Wednesday night speech to the nation and US President Donald Trump felt it as an opportunity to reach a strong and terrifying conclusion.
Concerned viewers may have expected a clear statement of the purpose of the US war against Iran, a vision of its conclusion, or at least a credible timetable for its end. Anyone old enough to remember the wartime speeches of previous presidents can hope to relive some of the ceremonies that have traditionally marked such events.
Wednesday night speech to the nation and US President Donald Trump felt it as an opportunity to reach a strong and terrifying conclusion.
Concerned viewers may have expected a clear statement of the purpose of the US war against Iran, a vision of its conclusion, or at least a credible timetable for its end. Anyone old enough to remember the wartime speeches of previous presidents can hope to relive some of the ceremonies that have traditionally marked such events.
On Wednesday, they found none of this. What the national and international audience saw instead was perhaps the clearest evidence that the leader of what has long been the world’s greatest power is a perverted thinker, whose capacity for work – never seen to begin with – seems to be on the wane.
For 19 minutes, Trump repeated himself many times and contradicted his main points. At times, he seemed to have completely lost the thread. He breathed awkwardly at first and then nearly mispronounced the name of the main player in the war, the Strait of Hormuz, which could have sounded like “hormone problem.”
This is not funny. Nothing about it is remotely funny. Most interestingly, Trump seemed lost and confused throughout, especially on the questions that the audience wanted answered the most: Where does this war go from here, and how can it end in a way that will take the world to a better place than when it started?
If commentators have had the day to point out many of the war’s flaws in logic and self-inflicted obstacles from the American perspective, it is for many apparently childish reasons. Washington now he wants others to help managed to end the war and secure the Persian Gulf after repeatedly humiliating its allies around the world and vowing to consult with them before confronting Iran.
At times, Trump has also seemed ready to declare victory, even though Tehran is holding on to the Strait of Hormuz. it has unparalleled power than it was before the United States and Israel jointly launched their attacks against Iran four weeks ago.
Tehran now unilaterally decides which tankers and other ships can and cannot pass through this strategic passage, and Washington seems at a loss about what to do about it that Trump suggested on Wednesday that the United States does not care at all.
In his speech, Trump claimed that the United States has already achieved its goals in Iran by eliminating threats from that country, while asking the public at home and abroad to be patient. Irresponsibly, he indicated that a few more weeks of war still lie ahead, during which the United States “will send them back to the Stone Age, where they belong.” How can this be confirmed by his claim in the same speech that there has already been “regime change” in Iran and that the new leaders of the country are sane people who are eager to solve things?
At the same time, the United States seems to show little awareness that widespread attacks on enemy infrastructure and the seemingly inevitable increase in civilian casualties that such attacks entail – as in Israel’s recent military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon – are contrary to peacebuilding and may constitute war crimes.
Commentators have gone to great lengths to pretend that Trump’s seemingly incoherent statements reflect some kind of rule of thumb. the theory of the insane of international relations. Claims have been made that his strong and uncertain record is the result of a clever and cunning strategy aimed at keeping others off balance and thereby increasing US elections. So far, though, it feels less like strategy than incompetence. We seem to have a simple man in charge, naughty and angry, always flaunting his beauty in the midst of an ever-increasing quagmire.
Exacerbating this situation, of course, is Trump’s choice of people around him. Question marks hover over almost the entire list of nominees in his second administration. Because this column is about foreign policy, and war in particular, I will narrow my focus to two.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who generally played down the moderate establishment figure on foreign policy issues when he was a senator, appears to have abandoned those instincts in his current role. He has shown little hint of indifference or discomfort when Trump soars above America’s usual promises with such stereotypes. support for NATOforeign aid and human rights. Throughout the Iran war, Rubio has largely railed against the president’s reckless rhetoric, showing no signs of depth or self-awareness.
In a recent statement, Rubio lectured the Iranian government on how the country could do better for its people if it did not waste its resources on weapons. Immediately obvious to almost everyone except, apparently, to Rubio himself, it was the same as the United States. Then, less than a week later, Trump himself naturally he said that even though it was a “great country,” the United States could not muster resources for child care or for Medicare and Medicaid, even though it spends more than billion dollars a day in pursuing ambiguous and changing goals in the conflict with Iran.
Even worse is Trump’s rootin’-tootin’, Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who looks like a puffed-up cartoon character. Consider Yosemite Sam, the Looney Tunes warfighter whose fiery temper and lust for dominance keep him from thinking even a step or two ahead. Just as these qualities made him an easy mark for Bugs Bunny, Hegseth’s passion as a tin pot guard, always ready to flatter his boss, has reduced Washington’s room to maneuver against powers, such as Tehran, which – despise them or not – have taken a more careful measure of their own limits and the weaknesses of their enemies.
If Trump seemed unable during his mudslinging speech to clarify the future course of the US-Iran war, certain consequences are now clearer than ever. Its volatility and inconsistencies have likely caused governments around the world to rethink the stability of the US-led international order and the wisdom of relying on Washington to uphold international norms. His impulses to go it alone and his self-reflective behavior of blaming others when things go wrong have lowered the country’s status. So is his nonsensical demand that others jump to the rescue to clean up the mess he’s made, like the Strait of Hormuz fiasco.
Worse, from a pure power point of view, it has been a free insult and alienation of allies. NATO is the most frequently used example, but evidence of Washington’s self-harm exists in almost every geographic dimension. It began with the careless use of taxes by friend and foe alike. It continued with Trump’s threats to seize Greenland and seize Canada. And it will almost certainly increase with the exception superficially succeed in taking over Venezuelawhose resources the president is now proud to control. Things will get worse if Trump follows through on vows to make Cuba “next,” imposing Washington’s hegemony over other independent countries.
Add to this Trump’s joke about Pearl Harbor in a meeting with the Japanese prime minister and his remark that Saudi Arabia will soon kiss his ass after subjugating Iran. These are the contributing factors behind me the last columnwhich said that the appearance of a US “victory” against Iran would not be beneficial to Washington or the world. It would only add to the sense of unbridled power and recklessness of a leader who is rapidly eroding what is left of America’s legitimacy in the world and hastening the planet’s entry into a new era of violence and chaos.
