The 60-day ceasefire between the United States and Iran has expired. The war drags on through its sixth month with no peace talks scheduled and no end in sight. Only one conclusion is possible: Donald Trump’s ignorant and egotistical decision to attack Tehran has been a total disaster.

None of his stated goals have been achieved, and the administration is so confused that it cannot even agree on what those goals still are. Vice President JD Vance proclaimed on Fox News, “That’s goal No. 1 — keep oil and gas cheap for Americans all over our country.”

But Trump insisted on social media, “The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon.” Trump is a lame duck and focused on his legacy — including that rapidly receding goal of a Nobel Peace Prize. Vance is desperate to run for president in 2028, so he’s concentrating on the political damage caused by the war. But his concern for cheap fuel echoes with empty empathy.

In effect, he’s saying, the goal of the war is to solve a problem the war itself created. Before the fighting began, gas prices averaged just below........

© The Saratogian