Yogi Berra famously said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” He was describing the New York Mets’ improbable 1973 comeback from baseball’s cellar to winning a division championship. But more largely, he was talking about hope.
More than two months into the nation’s most unstrategic war in 250 years, we hear President Donald Trump and his hapless administration now saying the war is over — perhaps to give us hope. But it’s nothing more than another spin as attacks continue and as the professionals in America’s military remain seriously in harm’s way.
Remember Trump is the guy who blustered in early April that he was going to bomb Iranian civilian infrastructure to kingdom come and the “Stone Ages” to finish the war and “complete” his promise to prevent the country from getting nuclear weapons. Then, true to his nickname as a “TACO” (Trump Always Chickens Out”) following a lot of international criticism, the threat dissipated. By the end of that week, there was even a shaky ceasefire which has since mostly held.
But the administration’s interminable bluster hasn’t stopped, even as Americans sought a longer-term deal with the Iranians in Pakistan. Maybe all of that misguided rhetoric is part of the problem.
Just this week for example, Trump said the U.S. Navy would escort commercial ships stuck in the Strait of Hormuz because of Iranian threats to safety. The next day, he capitulated.
Then the administration started insisting that the war — never authorized by Congress as required by the Constitution — was over, leading The New York Times to report, “The White House is turning to rhetorical leaps as President Trump tries to put the biggest political crisis of his presidency behind him.”
This struggle over the war by the administration is real because the bombing of Iran two months ago was just not well thought-out. It seems to be in a cycle of trying to find a way out without losing face.
What’s happening with Iran is the most non-strategic conflict in the history of the United States. At one point, there was a claim that the bombing was needed to end a nuclear threat. But wasn’t that supposed to be eliminated last year with bunker-buster bombs? Lots
of analysts are still rubbing their heads trying to figure out why we needed to start the bombing in 2026, which since has severely depleted our country’s munitions
and military readiness.
It’s safe to say that America’s warmongers have had no real war strategy at all, other than seemingly to give Israel the excuse to indiscriminately pound the hell out of Lebanon. It seems more likely that the Trump administration started the bombing, mayhem and death in the Middle East for political, not military, reasons — to distract Americans from a tanking economy, the Epstein files and levels of corruption and enrichment by politicians not seen since the Teapot Dome scandal more than 100 years ago.
A day of reckoning is ahead for Trump and his merry band of appointees. Let’s just hope the country can withstand inept leadership. The midterm elections are six months away.
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