In true Trump fashion, he’s declared ‘victory’over Iran. What he actually won? Nobody know
President Donald Trump claimed victory over Iran in the war. Despite this, the Trump administration is still threatening Tehran with bombs.
“We won this war. This war has been won,” Trump asserted at a press conference at the White House. He goes on an offensive against the media over the war coverage. “You read the New York Times, and it’s like we’re not winning a war, where they have no navy, no airforce, and they have no nothing. And we literally have planes flying over Tehran and other parts of their country. They can’t do a thing about it.”
Iran, for its part, told the United Nations that nonhostile ships may avail themselves of safe passage through its waterway. Al Jazeera noted that ships may pass through the Strait of Hormuz “provided that they neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran and fully comply with the declared safety and security regulations.”
Earlier this week, Trump posted about “good and productive conversations” with Iranian officials. However, an Iranian official denied that there are negotiations taking place. Despite the contradicting claims, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would undeniably benefit everyone. Several countries—including United States allies in Asia—are already being hit hard by the disruption in the energy market.
Declaring victory too soon?
But is Trump declaring victory too soon? Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who resigned under Trump in 2018, offered a different perspective on Monday at a CERAWeek event in Houston.
“I think that what we’re seeing is a situation where targetry never makes up for a lack of strategy. And by that I mean 15,000 targets have been hit. There have been significant military successes, but they are not matched by the strategic outcomes,” Mattis criticized. Trump hinges his victory over Iran on the destruction of its military.
“Some of the strategic outcomes early on—unconditional surrender, regime change—we’re going to dictate who the next supreme leader is? Those were clearly nonsense. Those were delusional,” Mattis remarked.
“We’re now in a position where either one side or the other side escalates, probably to be matched, and you saw that threat rise over the last 48 hours. It’s been pushed off for five days, but right now, we’re in a kind of a ‘show me.'” Essentially, Mattis’ verdict is that the war is far from over—and what appears to be a pause may just be the calm before the storm.
Escalation is not a far-fetched claim, especially when Trump hasn’t ruled out sending soldiers on the ground at Kharg Island. Should negotiations go awry, it’s still a possibility for Washington to bomb Tehran’s power plant—to which Iran may respond in equally devastating measure.
Informal toll on the Strait of Hormuz
Mattis also speculated that if Trump pulled out of the war prematurely, Iranian authorities would have an upper hand and “tax every ship that goes through” the Strait of Hormuz. To this, Mattis was not wrong in his prediction. Bloomberg reported that Iran has started charging transit fees for safe passage on some commercial vessels. They reported that vessels have been irregularly charged two million dollars on the waterway.
Trump can keep declaring victory, but saying something doesn’t make it a reality. What determines whether this campaign is successful or not remains to be seen in the longterm. But at the very least, Trump admitted on camera that this campaign isn’t a military operation—it’s a full-on war. Now, doesn’t that need congressional approval?
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