It is not usual to be fighting a war, as the U.S. is, without the country’s leadership offering an explanation for why. For Donald Trump, the reasons can vary, change over time, or be absent altogether.
Fresh from plucking Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela in a crisp middle-of-the-night military raid, the president refocused his attention on Iran. Three weeks ago, broad and sustained U.S. and Israeli air attacks – perhaps at Israel’s behest – struck military targets across Iran. The explanation: to free the Iranian people from religious fanaticism, and that Iran was close to using nuclear weapons against U.S. interests.
The skilled U.S. and Israeli military quickly claimed the skies over Iran, and an extraordinary number of Iranian leaders were killed by Israeli precision targeting.
Ah, the beauty of air power – it’s not difficult to imagine the president thinking.
But maintaining an attack-free Strait of Hormuz has proved impossible so far. Iranian missiles and drones from difficult-to-predict shoreline locations have set ships afire, bringing traffic to a halt. Twenty percent of the world’s oil supplies sit at anchor, unmoving. Allied nations – not consulted about the war, their NATO contributions dismissed, and threatened with tariffs – aren’t interested in helping. For good reason.
Two units of U.S. Marines are now on their way. While the president promised no boots on the ground, that’s what Marines do. Iran is not Venezuela. We hope he realizes that.
Call it a win now, before the Marines arrive and before Iran splinters into civil war with unknown consequences for the U.S. We’d like to believe that even the president’s most ardent supporters don’t want American military men and women on Iranian soil.
Now, about why we’re there? Let’s see what the president says before the Marines reach shore.
