The media mythology about the war in Iran is the real "fog of war." To Trump's mafia oligarchy that is in power in the US, the war makes perfect sense. His motives may not be what you think.
Why, for example, did Trump jump into this war at this time? It is well known that Epstein was heavily involved with the Israeli Mossad. It is also known that Epstein was in the process of accumulating a huge blackmail portfolio on many important figures, including one Donald Trump. Epstein almost certainly shunted this blackmail list directly to Israel.
So, when Netanyahu last visited Trump in DC, Trump looked strangely uncomfortable. That was because, Netanyahu said to him in private, "Donald, we are going to attack Iran, and you are going to help us. You will, or we will roll out the Epstein files for all to see." This is my suspicion.
In the middle of negotiations by Kushner and Wytkoff the attack began with the assassination of the Iranian Supreme Leader. A clear betrayal. It was reported that Kushner and Wytkoff were apparently making progress in the negotiations about Iran's nuclear capabilities. What they then reported back to Trump is unclear. Both of them are nothing but real estate agents, not diplomats. They lack the knowledge, and experience for their jobs, like all of Trump's appointments.
Yesterday, (Mar 21) Truthout had an interesting article called "Operation Epic Fury Explained." I will summarize some of that and add my own two cents.
Is there a political end game? Israel has already won by weakening Iran. For Trump, he may get some new golf courses, Trump towers in the Middle East, or simply to have flooded his son-in -law Jared with billions more in cash. The strategic end game is more in question. Trump may already be bored with the war and is looking for a way out. His comments are all over the place.
But, this war is expensive. Yes, it is expensive to the US government and US people, but that doesn't matter to Trump. What he cares about is getting rich, for himself and his billionaire buddies.
For Russia, the Iran war is a jumping-up-and-down happy day. Russian oil is selling for premium prices, sanctions have been lessened, and patriot missiles are going to Iran, in stead of Ukraine. I don't think Trump cares much about Ukraine, but he does admire Putin.
LNG exporters like Venture Global, and traders Vitol, Trafigura, Shell, and TotalEnergies are making a killing. (These are Trump buddies.) The US has overcapacity of LNG and that is now being sold on the Asian and European markets for massive profits.
It is a similar story for oil. Trump stated, "The United States is the largest oil producer in the world, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money." Of course, the "we" doesn't mean you and me, he means himself and his oily billionaire friends. You and I are paying a heavy price for this little excursion.
You might say that this war is senseless. That would be a mistake. For Trump, the war makes sense if his underlying goal is to dominate. Common morality cannot be applied to Trump and his mafia. This is a message from Trump that everyone must kneel before the might of American war powers.
It is not clear that he predicted the closing of the straight of Hormuz, and what he could do about it. It looks like his solution is more brute force. We will see.
Will voters punish the GOP for wrecking our economy? That will happen if there are fair elections, but what if there is massive voter suppression requiring proof of citizenship papers that are hard to obtain? What if Trump seizes the voter rolls, and starts picking and choosing who is "eligible"and who is not? Will these tricks work to keep the GOP in power? That is not clear, but there will be damage one way or the other.
Another problem for us, may be that the war becomes an excuse for more clamping down on our freedoms. We see Trump making our government and safety net smaller and weaker while pouring money into the military and abusive ICE. At the same time, Trump is actively deregulating the guardrails that protect the population while allowing big corporations to suck more profit from the country without restraint.
I will end by reminding everyone that monstrous entities are usually short lived in history. The Nazis only lasted 12 years in Germany. Trump will be gone very soon, and we know that the majority of people in the US very much long for freedom and democracy. Even Netanyhu and Israel have some predicting its short run after what we witnessed in Gaza. We won't put up with this for long here in the US, and neither will the people of the world. There will be a withering backlash. You can bet on that.