The grift lives on
Donald Trump seems more interested in manipulating the markets than trying to figure out how to successfully end this war. When the stock market seems to sour on the war and begins to tank, Donald Trump will then put out a social media post saying that he is in talks with the Iranian government and the talks are going well. Iran, whose government is supposed to be non-functional, will counter with a press release stating that they are not talking to the United States at all. The stock market will briefly rally, then they find out it was all a smokescreen—or, if you will, fake news.
This is going to be an asymmetrical war. Iran is not going to fly to the United States in some supersonic stealth jet and bomb major American cities. Instead, they’re going to use drones to close the Strait of Hormuz. They will use $25,000 to $40,000 drones to attack American bases in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other Arab states in the region. We will use Patriot missiles, which cost between $3 million and $4 million apiece, to shoot down their drones and missiles.
Iran is also going to use terrorist attacks. Now, as we are struggling just to keep TSA agents paid, Iran is going to step up terrorist attacks here in the United States.
Unfortunately, it’s ironic that we are being schooled by the Iranian government. They seem to have a plan. Their purpose is to survive the U.S./Israeli assault. Their goal is to make this war so painful that the United States and Israel declare victory and walk away. Their tactics include using drones and short-range missiles (made in China, North Korea, or Russia) to attack soft targets in the region. They will also use terrorism wherever they can.
This war is costing us, by some estimates, over a billion dollars a day. The Pentagon has already requested another $200 billion to conduct this war.
It is past time for those in Congress who support this war to stand up and truly support it. Pass a resolution supporting the war and funding the Pentagon. It’s time for us to really have a national debate. What are the pros and cons? It is time for our Commander-in-Chief to go on TV (I wrote this before Trump went on TV and rambled) and explain his rationale to the American people. (Bearing in mind, of course, that he’s gone on TV more than a few times and explained his irrational rationale—a different one each time—and none of them really makes sense.)
This whole ordeal was all predictable. None of this is a surprise. The United States has been war gaming against Iran since the early ’80s. Serious people, smart people, knew how this was going to play out. The problem is we have a commander-in-chief who has fired all the smart people. All the voices of dissent in the Department of Defense and among the Joint Chiefs have been fired. The only thing left is yes-men. Nobody’s going to question the president. This is how we got here.
Israel and Saudi Arabia have been pushing American presidents for over 40 years to “take out” Iran, but smart presidents resisted the impulse. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, George H. W. Bush, and even Bill Clinton resisted the urge to take on Iran. Pete Hegseth said that Donald Trump was the only president who had the guts to take on Iran. I recall somebody saying there’s a fine line between guts and stupidity. Unfortunately, Donald Trump has stepped right across that line.
Donald Trump has failed the American people. He has failed us spectacularly.
On Wednesday, April 1st, Trump addressed the nation but offered no new information, merely echoing his Truth Social posts. I expected him to discuss an exit strategy or share his thoughts on our strategic objectives, but he did not. Watching his speech was a total waste of 19 minutes, and he remains quite exasperating.
War Crimes
The other day, Donald Trump said that he would attack the Iranian power grid if they didn’t capitulate. He stated that he would start with their largest power plant and destroy all of them. This is a war crime. There’s also some discussion about attacking the desalination plants, which is another war crime. Article 54 of Protocol I of the Geneva Convention states that targeting facilities that are “indispensable to the survival of the civilian population” is prohibited.
No Kings
The No Kings March was a huge success. Estimates range from 8 million to over 10 million people who showed up and showed out. People throughout the United States marched, sang, and protested peacefully. From New York to Florida, from Texas to Alaska. There were marches in all 50 states, and even in Antarctica. Antarctica! Over 3,000 different sites. From big cities to small towns.
This is how you break authoritarian rule. People Power. If you believe in democracy. If you love democracy, you have to have really loved the No Kings March. Now we need to continue building and sustaining this momentum. This is how we take our country back.
Not to rain on our No Kings March, but we had great marches before with Occupy Wall Street. Because Occupy targeted one place, one institution, they were relatively easy to shut down. The folks behind the No Kings March seem to have bypassed this flaw. I’m hopeful that we, progressives, can keep pushing for much-needed change.
Vote! Vote as if everything in your life depended on it. Because it does!
