The Ongoing War with No Purpose or End

On July 4th, 250 years ago, We the People sent out word to excited (and worried) patriots of our Declaration of Independence from Britain. Countless broadsides were printed up for distribution throughout the colonies. Such broadsides were delivered by couriers on horseback to committees, assemblies, and the commanders of the Continental Army. Wild jubilation was the mood in Philadelphia and elsewhere. General Washington ordered his troops to line up and read the great document aloud. It was a new day in America; monarchical tyranny was about to end.

On THAT day today, We the People pause to remember our heritage and the price paid for the liberty we enjoy. In Delaware, citizens gathered for public readings of the Declaration of Independence, during which the following passage was recited for all to recall and ponder:

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies . . . . have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace.”

Since we completed this book in April, a monarchical-like tyranny has returned to America, marked by wars to please the president and satisfy kingly desires.

Trump has continued his “military operation” against Iran for a total of 138 days. Call his $113.3 billion (costs could reach as high as $200 billion) fighting campaign and naval blockade what you will, but it smacks of war despite the Administration’s word games to describe it. Hence, our Grievance # 7: “He has waged an undeclared and costly war inconsistent with the objective of Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the U.S. Constitution.” As president, Trump has heedlessly ignored that constitutional mandate; he has threatened or wielded warlike powers against Iran, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Iraq, Mexico, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Meanwhile, a spineless Republican majority has abdicated its constitutional powers while boosting the president’s unlawful powers.

How Trump perceives the Iranian war at any given moment determines how he labels it for the American public, regardless of the accuracy of his account. He has described that conflict in ridiculously shifting ways; he vacillates between threatening total military obliteration and downplaying the seriousness of the situation in favor of diplomacy. He endlessly “floods the zone” with confusing and contradictory terminology, all of which is designed to mislead the American public.

Of course, such ever-changing accounts have both momentous economic and diplomatic consequences, not to mention the loss of faith in government as he has ordained it. “Final negotiations” are never final; negotiations are anything but “going very well”; though it is claimed that “progress is being made,” such “progress” seldom leads to anything meaningful; and while Trump declares that Iran is “dying to settle,” or that “it holds no cards,” the truth tells a far different story.

Meanwhile, regarding whatever objectives he once espoused (e.g., “regime change,” “unconditional surrender,” the elimination of Iran’s nuclear weapons capacity, or the cost-free reopening of the Strait of Hormuz), nothing is certain at that point. The so-called “memorandum of understanding” has yet to produce any resolution, minor or momentous. The editors of The Nation described it as “the memorandum of understanding that no one understands.”

In light of all this, consider what York University scholar Chris Featherstone has aptly observed:

“[T]he Iran conflict has exposed the limits of [Trump’s] mythology. His instinctive reliance on spectacle, aggressive rhetoric, and personal branding has failed to produce either decisive military success or lasting political support. Trump’s abrasive style is readily associated with him, and he typically portrays these interactions as achieving a positive result,” even if the opposite is true.

Moreover, Trump’s lies about the war have real-world consequences, as Dr. Featherstone also emphasized:

The war has revealed an administration increasingly isolated abroad, divided at home, and struggling to explain why American servicemen, taxpayers, and allies are paying the price for a conflict that appears to lack a coherent strategic endgame. Trump’s refusal to acknowledge this reality, whether by avoiding the word “war,” dismissing economic concerns out of hand, or treating peace negotiations as theatre, may ultimately define this episode more than the conflict itself.

White House propaganda aside, a peaceful resolution remains at a diplomatic distance, if at all. As of this date, Trump’s war still has no clear objective other than his impulsive attempts to save face and, one day, falsely claim “a huge victory.”