Epic Lies
The war is not over
Somebody is lying.
It’s about the only thing we can be sure of as far as the war in Iran is concerned.
Donald Trump and his circle of yes-men have suggested that the war has been won, that the ceasefire is holding, that peace talks are underway, that Iran has been decimated, that the U.S. Navy is escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
Is any of that true? Maybe, but the administration has lied so often and has been so inconsistent and evasive for so long, you can’t trust any of it.
We are getting information about the war almost exclusively from late-night social media rants from Donald Trump and a few Pentagon press conferences filled with journalists hand-picked by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Fortunately, there are still reporters with sources willing to shed light on a war that has entered its third month and caused gas prices to jump 26 cents in a week, reaching a national average of $4.56 a gallon.
On Thursday, the Washington Post reported on a confidential CIA assessment that says Iran can withstand between three to four more months of hostilities. The report, which has been given to the White House, states that Iran has retained more than 70% of its pre-war stockpiles of missiles and mobile launchers.
It goes on to say Iran has managed to gain access to its underground storage facilities, and that the Iranian military has been able to repair or finish fabricating new missiles. That’s a long way from what Trump & Co. have told Americans.
One administration source told the Post that with the February 28 assassination of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, the regime has become even more radical and hardline. It is patient and determined to wait out the American president.
New Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei called for a “new regional and global order under the strategy of a strong Iran,” on social media. He pointed to “using the leverage of closing the strait” or Hormuz as one step to achieving that goal.
Choosing to ignore the CIA’s assessment, Trump seemingly made up his own. “Their missiles are mostly decimated, they have probably 18, 19 percent, but not a lot by comparison to what they had,” he said from the Oval Office on Wednesday.
Not only have we been lied to, we’ve been kept in the dark about the real extent of damage done. The Post also reported the Pentagon asked private satellite companies not to make their satellite images of the region available for the public and press. But the Post has found out through other sources that despite the administration’s claims, Iranian air strikes have damaged or destroyed 228 U.S. and allied military structures since the war began.
And then there are the dueling blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, which mean practically no ships are getting through, holding hostage 20% of the world’s oil supplies as well as crucial commodities like natural gas, helium, and aluminium.
Both the U.S. and Iran are enforcing conflicting maritime restrictions. From its vantage point, Iran continues to block the strategic strait, with new rules for passage in the form of a 40-question application. Prior to Trump’s war, ships were free to travel through the Strait as they pleased. Now, reportedly, Iran is extorting millions of dollars to pass through, something they consider a spoil of war. Trump has handed war-ravaged Iran immense leverage and a much needed revenue stream.
“Having demonstrated it once, Iran can now credibly threaten to shut down the Strait of Hormuz in the future. Its military capabilities have been degraded but not destroyed. It would take little effort for Iran to deter shippers from resuming traffic,” Gregory Brew writes in Foreign Affairs.
On Sunday, Trump announced “Project Freedom,” which offered U.S. naval escorts of civilian vessels through the Strait. Though he paused the operation on Tuesday because of “great progress” in peace talks, he said the “Navy has been incredible. The job they did … It’s like a wall of steel.”
Now we learn the real reason he paused the operation was outrage from Saudi Arabia which only learned of the move from Trump’s social media account. The Saudis then suspended U.S. access to its airspace and air bases, according to NBC News.
Meanwhile, the White House awaits word from the Iranians about its proposed peace deal. Up to this point, Iran has not budged on any requests from the U.S., including abandoning its nuclear program, surrendering enriched uranium, or opening the Strait.
If you were hoping for some daylight from Hegseth’s Capitol Hill testimony last week, think again. His appearance before the House Armed Services Committee was long on hostility and short on information. While the Defense Secretary was accused of lying about the cost of the war, shifting justification for the war, and refusing to be transparent, he declined to answer almost any question put to him.
His testimony came just two days ahead of the 60-day deadline imposed by the 1973 War Powers Act. It requires the president to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops and mandates their withdrawal within 60 days without congressional authorization to continue. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that Operation Epic Fury had concluded because it had achieved its objectives. What was the objective, by the way?
Whether hostilities are over or not, significant damage has been done to global oil operations and to U.S. military bases in the Middle East. It will take months to restore oil exports to pre-war levels and an estimated 15 and 25 billion dollars to repair the bases.
None of this is helping the public relations disaster made by Trump. The war is deeply unpopular, with a new PBS/NPR/Marist poll showing that 60% of Americans disapprove. This mirrors Trump’s overall approval rating, which is one of the lowest in U.S. presidential history.
At this point, getting back to where we were before the start of the war would be considered a “win.” But as things now stand, Iran will be the one with bragging rights, while America and the rest of the world suffer for Trump’s foray into war.
Make no mistake, the war is not over. The truth has not been told about its cost, how much economic damage has been done, nor how much prestige and influence America has lost.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
Thank you Dan for your steadfast truthful reporting. It's a shame we can't believe our own government.
When you have an epic liar for President you will always get epic lies.