Stocks did a turnaround today when President Trump told a reporter that military action in Iran was “very complete.” A few hours later, he did his best George “Dubya” Bush mime job when he proclaimeed on TV that the air and sea campaign against Iran would end “very soon.”
As I posted earlier, Dubya — shortly after launching his campaign to unseat Saddam Hussein in Iraq — told the nation “mission accomplished,” as U.S troops occupied the country. Soon thereafter, bolstered by mobilization and money from Iran, Iraqi resistance groups rose up and continued the conflict for another eight years.
Now, do I think something similar will happen in Iran? Frankly, I fear it might. I wouldn’t be surprised to see: a) an order by Trump within the coming days to halt all strikes against the country, and b) shortly thereafter, a resurgence by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to stifle any dissent, even if it means killing another 50,000 civilian protestors.
I will be more than happy to be wrong, but I don’t see how Trump figures the action against Iran’s current regime is anywhere near “very complete.” They’re still in power, last I looked, and even just nominated an Ayatollah more power-hungry than the dead one.
I think that, all along, Trump thought the action in Iran would take two to four days, max. They’d find a Delcy Rodriquez clone inside the region and then ride into the sunset, mission accomplished. That didn’t happen, so now Trump has to spin the whole mess in a positive light.
Let’s hope I’m wrong.
