Blue Press Journal

Tag: military strategy

  • The Illusion of a “Golden Age”: How the Iran War Impacts the Economy and the Nation’s Security

    by Winston Wendell

    President Donald Trump has asserted that America has entered upon a new “Golden Age.” This is a far cry from the reality we see on the ground today, where over one hundred thousand jobs have been lost in just the past two months. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and groceries are costing a record amount.

    Yet another consequence of the Trump administration’s disastrous war with Iran is that we are facing unprecedented deficits and soaring gas prices. More concerning still, the military’s most vital missiles for the defense of America’s allies and military installations in the Middle East are nearly depleted.

    The Washington Post recently reported that the Pentagon’s stores of precision guided missiles and large diameter rockets needed for its most sophisticated missile-defense systems are nearly depleted after more than five months of relentless strikes on Iran. This leaves the president with only limited options regarding renewed attacks on the Islamic Republic.

    At the same time, however, Reuters looked at this issue from a different angle, citing security analysts for the statement that the U.S. would be unable to respond adequately to a Chinese attack on Taiwan or other regional provocations if they were to occur, given the current levels of defense readiness. This development is exceptionally concerning given the heightened tensions with China at the moment, and it is not reassuring that the U.S. has so few options available in the event of a large-scale attack on any of its allies.

    If Trump decides to continue with his campaign of airstrikes against Iran, the limited number of precision-guided weapons in the Pentagon’s inventory poses a potentially dangerous dilemma for the President. Reuters added that the U.S. is already down to just eight THAAD missiles and thirteen Patriot missiles, having burned through nearly 80% of THAAD and 50% of Patriot since the beginning of hostilities with Iran.

    Despite the urgent need, defense officials estimate it will take several years before America’s missile inventory will be back to where it was before the war with Iran began, even if the defense-contracting companies ramp up their production rates to maximum.

    It all boils down to the President himself, who, with his unilateral declaration of war on Iran, has placed the U.S. in an exceptionally perilous position both at home and abroad. Neither the American public nor our allies wanted this, and it is clear that Trump thought through the economic impact of his decision much too little. By launching this kind of reckless campaign, he has undermined both the economic and national security of the United States.

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  • The Trump’s Avoidable Crisis: Looking Back at the Collapse of the Iran Nuclear Deal

    by Winston Wendell

    President Barack Obama defended the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with a blunt warning: “The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy or some form of war.”

    Cracked gavel breaking over map of Iran with USA and Iran flags and protest figures

    Now, years later, I watch that warning turn painfully real. When Donald Trump pulled the United States out of a nuclear deal that had kept Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in check, his administration threw the country into a disaster of its own making.

    On the military front, this war’s a failure from every angle. Targeted strikes came and went, and the Iranian government endures, now with even tougher hardliners from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in charge. Iran still holds most of its missile stock, its mobile launchers, its underground bunkers. Drone and missile factories keep running. Worst of all, Tehran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz—is even tighter. Those photos of commercial ships stuck near Larak Island say it all. Washington’s shortsighted choices gave our adversaries control of some of the world’s most important economic lifelines.

    The cost? It’s staggering, both in dollars and lives. We burned through about $25 billion at the start, and the spending hasn’t stopped. At home, Americans feel it everywhere, gas prices, groceries, you name it. But it’s the human cost that hurts most. U.S. service members have died, and hundreds cope with wounds they’ll never shake, all for a conflict with no clear end, no real transparency, and not a word of congressional approval. Like millions of others, I feel deep frustration. This is a war with no purpose, no strategy, and no exit.

    Trump’s aggressive reversal left America boxed in with terrible options. If Washington caves to Tehran—giving up huge sums of money or control over the Strait of Hormuz—we abandon the basic principle of free maritime navigation. Global commerce depends on that. An emboldened Iranian regime, flush with cash, will just buy new air defenses, load up on missiles, and use the Strait for leverage as long as it wants.

    No one wins here. There’s only the bitter fallout of a war we never needed, a conflict that put America’s security at risk, bled our economy, and left the world less stable than ever.

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