Relative Size of Iran
US CIA. Public Domain
I went to bed last night thinking about writing this blog. Why are we in this war? How did we get here? Where is it all leading? Who benefits? How great are the risks to my country's security? To its economic health? All these questions I am not equipped to answer. There is so much I do not know. And yet, as little as I know, the government--my president and my FCC chairman --are fighting to keep even that small bit of information from me.
So, if information is hidden from me, how will I make decisions? The best I can do is read a variety of sites, check various news sources, consider my understanding of current and past geopolitical dynamics and try to understand.
That's what I've been doing. I've been checking sources and trying to put the pieces together. One thing is clear. This is definitely a war in which Israel had a greater vested interest than my country did. This is certainly a war for which Israel's allies in my country have lobbied. It is most definitely a war the president entered thinking he could make a quick show of strength and then come out victorious, as he seemed to do in Venezuela.
Of course, I'm not entirely convinced that even Venezuela in the long run will work out as well as he seems to think it will. When Chavez was elected in 1998, Venezuela had a 50% poverty rate. The Gini coefficient in 1998 was 58. Gini index is a measure of equality: wealth, income and consumption. People in the country were unhappy enough to elect a socialist who promised more equality. What's it like today? Are the conditions today also conducive to a popular push for social change, if that doesn't come quickly?
Venezuela's poverty rate is said to be 71% today. Gini coefficient, according to one source was 53.9 in 2024. Given the authoritarian control in the country, can one rely on these numbers? Probably not. But they do reflect a country under severe economic and social stress. Will the U.S. infusion of cash help? Well, according to Donald Trump, the oil money extracted from Venezuela will be "sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!" How much of that money will go to Venezuela, and how much to the United States? Only Donald Trump knows.
How will it shake out in Venezuela? Will the equality, both economic and social, that the people of that country wanted in 1998 be realized in the near future? If not, is unrest, or a drive for a different kind of government on the distant horizon? Are we now in a kind of post-Maduro shock/honeymoon period? According to the Brookings Institute, the weaknesses that led to a collapse of the Venezuelan economy years earlier are still in place.
Well anyway, enough for Venezuela. That was Trump's easy conquest--outlook not so great. What about the more difficult challenge--conquest of Iran. Anyone, except maybe Trump and his cheering coterie, can see that even at this early stage we are in a bit of a quagmire. Trump is asking--demanding--that our allies come to our rescue in the Strait of Hormuz(the same allies he was bullying and demeaning a very short time ago?). Although the president doesn't express his demand outright that we be assisted, he is insisting these allies help to police the Strait. Was this part of the plan originally?
Actually, it seems there wasn't much of a plan. Someone (or some few) persuaded the president this Iran 'excursion' would be an easy win, a quick in and out. It would be another victory to have under the belt as the country headed into the midterms.
Who persuaded Trump that war with Iran, at this moment, would be in his best interest? There is no question that among Trump's advisors are self-identified Christian Zionists. For many of these people, the state of Israel should include more land than is currently occupied by Israelis. Christian Zionists will act in the interest of Israel, almost at any cost to the U.S. No less a person than our Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, recently asserted Israel's right to absorb a large swath of the Middle East.
So what does Israel want of these allies?
Netanyahu has long been lobbying for this war. More than one analyst has observed that his goal is to neuter Iran. This assessment was offered last July by France24. I have also read a similar assessment--that Netanyahu's ambition is to make Israel a regional hegemon. (This assessment came from Foreign Policy).
Netanyahu and Trump met last year to openly discuss depopulating Gaza., and just last week an Israeli official stated that the plan for Lebanon was to do exactly what was done in Gaza, to leave the southern part of the country in ruins. The plan is to ultimately take over that part of Lebanon. That official's statement was: “The goal is to take over territory..."
Israel is a sovereign nation. It can make decisions about its own fate, but Israel's interests are not identical to my country's interests. My country's national security should not be usurped in favor of Israel's territorial ambitions. The majority of my fellow citizens agree with me on this issue.
A poll in August of 2025 showed that 60% of the U.S. population disapproved of sending military aid to Israel. A YouGov poll in June of 2025 showed that only 16% of U. S. citizens thought the U. S. should get involved in a war between Israel and Iran. 60% said it absolutely should not get involved.
