Barely one-quarter of the American people surveyed this week say they approve of the latest fight with Iran.
Since wars are generally more popular at the start, before casualties mount and losses grow, the reality is that President Trump will soon have a very unpopular conflict on his hands. He is being blamed.
Some 56% of those surveyed feel our president might be trigger-happy. Those surveyed are wary of being dragged deeper into another war in the Middle East. They are wary of fuel costs skyrocketing. Mostly, they are fearful of chaos and more dead and wounded Americans. Four GIs had been killed in action when I wrote this, and surely that number has grown.
President Trump is exhorting the Iranian people to revolt against the repressive regime that has held Iran in a chokehold since the ayatollahs overthrew the last shah in 1979.
The problem with asking civilians to rise is that the other side has all the ladders. A few weeks ago, when we encouraged the people to shed their oppressors, thousands were murdered by Iranian security forces, mainly the ruthless IRGC, the Revolutionary Guards, which has kept Iran in a stranglehold for the last 47 years.
Iran is also doing something it has not in the decades of mutual hatred and recrimination with the United States.
Aside from targeting its nemesis, Israel, Iran has unleashed ballistic missiles on U.S. bases in the region. Its missiles are also bearing down on luxury hotels and high-end apartment buildings throughout the Persian Gulf from Dubai to Kuwait. Earlier this week, flights were disrupted and tourists were terrorized by Iran’s ballistic barrages.
A big part of the problem is the lack of clarity about exactly what our aim is in this war.
What is it supposed to accomplish? At first, it was putting an end once and for all to Iran’s nuclear ambition. The president has said in no uncertain terms that under no circumstances will Iran ever be permitted to build an atomic bomb. That laudatory goal was broadened when the missiles began blowing up apartment buildings and closing airports throughout the region.
The new goal was an end to Iran’s obviously demonstrated ballistic missile program. Then it was an end to Iran’s sponsorship of surrogates like the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Finally, at the beginning of the week, the newest goal was revealed to be regime change. We want the ayatollahs gone forever and something like a representative government installed.
Regime change is hard. There are large numbers of people whose vested interest is to keep a regime intact.
Perhaps the solution to the seemingly never-ending Iranian crisis is to reach out to the regular Iranian army. Not the Revolutionary Guard, but the professional soldiers. They at least have the guns necessary to confront the ayatollahs and what is left of that hateful regime.
In the meantime, President Trump must do a better job than I just did explaining what this is all about. Right now, unfortunately, neither President Trump nor the rest of us know exactly what our military is fighting for.
