*** “Foreign policy is effectively the assertion of many individual countries interacting on the global marketplace. And you have to figure out how to get your interest served in a way that meets the interests and needs of these other folks.”
[ John Kerry; former Secretary of State ]
This post is the 4th in a series examining the conduct of Donald John Trump, unfortunately president of the United states. Many, who scientifically examined him and knew him closely have said he was, is, unfit for this office. On Friday, 4/10/26, a very serious discussion occurred on the PBS “News Hour” about Trump’s mental state. Given Trump’s erratic, and, often un-presidential conduct – YOU can expect more of this, not in “hatred of Trump”. but in serious concern. Even if Trump is “normal,” he is THE anti-George Washington, THE anti-Abraham Lincoln.
This post presents excerpts from: “An Unjust War Without Plan or Purpose”. [ Phil Klay; New York Times; 3/22/26 ]:
11] “Power does not grow out of the barrel of a gun, cruelty is not the same as strength, and a politics built on such ideas promises ruin, delusion about the limits of our power and a betrayal of the promise of our founding.”
5] “American leaders have sought to justify our wars as having objectives in keeping with our founding political philosophy. This isn’t simply rhetoric, but about a fundamental view of power and its relationship to violence that filters down to strategy.”
10] “Without a clear moral or political purpose, we’re left with what the military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady calls the “strike-as-strategy” paradox, in which we substitute tactical prowess for comprehensive strategic design. this tendency, he writes, ‘is reinforced by a political culture that demands televised displays of military prowess.”
***. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” [ Proverbs 29: 18 ]
1] “The justifications for the war have been stunningly incoherent. maybe the war is about regime change, about Iran’s nuclear program, about the narrow military objectives of degrading their ballistic missile and drone capabilities, or perhaps it was because Israel was about to attack and we’d be at risk, or because the United States was under imminent threat from Iran, or to achieve peace in the Middle East, and so on. Maybe it’s not a war at all…Maybe we want “unconditional surrender,” but maybe “unconditional surrender” is a thing that happens inside the president’s mind…Maybe the war is “quite contained,” but maybe Americans throughout the region need to leave. Maybe there will be ground troops and maybe not.” [ follow al of this? got it all figured out???!!!???!!! ]
4] “What these men don’t seem to realize, or care about, is that their language of brute force represents a fundamental break with American traditions around war going back to the Revolution.” [ as in 1776 ]
***. “Donald Trump tells us that he is very smart. I’m afraid that when it comes to foreign policy, he is very, very not smart.” [ Mitt Romney ]
2] “..as I watched a video posted by the White House in which a group of angry, rifle-wielding bowling pins labeled “Iranian Regime Officials” are struck by a Stars and Stripes bowling ball that turns into an airplane, followed by actual combat footage of U.S. airstrikes, I realized how one rationale for this war has remained clear and consistent: the administration’s delight in displays of violence and domination.”
3]. “The men who want to Make America Great Again are searching for a clean break from the Global War on Terror. That conflict was launched with lofty rhetoric about democracy and freedom but led to years of civil war, chaos, swollen ranks of terror groups, genocide, a refugee crisis…”
6] “When Stephan miller talked about our troops not fighting with their hands tied behind their backs, he was referring to a popular conservative myth about the Vietnam War, that we might have won had we only exercised less restraint…perhaps if we’d really gone scorched earth and killed a million more, the Vietnamese would have loved and embraced the rulers we foisted upon them…a particularly vile form of folly. And yet, that attitude seems to be guiding the current administration.”
***. “Wooden-headedness consists of assessing a situation in terms of preconceived, fixed notions while ignoring or rejecting any contrary signs. It is acting to wish while not allowing oneself to be confused by the facts.”
[ Barbara Tuchman ]
7] “A reliance on brute force can be blinding. In one of the more telling comments from the defense secretary, Mr. Hegseth claimed that because we’d taken control of Iran’s airways and waterways, “we control their fate,” and “the terms of this war will be set by us at every step.” a veteran of Iraq like Mr. Hegseth should know better. The enemy always gets a vote..”
8]. ‘..the U.S. energy secretary, Chris Wright, suggested that “Trump’s energy dominance agenda” meant that America need not worry about disruptions to the oil market if war broke out with Iran. Now the president is trying to claim that high gas prices are good for Americans, while urging oil tankers to “show some guts”. and sail through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran, whose ships can get through, is selling more oil than before the war.”
9] “Robert Pape, an expert on strategic bombing campaigns, has argued that air power without subsequent ground troops has never resulted in a positive regime change.”
***. “War is, at first, the hope that one will be better off; next, the expectation that the other fellow will be worse off; then, the satisfaction that he isn’t any better off; and, finally, the surprise at everyone’s being worse off.”
[ Karl Kraus ]
So – in judging the work of ANY American government – use the Constitution’s Preamble as THE test. “We the People”. created the U.S. government to. “..establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare..”
So – ask YOURSELF. – how does Trump’s war of choice against Iran accomplish these goals? How does ANY Trump DICTATORSHIP policy accomplish these goals [in real life, not rhetoric]????? WHY. – are virtually ALL of America’s traditional friends and allies refusing to enter Trump’s war [do they all ‘hate’ him?]????? WHY did Pope Leo condemn Trump’s war?
***. “Character matters. Leadership descends from character.” [ Rush Limbaugh ]
With Justice For All 