Defanging Iran and its global terror network is a noble goal. That being said, what’s happening now is something else. If he wanted regime change, the time for President Trump to strike Iran was when protestors were dying by the tens of thousands.
Instead, Trump followed Bibi Netanyahu’s lead into a forever war. Granted, the strike at the beginning that took out the Ayatollah Khamenei and other top leaders was a brilliant stroke.
At the time, even Trump’s public comments seemed to indicate a two- to four-day foray. It’s now entering three weeks, and Trump is suddenly calling for an unconditional surrender, which will never come unless you obliterate every last Revolutionary Guardsman.
I honestly believe that Trump thought the people would rise up as soon as the U.S. and Israel struck — that is, within two to four days. When that didn’t happen, Trump — as is his wont — dug in his heels and committed to a Bibi devastation-of-Iran plan. To save face, in other words.
This is now smacking too much of previous U.S. ventures overseas to topple hostile regimes, going all the way back to Vietnam and Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), who kept pouring in the troops and munitions until the country – ours – was in uprising. In 1968, he dropped out of the presidential race, and Richard Nixon beat the Democrats. He then had to end the war.
Trump will no doubt find some way in the next week or two to exit the war. He’d better, or Republicans are finished in the midterms and probably in 2028.
Change the channel, Mr. Trump, to issues at home, or find yourself becoming the 21st century’s LBJ (though the parallel is a bit skewed because you can’t run for president again).
