The Witness Chronicles, 6/24/25

Bombs and bombast from Trump

Photo by vahid mazaheri on Unsplash

Bomber-in-Chief, Exaggerator-in-Chief

Some things cannot be undone

Like the attack on Iran or not, it’s a done deal, but did it serve any real purpose? In his triumphant announcement of the remarkable military feat (I won’t shortchange the planners, it was a tactical masterwork, like it or not) Trump declared that we had ‘obliterated’ the Iranian nuclear program despite it being far too early to assess the actual results.

Now that a few days have passed and the real and political dust is clearing it is becoming likely that we did not obliterate the program, even if the facilities we hit with fourteen bunker busters and numerous other strikes were effectively destroyed. Many intelligence officials believe it is likely Iran simply moved its enriched Uranium to other locations, an action that would only require a few small truckloads to move it all.

That makes so much sense I wonder what the reality is. The Iranians have known for weeks that this bombing was a potential outcome despite Trump’s constant waffling, which may have simply served as a basic distraction while we planned this elaborate attack. But, elaborate as the execution may have been, it appears there is no plan for dealing with its extremely complex after effects.

The entire Middle East, already on the edge, is now waiting for Iran’s reaction, including the 40,000 US troops deployed across the region. But there are bigger questions out there that the President is not addressing.

This is not a popular move with the American people and many Trump voters in particular. He promised, repeatedly, that he would not involve us in wars. In fact the core plank in his election platform was America First, an isolationist stance that resonated with his MAGA faithful. But they are not the only ones that do not support Trump’s actions.

Polling across many sources indicates that virtually everything he is doing is unpopular. And starting wars is a tried and true way to distract when things are not going your way. But history shows us that while an action like these bombings may initially gain support, that can fall off quickly and this seems to be no exception. We have more questions than ever before about how this affects us and the answers so far are not positive.

Look to your wallets to start. National average gas prices are up over 12 cents a gallon in recent weeks but that is nothing compared to what war in the Middle East would do. Hardliners in Iran are said to be calling for mining the Straits of Hormuz which is a major route for oil tankers. That can’t be good for the next time you fill up.

But fuel prices immediately affect the cost of everything, especially in a huge country where everything must be shipped for hundreds or thousands of miles. Like every action Trump takes, without exception, the consequences never seem to be considered or if they are, a story is fabricated to justify those results.

The obvious question here is how far does he go before being held accountable by the people and the Congress? So far, he has pushed the limits far beyond any norm with barely a peep from most of us. Gas prices are just one cost of these actions. Ask the parents and families of those military service people now stationed across the region.

The reaction so far is muted. My guess is that part of that is that this is a done deal and now we wait to see what happens. In other words more uncertainty and potential for chaos.

On that note, I am watching a special report announcing an attack on a U.S. base in Qatar, which appears to have been ineffectual and limited, no casualties. But the reporting is outlining all the potential attacks we can expect and there are a lot of them, all over the globe, including here in the States.

As further details come out it appears this attack was purely symbolic, a basic revenge play never intended to be serious. Iran notified Qatar of the attack, giving them time to ensure there were no provoking casualties of Americans or Qataris.

One emerging story is that Israel has changed their battle strategy in Iran and is now attacking domestic law enforcement in Iran including prisons, police and other forces used to control the Iranian public, perhaps hoping for a popular uprising though the internet is down across the country, limiting internal communications.

All of this is how major conflicts escalate into widespread chaos. At its root this was started by the Hamas attack on Israel that led to Netanyahu’s campaign to obliterate the Palestinians in Gaza and beyond. It’s important to remember that Netanyahu initiated this most recent conflict by preemptively attacking Iran with major air and missile attacks. His motivations are questionable and at least partly motivated by self-interests.

I’ll leave that at that. But it certainly looks like we are at war despite the Trump team’s claims that we are not at war and this is totally focused on the nuclear threat. However, as usual, Trump himself is going off script and implying other motivations as his own staff deny those claims.

So, more chaos and the President is directly in the midst of it, stirring the pot to spread a smoke screen even further. And it is important to remember that behind that smokescreen Trump has enriched himself personally by an estimated $600 million in just the first several months of this administration.

War has always been a good distraction from corruption, greed, and graft.

Trying to follow all this is challenging, to say the least. The stories change from minute to minute. After Trump announced a ceasefire, Israel immediately bombed Iran, leading Trump to express his anger at them, even publicly resorting to an F bomb.

Meanwhile Central Command’s intelligence reports we did not destroy Iran’s nuclear capability but only set it back a few months. Of course the Trump propaganda regime created its own version of reality, contradicting the Pentagon that the President leads.

Confused yet? I am.

Information is power and sharing is resistance.

Want to help me keep this going?:

Small one time donations: Buy Me A Coffee.

Upgrade to paid to support my take on the greater political and environmental world: The Witness Chronicles (see below)

Your support means more than you can know. Thank you.

Martin