Netanyahu and Hesgeth played Trump on Iran. Americans are paying for it | Opinion
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth came together to push Donald Trump into what I think is the worst military decision ever made by a U.S. president.
Netanyahu has long wanted Iran in a war with the United States and Israel, and pushed Trump to start that conflict. Netanyahu continues to press Trump to bomb Iran, so Trump turned to Hegseth for advice. Hegseth advised Trump the war would be over in no time because of U.S. military capability. It was a supposedly a no risk proposition.
The threat of the Iranians closing the Strait of Hormuz to disrupt the flow of oil and create a worldwide energy crisis was also dismissed by Hegseth, as it did not fit his theory that the war would be conducted “on our timeline and at our choosing.”
Trump bowed to Netanyahu, bombed Iran on Feb. 28 and immediately saw how bad that decision was. For weeks, Trump offered shifting explanations of why he started this war, because he could not admit he did it to support Netanyahu. Finally, they contrived that the reason was to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon. This was offered even though U.S. intelligence showed Iran posed no immanent nuclear threat to America.
While Hegseth promised Trump a short, focused military encounter at most, even intellectually challenged Trump might not have started this war with Iran had the defense secretary accurately predicted where the war would be after 90 days. The Pentagon said this month the war had cost at least $29 billion so far, and we are spending as much as $2 billion every day. Thirteen service members have been killed, and hundreds more wounded. Despite these facts, Iran is stronger today than before Trump started this war. And, Trump does not have a clue how to end the conflict until Netanyahu tells him to do that.
Disgracefully, the hundreds of American soldiers who have been wounded in Trump’s Iran war are being returned to Veterans Affairs facilities from which the Trump administration reduced thousands of positions — proof of Trump’s disrespect for the veterans he has called “losers” and “suckers.”
An obvious result of the war is the worldwide energy crisis it caused as Iran has restricted the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz. The rise in the price of gasoline and the increase in the overall cost of living that fuel price spikes have driven are directly related to the war. These results of Trump’s war are so obviously his fault he cannot lie his way out of it. He has said, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” because of higher prices caused by the war. The people are suffering because of the conflict he started.
Netanyahu is subject to an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Gaza. He reportedly does not fly his airplane over multiple countries for fear of being forced to land and arrested. Israel’s involvement in the conflict is being subsidized by the American taxpayer, on Trump’s behest.
Once again, Trump supports Netanyahu, who wants to continue military action with Iran and is opposing a negotiated resolution. Trump has chosen to support Netanyahu, and we are paying dearly with American lives and economic hardships as this war continues. We deserve better.
John E. Moore is former lieutenant governor and secretary of commerce of Kansas.