vs Palestine, the centre and higher education; while they have no off ramps…..
All three share Jared Kushner, failed invasions, antipathy towards Europe and fossil fuels.
Ray of sunlight, though avoided by most media, is the impetus they are giving to renewable energy sources vs fossil fuels; Australia is going gangbusters but avoided by the RW MSM.