Inexplicable, Unnecessary and Insane

There is much about Trump’s war of choice against Iran that lands in the middle of insane.  I can’t list them all – and besides, pretty much everyone knows what they all are.  I’m sure everyone has their own list of the top most lunatic.  But a few are so utterly inexplicable to me that they deserve standalone attention.

We had a nuclear deal with Iran, and Trump tore it up.

Trump keeps saying that Iran is “Really Anxious to Negotiate.”  Whenever I hear him say that, it begs the question being asked to him.  “So, are you really anxious to negotiate??”  There are only two answers:  Yes (in which case, don’t make such a big deal that Iran wants to, assuming they do), and No (in which case the follow-up question is – “Why not??!!!  You want the war to go on???)

Trump makes a big deal out of us blockading the Strait of Hormuz, and his team around him talks about what a brilliant, genius move this is to force Iran to open it.  Left out of his and their swaggery chest-thumping is the reality the Strait of Hormuz was open, before Trump bombed Iran.  Getting Iran to open it is not the genius move he thinks it is.  And you don’t get points for opening a Strait that only closed because you bombed the country.  Especially when you said you had no idea that Iran would do this, when you were clearly told it would happen by your military team because it's what they have been preparing for as a likelihood over the course of years, and anyone with half a brain could have figured that out.

We were negotiating with Iran – and it turns out, according to former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, that Iran actually made an offer that was somewhat close to the original nuclear deal that we had!  But our crackerjack team of inexperienced negotiators of “JD Vance,” Jared Kushner and Steve Witcoff didn’t grasp what was being offered and passed on it.  And then we bombed Iran that stopped the peaceful negotiations. 

Whatever settlement eventually occurs, and however much Trump and his team sashay around claiming the great victory they supposedly achieved to make American safe -- it can’t be forgotten that we had a nuclear deal with Iran that Trump tore up, the Strait of Hormuz was open, Trump said 10 months ago we “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capability (we didn’t but he insisted it), all experts state that Iran was a decade from developing nuclear weapons and the U.S. was not at risk, we and Iran were negotiating peacefully, Iran offered another nuclear deal before any bombs were dropped, we bombed Iran by choice during negotiations that ended negotiations, 13 U.S. military have been killed, 400 American military have been injured, 150 Iranian schoolgirls were killed, the Strait of Hormuz was closed, the world economy was put in turmoil, we’ve spent $51 billion so far, we created a rift with our strategic security partners, sanctions were removed from Russia which is giving military assistance to Iran, Russia’s oil industry has boomed which gives them more ability to continue their war against Ukraine, and Trump has put Iran on the edge of becoming a world power because, for the first time, they learned the disruption they can cause by even just threatening again to close the Strait of Hormuz.  And on top of all that, Trump and his inner circle of unqualified incompetents have never even been able to settle on what exactly their ever-changing goal was they hoped to achieve for the war they started -- by choice, but instead just kept throwing a bunch of ideas into a bucket and hoped for the best. And in the end, above all, no, Trump does not get points for ending a war that he started.

You do not get points for ending a war that only happened because you began it.

If you start a fire and then call in the fire department, you do not get praise for saying, "Look how I put out the fire!!"

Besides which, everyone now knows that you are an arsonist.

And that's just if we get back to where we were before Trump chose to go to war and bomb Iran.

There is so much else that is insane and inexplicable about all that Trump in his dementia-addled states and his incompetent circle of political advisors did.  But these are just the top few on my list.

In fact, perhaps the only thing about Trump's war of choice against Iran that is not inexplicable is that he started it despite one of his top campaign promises being "I'm not going to start wars" and "No new wars".  Only anyone who wasn't looking -- like his base -- couldn't see that one coming from miles away.

I dearly wish Trump had not started his war of choice against Iran.  Whatever the outcome, whenever it does end, there was absolutely no reason for it, and so much loss and devastation, which will linger, including the undermining of U.S. standing in the world.  But he did, and as a result there is only one positive thing to come as a result -- and it's that Trump's approval has hit 34%, and close to putting a lid on it improving, while crushing his party's chances in the Mid-Terms.