President Donald John Trump finds himself in a pickle. He knows if he returns to an air campaign against Iran, or to any sort of major military offensive, he will be on the hot seat. Republican House members and aspiring candidates are going to be the big losers if the war continues, as well as potential voters who will see gas prices rising endlessly.
The president also knows that negotiations ain’t goin’ nowhere.
Just today he had to cancel another flight of negotiators to Islamabad after Iran pulled a quick one. The country sent its foreign minister to Pakistan on a three-country jaunt, and the Trump White House on Friday said negotiations were on the table and Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would be taking an 18-hour flight to seal the deal.
The problem is, the foreign minister left after just one night and half a day in neighboring Pakistan.
Trump ain’t no fool, and he can see as clearly as anyone else that negotiations face two hurdles: they’re going to last forever, and at the end of the day, Iran isn’t going to give in.
That leaves the Commander-in-Chief with a few options. One is his infamous threat to bomb Iran back into the Dark Ages by taking out its electrical grid and bridges. The other is an option some retired military personnel — generals, admirals, and the like — have put forth: Take over Kharg Island, and thus choke off Iran’s main source of income.
Of course, Trump can also continue his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and hope that that brings the current leadership of Iran — led mainly by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — to accept a deal that they clearly will never accept — giving up its uranium “dust” (as Trump calls it) and swearing off any nuclear ambitions.
I say Kharg and Dark Ages are the only two options that seem realistic in bringing about a favorable outcome, favorable in the eyes of the U.S., that is. Of course, both also lead to a Demofiend-led House of Representatives in 2027. Since that probably will happen anyway, what the heck?
Bonne chance, Monsieur le Président, in your game of high-stakes, military-political pickleball.
