Back into the Middle East, This Time Iran

It's coming up on two weeks now since Donald Trump started a war with Iran. We have been now been drawn into another conflict in the Middle East with no end in sight.

So far, seven American soldiers have lost their lives. And that's pale in comparison to how many Iranian lives are being lost, including around 175 students and teachers at a school.

I have not heard any reasons for this war that haven't been immediately shot down as likely untrue. They claim that this was necessary to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. There's been no credible evidence that Iran was anywhere close. They claim that Iran was close to completing a ballistic missile that could strike the continental United States. Evidence says otherwise.

So now we're at war again in the Middle East and no one can say why, other than "Iran bad". And while I'm completely on the side that Iran's leadership is a problem, that doesn't mean that I support us going to war against Iran.

A Complete Lack of Strategy and Goals

I'm not a military strategist, but I feel like if you're going to go start a war, you should go in with stated goals and objectives. If Trump, Hegseth, or anyone else in the administration has that, now would be a good time to mention it. Instead we have everyone laying out different objectives and targets for this war, not all of which align with each other.

Economic Consequences

The economic repercussions are already being felt, and they're likely to continue being felt unless this ends quickly. Iran has shut down the Strait of Hormuz. This means that right now, almost no ships are traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. The few that are, are more than likely part of the illicit trade market. 30% of the global oil trade travels through this body of water. And if oil and fossil fuels aren't enough, around 25% of the global fertilizer trade goes through the Strait of Hormuz as well. And given how important fertilizer is for crops, and how imperative it is to be applied at the right time, this war will likely hit our food prices down the line as well.

The country is already dealing with economic uncertainty. The inflation rate is still hanging around 3% and ticking a bit higher. Add to that the uncertain jobs market. The country has lost jobs six out of the last twelve months, and hiring does not seem to be picking up. With the increase in gas prices, combined with any unforeseen consequences this war will bring, I struggle to see how this does anything but deepen our economic uncertainty and woes.

New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

America and Israel's strikes on the opening day of the war took out Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader. Since then, Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei, his son as the new supreme leader. So now, with no sign the regime is going to collapse, you have the dead leader's son in charge, with a new vendetta against us.

Where the Hell is Congress

Both the House and Senate rejected resolutions to limit Trump's actions in Iran. Given that so many of them are scared of Trump and have to bow down to kiss the ring, I can't say I'm surprised, but even Bush got congress to pass the Authorized Use of Military Force (AUMF) for Afghanistan and Iraq. Granted, the AUMF has been a double-edged sword as Presidents Obama, Trump 1, Biden and now Trump 2 have all used it for whatever action they want to get into.

It's about damned time for Congress to revoke it and make the president come to them in order to use our military forces. I don't support most of what Trump campaigned on and is doing, but his campaign promise to end our involvement in more forever wars was something I support. And now, we have Trump committing what most should consider an act of war against Venezuela by kidnapping Maduro, he's started a war against Iran, and he's threatening action against Cuba as well. So for the president who claims to want to be "America first" and keep our noses out of other countries' affairs, he's doing one helluva job getting our troops involved in other countries' affairs.

Deja Vu

So again, America is embroiled in another conflict with no end in sight. Trump has tried to say that it's "very complete pretty much". But in the meantime, we're still very much bombing Iran, there's indications that Iran is mining the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is attacking oil tankers, and so on and so forth. If this is the end of the war, it doesn't look very finished to me.

So that leaves us with only hoping that whatever actions we're taking in Iran come to an end soon and we're not drawn in further.