Simon Tisdall writes:

Feckless and clueless, Donald Trump is lost in Iran, unable to find a way out of the disastrous war he started. Once again, the US military is pummelling the country and, increasingly, its civilian infrastructure. As before, this unlawful bludgeoning strengthens the resistance of a hardline regime that cares little for its people’s suffering. How often have Trump and Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon’s wildling lord of bones, hailed a bogus victory? The president claimed this week to be “winning big”. No one believes him. Even as it counts the vast human and economic cost of his Persian folly, a watching world scoffs at US impotence.

Control of the strait of Hormuz, closed due to Trump’s belligerence, is now the White House’s limited, elusive objective. The grander US and Israeli war aims – eliminating Iran’s nuclear programme, degrading its regional militias, regime change – are less attainable than ever. It’s Trump’s craven leadership that renders US forces ineffective, not the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. If Iran really is the existential menace he claims, the logical course would be all-out conquest. When George W Bush decided Iraq posed unacceptable dangers, he invaded with 170,000 ground troops. It was a catastrophe. But at least Bush had balls.

Bone-spur Trump dare not attempt anything like that in Iran, for which small mercy the world should doubtless be thankful. But nor will he admit his mistake in recklessly starting a fight he cannot finish. He prefers to expose civilians and US troops to an unwinnable forever war of attrition, imperil Gulf Arab allies, damage the global economy, risk devastating famine in developing countries, gladden the hearts of tyrants from Moscow to Beijing, eviscerate international law and ruin his Republican party’s electoral prospects – rather than accept that he blundered and seek a diplomatic settlement via stalled “peace talks”.

Trump’s self-love, not Iran, is global enemy No 1. He’s the principal reason this war is escalating uncontrollably again. He’s a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

There’s a familiar pattern here. Trump went to war without consulting Congress, US allies or the American public. He had no clear plan or long-term strategy. He swallowed dodgy assurances of speedy victory from Israel’s equally dodgy prime minister. His profound ignorance of the military and regional risks was undisturbed by the expert assessments he reportedly ignored. Amazingly, Trump was expecting Iran to capitulate before closing the strait and was “shocked” by its retaliatory attacks on US bases in Gulf states. No one else was. Now he’s all at sea. [Continue reading…]