As we begin a new week, the media is filled with reports that President Trump is ready to approve a US ground operation against Iran, either to seize Iran’s uranium or to attack an island off the country’s coast. Thousands of US troops have sped to the conflict area to await President Trump’s decision.
The President is on the verge of making a serious mistake to add to a series of deadly mistakes that have characterized this terrible war of choice against Iran. A US ground operation against Iran would only achieve the death of thousands of US servicemembers.
Of course, if our Congress was doing its job, this debacle would never have started. Clear signals would have been sent to the President by Congressional leadership that in the absence of an imminent attack on the US, the US President must go to Congress to make the case for taking the country to war. Instead, what we got was a shrug of the shoulders from Capitol Hill that has already cost billions of dollars and too many lives.
As we stand on the verge of a major ground operation, the main stated goals of the war are that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz is open for shipping. But both of these things were already true before the war started! Now we are expanding the war to try and reverse the negative consequences of starting the war in the first place!
What was supposed to be a quick “shock and awe” to frighten Iran into capitulation has expanded rapidly and is costing the US dearly. As the New York Times has reported, every US military base in the region has been either destroyed or is severely damaged. Billions of dollars in US military equipment has been destroyed in Iran’s response to the US attack. Just over the weekend, a half-billion dollar US radar aircraft was destroyed at a US base in Saudi Arabia, along with several air tankers.
Iran warned that if the US launched another surprise attack this is how they would respond. The arrogant US Administration was sure they were bluffing.
The American people may not be getting the full picture of this disaster because they are being lied to – again – by the pro-war mainstream media. The war is going wonderfully, they report. We are obliterating Iran, they say. But what is really being obliterated is a complex global supply chain not just in oil and gas, but in the multitude of products related to oil and gas. Products such as the fertilizer needed to feed the world.
Already we are seeing gas riots in some Asian countries. Fuel rationing and stay-at-home orders have been issued. Australia is set to completely run out of diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel in just weeks. That means no food gets delivered. Power generation plants are shut down. Life becomes unlivable for many.
This is like the foolish move to shut down the global economy during COVID. In fact it is worse. This disaster will not end when the bombs stop falling. It will only be getting started. A worldwide depression may be upon us all because of a war of choice that was illegally launched.
When you are in a hole, it’s best to stop digging. Expanding this war to include a ground operation would be a massive digging operation. It needs to stop. Now.
