By Walt Zlotow
On Iran war day 71 it’s clear Trump has not only lost his war, he’s blundered the world into a looming economic catastrophe. As horrendous as that is, it wasn’t even Trump’s idea. Trump was simply following orders from his real boss, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On February 11, Netanyahu arrived at the White House with Mossad Director David Barnea. They encouraged – if not demanded – invasion. The Netanyahu-Barnea tag team argued Iran would collapse within a couple of days from a combination of assassinating Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei, massive bombing, Mossad-fomented civil unrest and ground incursions by Kurdish fighters.
That couple of days has morphed into 71 days of arguably the greatest military disaster in US history. Instead of collapsing within a couple of days, Iran retaliated against the massive US, Israeli bombing onslaught with their own. Result? All 13 US bases in the neighboring Gulf States are damaged or destroyed. Gulf States infrastructure has suffered massive damage. So has Israel, suffering its worst bombing in its 78 years.
Worst of all, Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, choking off a fifth of world oil supply which may cause a worldwide recession, if not depression. The Netanyahu-Barnea presentation was a blizzard of lies Trump swallowed whole in spite of Intelligence assessments to the contrary.
As the world careens toward economic catastrophe, Trump is completely out of options to achieve any of his war goals. Check that. Friday he alluded to striking Iran with nuclear weapons. Trump told reporters on whether the ceasefire if off: “If there’s no ceasefire you’re just going to have to look at one big glow coming out of Iran.”
Assuming he either doesn’t order nuclear strikes, or his military commanders disobey this directive to do so, Trump is facing the worst military defeat in America’s 250 years, all brought on by his fealty to Benjamin Netanyahu. What motivated Trump’s caving to the Israeli Prime Minister? Was it the hundreds of millions in campaign cash showered upon Trump and his Republican Congress? Was it the ‘Epstein Button’, damaging evidence related to the Epstein pedophile enterprise that Trump dare not risk being exposed? Is Trump simply an ardent Zionist believing that any Israeli murder and mayhem to further Israeli expansion and Middle East dominance is worthy of Trump’s enabling?
While we’ll likely never know, Trump must be contemplating the enormity of the disaster he’s inflicted on the Middle East, and very soon the US and entire world. The one benefit that may result from Trump’s immoral, criminal war is he may be rethinking his special relationship with the man who brought on the greatest calamity of his life, Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump needs to truly become the peace president he campaigned to be in 2016. He can do that by quitting his senseless and lost Iran war. He needs to jettison his subservience to Netanyahu’s vision of Greater Israel. He needs to cut off all US military aid to Israel till Netanyahu or his successor end the genocide in Gaza, near genocide in Lebanon and quest to destroy its hegemonic rival, Iran.
If Trump refuses to do the right thing, events on the battlefield and the world economy may push Trump aside and hopefully implement that peace initiative without him.
Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL
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I sometimes wonder whether Trump would have followed this path, had he been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize that he so richly “deserved” because he “ended seven wars”.
Frankly I believe that he is stupid enough to have done Netanyahu’s bidding anyway.
Combining an idiot, moron, vainglorious upstart, professional area ignoramus is history.., pure historical filth. So we all suffer Trump, even profiteering cynical ruthless backers. This foul story will continue while the shitty humanoids act in unbounded evil, to our shame.
It’s efficient, give him that.
It took years for Vietnam and Afghanistan to be shown for the hopeless quagmires they were: in this war it was obvious from day one.
My concern is that Netanyahu clearly wants more, more destruction and more killing.
The Iranian land-based oil storages are brimming as the oil continues to pump but cannot breach the US blockades to get out to the world. Netanyahu dearly wants to bomb these storages as they represent revenue for the Iranian economy and Netahyahu wants to starve that economy.
Netanyahu must be restrained!
Trump hasn’t lost the war – he has achieved what he wanted – the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by virtue of his naval blockade. Trump won’t attempt to open Hormuz until he has totally destroyed Iran’s economy and social cohesion. Then the US navy will “control” the Straits and will choke off China’s oil supplies. Thus he will control the petro-gas production of the region (a la Venezuela) and he will also break the power of OPEC to the advantage of US oil producers. This is his long game. Bluff, smoke and mirrors maybe, but so far Trump is not losing.
The article misses some key players in the background and especially including Trump’s son in law Kushner, whose mentor was Murdoch, and their ally/frenemy Putin?
Running across all of the the three amigos, Tech Bros. etc. is Epstein…….
I doubt Trump even knows what day it is. Every time he opens his mouth he provides additional evidence of his growing dementia.
Obviously as the monkey on the chain, TACO Trumpery is dancing to the tune of the last person in the room.
The NE military Industrial Complex is making huge profits supplying military equipment, the fossil fuel multinational corporations are making huge profits at the cost top everybody else, too bad that SE Asia may starve next year for lack of food production, because the Americans eat little rice.
Pity about Canada cutting all commercial links with the USA (Undemocratic Sewer of Apartheid) by forming a 14 nation economic block free from $US domination for international transactions. Then the loss of Canadian fishing grounds, NE USA electricity supply from Canada cut, Canadian oil no longer discounted for Californian oil refineries are not important ….. YET!!
The MAGA Mob are harvesting what they sowed ….. uncaring, incompetence and personal greed that means the workers are ignored or further exploited while corporate management weighs the cost of returning to America against their preferred high profits from low wage, low OH&S Asian governments.
Freezing armaments supply to Butcher Bibi overnight would stop the GENOCIDE in Palestine and Lebanon immediately. However, a geriatric, demented ego will prevent this sensible option.
Alas, I hate to agree with you all the time, Mediocrates. But yes, Trump’s on a roll against China, and destroying Iran on the way. But I reckon it’s also fulfilling the direction of USA underlying policy from previous presidents and the military-industrial complex.