‘Nobody else is responsible’: Trump to blame for Iran crisis, ex-CIA chief says | Donald Trump
Donald Trump is stuck between a “rock and a hard place” after three weeks of war in Iran and is “sending a message of weakness” to the world, Leon PanettaThe former US defense secretary and Central Intelligence Agency director told the Guardian.
Panetta, who served in the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations, recalled that national security officials were always aware of Iran’s ability to create an energy crisis by closing the Strait of Hormuz. This exact scenario is now unfolding, leaving Trump with no exit strategy other than wishful thinking.
“He tends to be naive about how things could have happened,” Panetta, 87, who oversaw the operation to find and kill Osama bin Laden, said by phone. “If he says it and keeps saying it, there’s always hope that what he says will come true. But kids do that. That’s not something presidents do.”
Trump’s war began on February 28 with what he hoped would be a knockout blow. Iran’s religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in Israel’s surprise attack. The USA and Israel quickly gained air superiority. But the longer the conflict goes on, the further the initiative seems to slip away.
According to thirteen US soldiers and Iranian health officials, more than 1,400 Iranians were killed, while Khamenei was replaced by his son Mujtaba Khamenei. Trump has struggled to sell the war at home as oil prices rise, poll numbers plummet and his electoral coalition shows signs of splintering. He was outraged by the news and gave mixed signals about the goals or when the “trip,” as he called it, would come to a conclusion.
Panetta said: “We replaced an old man, a religious leader, who was close to death at a time when the Iranian people were willing to take to the streets in the hope that they might eventually change their style of government. And instead today we have a more established regime, a younger religious leader who will be there for a while, and he’s a much tougher person than the first religious leader. That didn’t work out very well.”
The regime retaliated against the USA and Israel Effective closure of the Strait of Hormuzputs global energy markets in a deadlock. One fifth of the oil traded in the world flows through waterways.
According to Panetta, this is a crisis of the president’s own making. “It’s not rocket science to understand that if you’re going to war with Iran, one of the biggest weak points is the Strait of Hormuz, and [it] It could create a massive oil crisis that could send fuel prices sky high.
“In every national security council we talked about Iran, this issue always came up. For some reason they either didn’t think it would be an outcome, or they thought the war would end quickly and they wouldn’t have to worry about it.”
He continued: “Whatever it was, they weren’t prepared for this, and now they’re paying a price because if there was a run for Trump here, it would be declaring victory and that would be the end of it, and we’ve succeeded in all our military objectives. The problem is, he can declare victory all he wants, but if he can’t get a ceasefire, he’s left with nothing.”
“And Iran will not be able to achieve a ceasefire as long as it keeps the gun to its head in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Trump says he doesn’t plan to ground US boots in Iran, but also sending thousands of sailors A possible sign of an upcoming operation in the Middle East. rejected on friday to approve A report from news outlet Axios He said Iran was considering occupying or blockading Kharg Island to pressure Iran to reopen the strait.
Panetta said: “He faces a very difficult problem: Does he go about expanding the war by opening the Strait of Hormuz so he can eliminate that influence and perhaps negotiate with Iran once and for all? Or does he just walk away and declare victory, even though everyone clearly understands that he has failed?”
“The situation he’s in right now is very difficult, but no one is responsible for his situation other than Donald Trump.”
Help is not on the way. Last Saturday, Trump suggested other countries might need to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open, but the reaction was less than positive. On Friday, Trump branded NATO a “paper tiger” without the United States and mocked its members. “cowards”. He left his allies outside Israel in the dark about his war plans against Iran.
Panetta commented: “If you’re planning a war, it’s not a bad idea to talk to your allies. Alliances are important to support any military effort. We learned that lesson going back as far as World War II. But that [Trump] “He has taken a callous approach to alliances and now suddenly finds himself in a situation where he has to appeal to allies, NATO and others whom he certainly did not treat well during his presidency, to help save him.”
The former defense minister added with a chuckle: “The chickens are coming home to roost.”
He advises Trump to abandon his magical thinking and “face the truth” that he must use the military to open the strait, neutralize Iranian defenses along the coast, and deploy ships to escort oil tankers.
“There will be lives lost, no doubt, and that will obviously expand the war, but I don’t see the alternative. He has to do it. He’s talked a lot about the power of the United States. This is a test of whether the United States can deal with this situation, which would otherwise not only prolong the war but also create a lot of economic damage to the United States through rising fuel prices and, some say, a potential recession around the world.”
Panetta added bluntly: “There aren’t many options. You have to do what you have to do, and if you can open the strait, that might give you a better chance of having a basis from which you can negotiate some kind of ceasefire. That’s the only way he can go at this point; otherwise he clearly wouldn’t be able to find a solution.””
Panetta, a former army intelligence officer, was the White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration and later served as CIA director and the 23rd secretary of defense under Obama. He is currently the director of the Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University, Monterey Bay. Son, Jimmy PanettaHe is a Democratic Congressman from California and former Navy reserve intelligence officer.
He’s less than impressed with the flamboyant antics of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who now occupies Panetta’s old office at the Pentagon. “He’s not a secretary of defense. He’s just a person who makes sure everything Trump wants him to do happens.”
Panetta also condemns the fundraising email recently released by the White House, which used meme-style videos juxtaposing war footage with Hollywood movies, video games and sporting events, as well as a photo of Trump during the honorable transfer of the remains of soldiers killed in Kuwait.
Panetta said: “When he or those around him started posting pictures of football matches, raising money using pictures of our dead returning to Dover [air force base]and by doing the unpleasant things he can do, he is actually sending the world a message of weakness, not strength.
“Unfortunately, that’s what the world is seeing right now, and I can understand why he’s having trouble trying to get his allies to respond when they’re not sure he knows what he’s doing.”
Born during the Presidency FranklinRooseveltPanetta has never seen a commander in chief as norm-shattering as Trump. When a Tomahawk missile hit a girls’ school in southern Iran on the first day of the conflict, killing at least 175 people, most of them children, Trump sought to blame Iran for the attack, claiming that security forces were “very wrong” about ammunition.
“Any other president of the United States would have recognized the mistake and apologized for what happened,” Panetta said. “He’s not doing that. He’s sending out an image of America that resembles the ugly image of America that many people once had of this country.”
