Trump Unilaterally Bombs Iran
This desperate despot is determined to be seen as a strong man
Now that Donald Trump has unilaterally chosen to launch a war against Iran without the authorization of Congress, let’s not mistake this as a bold act by an American president making a serious decision for the good of the nation. This is dangerously reckless, illegal and impeachable action by a malignant despot desperate to be seen as a strong man. It comes on the tails of his sad, sparsely attended military parade intended to showcase his power. And it’s consistent with his impulse to incite conflict and chaos without any clear indication of strategic thinking or future planning of what he’s unleashing.
Trump announced last night the “spectacular military success” of the massive bombing of three nuclear sites, including Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan, and claimed that they were “completely and totally obliterated.” (That remains to be seen.) Speaking from the East Room of the White House, he arranged three of his sycophants—JD Vance, Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth—to stand behind him.
While he said U.S. planes are no longer inside Iran’s air space, Trump’s hepped-up war talk was not consoling, especially when delivered by a lawless, unfettered president. “There will be either peace, or there will be tragedy for Iran, far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days,” he said. “Remember, there are many targets left…Most of them can be taken out in a matter of minutes. There’s no military in the world that could have done what we did tonight. Not even close.”
Recall that this is the guy who insisted during the campaign that he opposed the kind of disastrous foreign inventions we’ve seen in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. But he’s never been one to stand on principle when his bruised ego needs to be satisfied—nor depend on facts to justify his violent desires.
Whatever may be your view of the need to ensure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons, this long-time dream of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to convince an American president to pursue this course has found its realization in the weak and desperate Trump. Yes, this goal follows a long and hostile history of Iranian leaders calling for Israel’s annihilation, but Trump can only falsely claim that there was an imminent threat to America to justify his unpopular decision to involve our nation in this war.
No one knows what form of retaliation the Iranians will take in response to what its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, called today an"outrageous, grave and unprecedented violation" of international law."The war-mongering and lawless administration in Washington is solely and fully responsible for the dangerous consequences and far-reaching implications of its act of aggression," Araghchi said during a press conference in Istanbul.
There’s little doubt that the tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers stationed at military bases near Iran are now in serious danger. There’s also talk by Iran’s parliament of closing the Strait of Hormuz, the passageway between Iran and Oman through which a significant amount of the global oil trade depends. We will soon learn whether and how the Iranians may escalate this conflict that Trump has chosen to pursue—a potential escalation with grave implications for the entire Middle East.
While this military attack has quickly spurred criticism from Democrats and even by some Republicans who thought Trump could be trusted when he talked about serving American interests and staying out of such foreign conflicts, we have every reason to believe that the MAGA crowd will quickly fall in line behind their dear leader. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leaders John Thune are leading that cheerleading—and over the last five months we have watched every elected Republican refuse to push back as Trump and his regime flout our laws, violate our Constitution and attack our people.
But let’s not allow the typical reflexive impulse to stand with a president in times of war cloud our thinking now. This reckless behavior is just the latest effort of an immunized despot determined to follow his whims, consolidate power and feed his fragile ego.
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As James Baldwin once wrote: “ignorance, allied with power is the most ferocious enemy that justice can have.”
The lack of courage and integrity among those elected to serve the people is disgusting.
Trump’s dreadful miscalculation, in drawing the US into war in the Middle East, was intended to make him look like a strongman in response to his plummeting poll numbers and the debacle of his military parade.
The world will now pay a dreadful price for Trump’s insatiable need to feed his monstrous ego.
We cannot let this madness continue.