See also So, The Israelis Control U.S. Middle East Policy. But Are They Wise?

Continuous war drum-beating notwithstanding, the fact is that shutting down the Iran effort now could yield tremendous benefits for President Trump and America, even justifying the action.

Yesterday I read The war on Iran will likely end in American retreat By Jeffrey Sachs and Sybil Fares Aljazeera 9 May 2026.

Putting aside the emotional triumphalism in this essay, it provides a plausible explanation of why this mess occurred:

The US – Israel war plan was a decapitation strike, sold to President Donald Trump by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and David Barnea, the director of the Mossad. The premise was that an aggressive joint US–Israeli bombing campaign would so degrade the Iranian regime…that the regime would fracture. The United States and Israel would then impose a pliable government in Tehran.

Obviously that has not worked, for totally predictable reasons that the essay discusses.

In war, shutting down an attack or a whole offensive because of lack of success is quite normal. In more rational and less emotional eras like in 18^th-century Europe (as opposed to 20^th-century) this applied to whole wars. Bureaucratic and political enemies try to make capital from disappointment, but the mass of opinion sees reason.

In October 1956,the British, French and Israelis launched the Suez operation, to reverse Egypt’s Nasser’s theft of the Suez Canal. The Americans led by President Eisenhower threw a petulant tantrum and the Allies had to withdraw in humiliating defeat. This was the end of the UK as a world power

Obviously this was a disaster for the ruling Conservatives in Britain. The very strong Left there exulted and was confident of a sweeping victory at the next General Election. But in fact in October 1959 the Conservatives won with a sharply increased majority.

How did this happen? A British friend had the following insight:

At the time, the BBC had a program called “Any Questions?. A panel of quests, usually including an MP from each of the major parties, answered a range of queries. In one show, in ’57 or ’58, they were asked about the impact of the Suez fiasco on the next election.

After the Labour MP had finished gloating, the Conservative said that he was certain that his party would be returned with an increased majority

“…because when the British People go to vote they will recognize that what the Tories did at Suez, right or wrong, successful or unsuccessful, was done with the best interests of this Country at heart, and for no other reason.”

Retreat is to Trump’s advantage. As the recent Midwest primaries showed, his core base has not wavered. The considerable swathe of disaffected Rightists is likely to welcome his change of mind like the return of the Prodigal Son. And reopening the Strait of Hormuz will quickly reverse the adverse economic impact of this escapade, cheering up the Public as a whole.

Life will not be so easy for the Democratic Leadership. Israel’s Gaza activities since October 2023 have turned substantial majority of Democratic voters against her. So attacking Trump for closing down the effort is not possible. And with the shutdown, with its implicit admission of error, the question of why it was initiated will become academic to most.

Life will become extremely difficult for the Zionists and the Israeli Government. Since the Iran strikes on February 28, Israel has, per a Grok search this evening, occupied 232 square miles (5.7%) of Lebanon, killed up to 2,600 Lebanese and displaced over 1Mm people (19% of the population). Israeli bulldozers are leveling villages and there are mutterings that the plan is to establish a DMZ-like buffer of perhaps 10% of Lebanon.

Meantime, killings in Gaza have accelerated and there is continued connivance at the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank by Jewish settlers.

These facts are less well known to the Americans than they are to the rest of the world because of US MSM repression. But via Podcasts, Social Media and by following foreign news sources, those who are interested can find out.

And the younger generation of Leftists is extremely interested. Quite apart from sincere outrage, the situation provides copious ammunition in the brewing inter-generational war. The surprisingly geriatric Democratic Leadership is weakly positioned to defend itself against charges of being negligent on the Israel question.

Anyone following the Primaries knows this battle has been joined. I believe it was at the root of the strange purge at the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2024. Wherever young Leftists are influential, conflict erupts.

An important demonstration of this is the progress of H.R.3565 “To provide for a limitation on the transfer of defense articles and defense services to Israel.” This Bill was introduced on May 21, 2025, and was endorsed by 56 Democrats by the time of the Gaza ‘’Ceasefire” on October 10. (No Republicans have signed.) At year end the number was 60 and now stands at 68, with 5 signing up in April. This is 32% of the whole Democratic House delegation. Ominously for the Leadership, support is heavily drawn from non-White Members

A decade ago, the Sponsor of such a measure would probably have been expelled from the Party.

Although many Donor-owned GOP Congresscritters would no doubt like to sign up for the job, the prospect of holding the Republican Party in a Zionist posture is also poor. Discontent with Israel among younger Rightists is strong, as a recent article in The New Yorker bemoaned. And the role of Neoconservatives in the last generation is well known and deeply if quietly resented.

So if President Trump were to abruptly shut down the Iran confrontation, the Israelis would be left conducting massive operations of conquest and virtual extermination in Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza which their friends around the World will not be able to protect.

Major inflection points in world affairs often have a cogent meta-myth. George III and the American Revolution, Bismarck’s engineering of a united Germany, Hitler’s decision for war in 1939 all come to mind. When studied at the granular level these accounts are generally quite hard to detect. They retain an explicative value.

So it is not necessary to fully believe that President Trump went into the Iran venture thinking it could ultimately end the Zionist grip on American affairs. (Although he may at a subconscious level have grasped that he could withstand failure better than his tormentors.) The recognition of the effects of shutting down would presumably be conscious – if not admitted.

However arrived at

’tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish’d.”

[Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 1)]

Is there room on Mount Rushmore?