Donald Trump ends the third week of the Iran war confronting a crisis that seems to be slipping out of his hands: Global energy prices are surging, the United States stands isolated from allies and more troops are preparing to deploy despite his promise the war would be only a “short excursion.”
A defensive Trump called other NATO countries “cowards” for refusing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and insisted the campaign was unfolding according to plan. But his declaration on Friday that the battle “was Militarily WON” clashed with the reality of a defiant Iran that is choking off Gulf oil and gas supplies while launching missile strikes across the region.
Trump, who took office promising to keep the U.S. out of “stupid” military interventions, now appears to control neither the outcome nor the messaging of a conflict he helped to initiate. The lack of a clear exit strategy carries risks both for his presidential legacy and his party’s political prospects as Republicans scramble to defend narrow majorities in Congress in the November midterm elections.
Well put.
I guess this is also why sympathies from wronged friends and allies are running dry.
Unfortunately, I’m of the sort who doesn’t believe that flipping the table will be to the gain to anyone but those with the preparation and resources to grab what they may (which is what they’re doing)
The divide is too deep, and those people too greedy to do anything but provide for their own. The downtrodden won’t come out better from this, either we stop them, or we wait for the next revolution where people will be even more desperate.
The latter leads to more suffering, more death and more blood, if history is any guide.