Heroic Iran Rescue Masks Bigger Risks in Trump’s Expanding War
Heroic effort apparently involving hundreds of special operations forces, aided by CIA deception, successfully plucked that downed airman, a weapons officer, who had been forced to eject with his pilot from a F15E fighter jet struck by Iranian anti-aircraft weapons deep inside Iran.
From all accounts, it was a hairy military mission to find and retrieve the airman, elude the myriad Iranian ground forces hunting for him, and to escape without further injury. Even with the reported glitch in which two military transports that landed at an Iranian airstrip did not restart when it was time to get out — the disabled planes were blown up – it hardly took away from the audacious rescue.
The bravery involved received its deserved acclaim for brashness and execution, as have many of the strictly military feats of this war. But for Donald Trump to trumpet the rescue without acknowledging the larger gambles that he has undertaken with this war seems incongruous. The rescue was needed because we are now attacking civilian targets – bridges, utilities and factories – towards a goal that none of us can state forthrightly.
Where Do We Stand?
Iranian forces that Trump and the Pentagon tell us are unable to function anymore shot a top U.S. weapon out of the air – puncturing the myth of total conquest.
Late this week, we got leaks of U.S. intelligence that Iran is using decoys to draw U.S. fire and has been able to recover quickly from attacks on mobile missile launchers and hidden missile and drone supplies. Simply put, a supposedly toothless Iranian defense is still strong enough to cause plenty of international trouble, starting with a stranglehold on Strait of Hormuz shipping and extending to real death, injury and damage in neighboring Gulf states as well as in Israel.
Today is another deadline set by Trump alone for Iran’s total capitulation, a surrender that is marked only by unenforceable promises not to do anything on Trump’s list of proposals. Iran shows no sign of agreeing, and the “bomb them to hell” threats to follow will dial up the conflict anew.
Weirdly, Trump issued a profane Easter message that dwelt not on peace, as preached by say, Pope Leo XIV, but on more war – and incongruously praising Allah.
Europe has organized 41 countries ready to act in concert without the United States or Israel to deal with Iran and the Strait. Trump is ready to dump the entire NATO alliance. Because of the pressure of oil on global economies, Trump has re-authorized the sale and distribution of Russian and even Iranian oil – directly helping our adversaries. And our Congress is caught in its own disfunction.
What is the price of Trump’s delusionary view of incoming information? What is the cost of isolation backed by use of force by whim? What are we to make of America’s moral, diplomatic, economic or even military prowess in a world being adjudged only by compliance with Trump’s gut rather than any measure of reason? Where are the limits for Israel in grabbing southern Lebanon as another buffer zone, along with Gaza and the West Bank without a word of caution from the U.S.?
How long can we hold our breath?
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