(Dobbs) Did The Experts Not Warn You, Or Did You Not Listen?Did they not warn you that wars don’t end because one man who has never seen war himself “feels it in his bones?"
Mr. President, did your experts from the military, from the intelligence agencies, from the diplomatic services, and from your own White House staff never warn you that once you start a war, it won’t necessarily go the way you want it to, which it hasn’t? Did they not warn you that just as American strategists “game” potential wars against adversaries, Iran’s have done the same, and the most obvious leverage they’d use would be to fire on ships and effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which they have? Did they not warn you that they also would game attacks on longtime Arab antagonists just across the Gulf, with yet more strikes yesterday against Qatar and even Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, which they have done relentlessly since the war started? Did they not warn you that Iran has a massive supply of drones and short- and medium-range missiles and that even if they’d lose some of them, they could use the rest against American forces and allied nations in the region for a long time, which they are? Did they not warn you that Gulf nations might resent the way you launched this war, epitomized by the question from one Dubai billionaire, “Who gave you the authority to drag our region into a war with Iran?”, which he did ask on X? Did they not warn you that if ships can’t pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the price of oil could go up roughly 40%, which it has, and the price of gas at the pump could jump by almost 30%, which it has? Did they not warn you that Americans’ savings in the stock market would also take a big hit, which they have? Did they not warn you when you offered U.S. Navy ships to escort oil and other critical commodities through the strait that they couldn’t because they are otherwise busy with the war itself, as they are? Did they not warn you that after berating some of America’s longtime allies, they might not rush in as you’ve insisted to break open the strait, because they haven’t? Did they not warn you that the bunker-buster bombs the U.S. dropped on Iran’s major nuclear facilities last June set them back, but they did not, as you claimed, “obliterate” them, because with an estimated thousand pounds of almost weapons-grade uranium still hidden, they’re still a threat? Did they not warn you that while you insisted after the supreme leader was killed on the first day, “I have to be involved in the appointment” of a successor, you wouldn’t be because his son was always the front-runner, and now he follows in his father’s sinister footsteps? Did they not warn you that while “eliminating” most of Iran’s main religious and political leaders, the regime had a plan in place, reinforced by the repressive Revolutionary Guards, to replace them with new ones, which they have? Did they not warn you that while a large portion of Iran’s population deplores the Islamic regime, another large portion supports it, maybe for the same reasons they welcomed the Islamic Republic almost 50 years ago: they prefer Islamic principles to Western principles, which means the “uprising” you called for— “take over your government, it will be yours to take”— isn’t inevitable and maybe not even possible, because realistically there’s no foolproof way to help them do it? Did they not warn you that in a society like Iran, where citizens have suffered more than they have prospered, the capacity for hardship is higher than it is here at home, which the Iranians are proving? Did they not warn you that as retired Air Force general Alexus Grynkewich told a Senate committee last week, “Historical data, from the Second World War to more recent campaigns, demonstrates that bombing campaigns rarely, if ever, break the will of a population or force a government to surrender. In fact, they often harden domestic resolve and allow regimes to unify the public against a foreign aggressor,” which might be what we’re seeing? Share Did they not warn you that even though Russia has been helping Iran fight back against the United States, this war would help revive the Russian economy, especially when you lifted sanctions on Russian oil reputedly to try to help ease the shortage, enabling Vladimir Putin to keep grinding on in Ukraine, which he is doing? Did they not warn you that the war would not be covered by the defense department budget, especially when the Pentagon has just asked for another $200 billion+ to pay for it, which was reported yesterday? Did they not warn you that wars don’t end because one man who has never seen war himself “feels it in his bones,” because they don’t? Did they not warn you that the enemy also gets a vote, which it almost always does? We know, Mr. President, that you fashion yourself as the smartest person in any room— as the best developer, as the best economist, as the best military strategist. We remember how you told us during your first term, “I know more than the generals.” So it’s fair to ask, Mr. President, did the experts not warn you, or did you not listen? |