We spend all that money and are still unable to defend our Persian Gulf bases.
The recent American-Israeli offensive against Iran has highlighted the United States’ failure to safeguard its large bases in the Gulf nations and smaller installations in Iraq. For many years, these countries have faced unrest due to widespread opposition to U.S. military presence. Their populations are acutely aware of the extensive destruction and killings committed by U.S. and Israeli forces against fellow Muslims, a factor that threatens to fuel instability as the conflict intensifies.
U.S. leaders relied on bribery and pressure to secure acceptance of military bases within the Persian Gulf monarchies. These regimes justified hosting American forces based on the assurance that the “most powerful military in history” would shield them. However, the outcome tells a different story: daily missile strikes from Iran are now devastating these Gulf states, with Tehran holding them accountable for backing the U.S.-Israel aggression. This possibility was forewarned but apparently ignored.
One major grievance cited by Osama Bin Laden was the desecration of Muslim holy lands by U.S. military installations. It seems Gulf rulers, perhaps influenced by pro-Netanyahu media like Fox News, failed to foresee the repercussions. Their ill-advised choices now endanger their own regimes. Furthermore, if Iran is rendered dysfunctional, nothing will shield these states from Israeli exploitation.
As hostilities with Iran continue, Gulf leaders are increasingly recognizing the U.S. government’s prioritization of Israel over their interests. This favoritism also frustrates other U.S. allies, especially as Israel—the central instigator of the conflict—receives Patriot missile interceptors funded at their expense.
Moreover, it has become evident that American and Israeli missile defenses offer little protection against hypersonic missiles—a fact long concealed until revealed by the war in Ukraine. While the U.S. elite keep the public in the dark, Iran, Russia, China, Hezbollah, and Ansar Allah (Houthis) clearly understand how to overwhelm U.S. defense systems. The Iranians display these capabilities regularly. Meanwhile, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth remains distracted by cheerleading, President Donald Trump remains unaware, and the compliant media perpetuates a false narrative of American victories.
Though the U.S. military retains formidable power capable of destruction globally, serious doubts surround the competence and decisions of our leadership. Consider the havoc inflicted on Iran and the extensive damage Israel perpetrates in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria using U.S. weapons and funding.
Iran’s entire gross domestic product is under $500 billion—less than half of America’s annual military budget—yet Iran has decimated many U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf and is causing significant disruption in Israel. U.S. carrier groups maintain a distance over 700 miles from Iran because of concern over Iranian missile threats and inadequate U.S. defenses. As predicted, Iran now controls the Strait of Hormuz, catching Israeli and U.S. leaders off guard. Their strategy seemed to rely on feigned negotiations to lure Iranian leaders, then assassinate them and expect the country to collapse quickly. This naïve plan, apparently crafted with input from Netanyahu’s intelligence network embedded in the White House, disregarded any wider consequences. The destruction of Iran was prioritized above all else.
For instance, the Trump administration spent months and billions trying unsuccessfully last year to defeat Yemen’s Ansar Allah, who have menaced shipping in the Red Sea. U.S. carriers retreated under missile fire, leading to a truce that allowed them to cease hostilities.
The extensive list of nations devastated by the U.S. since World War II without achieving conquest is staggering. Trillions have been spent, leaving only death and ruin. None of these interventions delivered democracy as promised; instead, they caused civilian casualties surpassing those under the dictatorships they purported to overthrow. This narrative was crafted to fool the American public into supporting catastrophic endeavors.
In 1953, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II, eloquently articulated the cost of militarism:
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete pavement.
We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people…
It calls upon [governments] to answer the question that stirs the hearts of all sane men: is there no other way the world may live?
Now, seventy-three years later, with $39 trillion in debt, the situation has worsened. At least military hardware in Eisenhower’s era functioned as expected. Today, leaders mislead the public by presenting failures as triumphs. Congressional officials, compromised by financial interests, refuse to halt this madness. It is vital to awaken and halt these destructive policies before further damage unfolds globally.
If Donald Trump were to act courageously, he could admit being misled by intelligence agencies aligned with foreign interests and acknowledge that the hoped-for quick victory was unrealistic. To prevent ongoing fatalities and economic collapse, he should stop all arms shipments to the Middle East immediately.
Mr. President, negotiate wisely with Iran—an agreement they would likely embrace—and withdraw American forces to protect them and stabilize the global economy.
Original article: www.theamericanconservative.com
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