The Trump Fiasco

The Trump Fiasco

    There are many different ways in which Trump's war against Iran is lamentable. 

    1. It is not clear that there was sufficient cause. 

    Israel and the United States argued that Iran, with the declared aim of wiping Israel off the map, should not be allowed to build nuclear weapons. Most states in the United Nations would probably agree. Though it does seem arrogant and hypocritical for two Nuclear powers to declare that other powers should be denied such weapons. 

    Iran has always claimed that their objective was only to develop nuclear energy, not nuclear weapons. They were in the process of negotiating. Foolishly, perhaps. Maybe there was a lack of good faith, certainly the Islamic Republic harboured much anger. The leadership might be divided on the issue of Nuclear weapons; after all, if Israel has them so why not Iran, a proud country with a history that stretches back to the origins of civilization. And they have a largely disaffected population, as their economy and quality of life has been ruined by decades of hostile sanctions. 

    2. The United States was not the appropriate enforcer. 

    The international community spent most of the previous century setting up a mechanism for handling exactly this sort of problem, namely the United Nations and the International Court. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an autonomous organization within the United Nations system, was set up in 1957 to supervise and monitor the spread of nuclear weapons material and technology. 

    3. The US team seem un-diplomatic, almost puerile in their approach. 

    It is not clear what the problem was in the negotiations. Why could the Iranians not be persuaded to prove their good faith? Were the IAEA or US negotiators as distastefully arrogant as the President of the USA, and his unspeakable Peter Hegseth, the self-styled 'US Secretary for War'?  Whichever other country has a secretary for 'war', as one of the foremost offices of the state!  Accusing the victims of US bombing of "cowering like rats, for that is what rats do."  Bragging  that "This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be." Uch!  And the puerile codename for this assault: "Operation Epic Fury." Adult Americans must cringe.

    Why did the United States go to war without the authority of Congress, if that is the constitutionally correct procedure? Did President Trump consult with the US ambassador to the Iranian Republic? It would seem not. That is to say, it would seem that Trump's team mis-judged the psychology of the Iranian regime and the willingness of Iranian people to revolt. 

    Trump spent a week or two from 15th January clustering weaponry and making threats, apparently hoping that the Iranian leadership would lose its nerve, or collapse. He was apparently oblivious of the fact that threatening to use force to settle disputes is as explicitly forbidden by the UN charter as the use of force [See my posts]. Apparently ignorant also of the high status accorded to martyrs in the mindset of Islamic ideologues.

    I suggest someone offers to restart negotiations; perhaps António Guterres as Secretary-General of the United Nations; or Emmanuel Macron, or Mark Carney. Perhaps Iran would forego nuclear weapons if Israel did the same. 

Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Atomic_Energy_Agency
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text  
https://occidentis.blogspot.com/2026/01/trumps-actions-are-illegal.html
https://occidentis.blogspot.com/2026/03/united-nations-dissolved-and-reformed-i.html