Bumpy off-ramp? |
AS the Gulf war rumbles on, even President Donald Trump’s allies, at home and abroad, worry about its erratic aims and timeline. Signals by American officials that it may end soon were nixed by news of new air attacks and troop arrivals. Mixed signals often aim to hassle the enemy in wars. So, war gurus instead look at the military, political and economic constraints of foes to gauge their plans.
The war started out aiming for regime change. But while president Nicolás Maduro’s gangster-like kidnapping resulted in a more pliant regime in Venezuela, the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran brought to the fore far more hard-line elements. The US and Israel (USrael) now think that a land war will take care of their key constraints. War-mongering American presidents start short wars covered by their current budgets but inevitably end up in longer ones that need new money that a saner Congress may not approve. The war’s hits on US market indices and Trump’s ratings are a lonely Iran’s best pals.
The new, humbler aims are to harm Iran’s military and economy to eliminate the threat to American interests forever and open the Strait of Hormuz. These aims may explain the mixed........