The United States is at war again in the Middle East. Clashes with Iran are likely to persist for some time, as America cannot win and President Trump cannot accept defeat.
Ambiguities and dissatisfaction with the memorandum of understanding led to violations of the ceasefire. It is difficult to see how the Trump administration can wrest a winning deal from an Iranian regime that is clearly more committed to the fight and which has ‘discovered’ the world’s dependence on oil (if that was ever in any real doubt). Trump’s rhetorical tricks do not seem to be working on the battered regime in Tehran any more than they did on the algae in the reflecting pool. This moment perhaps calls for a bit of national soul-searching—how did we get here, yet again?
Trump promised during his third presidential campaign that he would not pick unnecessary fights far from America’s shores: “we will have no more wars … peace for all.” But on his return to office, he seemed to revel in violating his own dictum about foreign affairs. Venezuela was invaded. Canada, Greenland and Cuba were among those threatened. Iran was attacked. Shock was achieved, at least initially, but there was a notable deficiency of awe.
This war with Iran was unpopular with Americans from the start. A rationale for what amounted to a surprise attack arrived late, was garbled in transmission and remained vague and multi-faceted. With the exception of drawing down Iran’s military capabilities (missiles, aircraft, combat vessels) and killing off swaths of the leadership, other objectives (regime change, eliminating Iran’s missiles and nuclear weapons program) appeared largely beyond pragmatic reach.
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