Trump, Israel Start Undeclared War with Iran

If you are a fan of undeclared wars in the Middle East, wagging dogs, and a malignant narcissist with a God complex in the Oval Office, you’re in for a banner weekend because the United States walked away from negotiations with Iran to attack its longtime nemesis and effect regime change in Tehran.

“This regime will soon learn that no one should challenge the strength and might of the United States Armed Forces,” Donald Trump said in an address announcing the attack.

The president, who has been angling for a Nobel Peace Prize while also launching strikes at several countries across the globe in the past year, acknowledged that there may be a cost associated with starting another war in the Middle East.

“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost and we may have casualties,” he said. “That often happens in war. But we’re doing this, not for now. We’re doing this for the future, and it is a noble mission.”

Trump also made it clear that he hopes that it will be the Iranians themselves who are the ones doing the regime changing (and presumably the dying).

“Finally, to the great, proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand. Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere,” the president said. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.”

Of course, Iranians recently tried that. Earlier this year, the regime brutally put down mass protests and slaughtered thousands of civilians (it’s impossible to say how many people lost their lives, but even Tehran admitted that it was more than 3,000).

Trump also had a message for government forces.

“To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity, or in the alternative, face certain death,” he said.

In other words, if they don’t surrender right now and (face execution from their leaders), they will be fighting for their lives when the regime change phase of the war begins.

If it ever does.

With his approval ratings in the dumps and Americans viewing another war in the Middle East with great skepticism, it stands to reason that the military campaign will initially focus on a bombing campaign that keeps the number of US casualties to a minimum.

But even that may prove to be unpopular.

According to a couple of new polls, a mere 21 percent of Americans favor a war with Iran, and only about a quarter of them have “a great deal or quite a bit” of trust in Trump to make the right decisions about using the military abroad.

Of course, that first number will go up quite a bit because MAGA Republicans enthusiastically support almost anything Trump does, even if they opposed it a week earlier.

Obviously, there are some scenarios where this conflict will end “well,” which from the administration’s perspective means that no Americans die and the government in Tehran collapses quickly.

However, if history is any guide, things will quickly get a lot more complicated than that, in no small part because Israel joined the US attack.

Already, American allies in the region are urging Trump to end the attack.

“I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” said Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who was trying to broker a deal between Washington and Tehran before the attack began. “Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this. And I pray for the innocents who will suffer. I urge the United States not to get sucked in further. This is not your war.”

But it is Trump’s war, and whatever comes next will be on him.

If the outcome is even remotely positive, he may improve his approval ratings. If not, a year that already looked bleak for him and the GOP will get much worse.