On the other hand, people in my country have long been apprehensive about Iran getting a nuclear weapon. To prevent that from happening, people overwhelmingly (according to the same poll) want a diplomatic solution to the 'Iran/nuclear' problem. It follows therefore that if the president wanted popular support for an attack on Iran, he had to use the nuclear argument. But that wouldn't work anymore, because he 'obliterated' the nuclear program seven months ago.
In order to conduct this war and gain support, Trump had to manage a few things. He had to find a way to go around Congress--because there was no way a case could have been made that Iran was an immediate threat, justifying a declaration of war. So Trump sent his negotiators, ostensibly to avoid war.
Who did Trump send to negotiate with Iran? Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. He might as well have sent Netanyahu. These two unofficial envoys are close friends with Netanyahu. Kushner is so close to him that when Jared was a child Netanyahu would sleep at hiss house. Shortly before the war broke out, Kushner and Witkoff were in a meeting with Netanyahu to discuss "...plans for a “New Gaza” rebuilt from scratch, to include residential towers, data centers and seaside resorts..."(Quote taken from the Times of Israel January 26, 2026).
Please understand that such a building project could not happen unless Gaza was depopulated (as suggested by Trump), and Gaza would never successfully be depopulated as long as there was a viable Iran. This view is consistent with the 'Octopus' theory, which suggests that Iran has tentacles that reach across the world. The tentacles cannot be destroyed unless the head--Iran--is destroyed. (Please see Pete Hegseth's (U. S. Defense Secretary) statements about Iran and Israel).
Did Witkoff and Kushner negotiate in good faith with the Iranians? There were people at the negotiations who thought Witkoff especially did not give the talks a sincere effort. He was described by at least one observer as being 'bellicose'. Indeed some who were present at those talks have suggested that Witkoff misrepresented the Iranian's position to Trump.
How will we ever know what happened at that meeting, for real? Certainly, Marco Rubio would have been a less biased negotiator than Witkoff or Kushner--but he wasn't present.
One thing I learned in my reading was that a modest effort at depopulating Gaza is already underway. At least three plane loads of Palestinians have left Gaza since May of 2025, and these people have been relocated to South Africa or Indonesia.
I don't want to calculate what this war is costing my country financially. We were already deeply in debt before the war started. I don't want to think about how we are weakening our own defense by diverting military resources to this conflict.
Why are we there?
Many of my fellow citizens want to know the answer to that question. It is a jigsaw puzzle. You see I have no answers. Only pieces I've laid out on the board. Where will this war end? I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling, and I think it's a feeling many people are sharing.
Below I've listed a few resources that may be helpful as references
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/15/realestate/new-hands-take-reins-at-big-manhattan-properties.html
Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/report-witkoff-kushner-coming-to-israel-as-us-irked-over-scope-of-strikes-on-irans-oil-depots/
Times of Israel:https://www.timesofisrael.com/witkoff-to-arrive-in-israel-for-talks-with-netanyahu-idf-chief-zamir/
Times of Israel:https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/iranian-fm-yelled-at-witkoff-during-fateful-geneva-meeting-that-preceded-us-strikes-nbc/
AP)
Times of Israel:https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/in-meeting-with-witkoff-netanyahu-stressed-hamas-disarmament-ruled-out-pa-governing-gaza-pmo/
Los Angeles Magazin:https://lamag.com/crimeinla/saudi-crown-prince-mbs-welcomed-to-white-house-by-president-trump-also-in-epstein-files/
Observer/Diplomat:https://observerdiplomat.com/saudi-crown-prince-mbs-and-jeffrey-epstein-uncovering-a-hidden-elite-network/
Washington Post:https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/28/trump-iran-decision-saudi-arabia-israel/
Memorandum on Constitutional War Powers:https://www.justice.gov/olc/opinion/file/1067551/dl
ms.now:https://www.ms.now/news/exclusive-diplomats-claim-witkoff-undermined-iran-talks
responsiblestatecraft:https://responsiblestatecraft.org/witkoff-iran-war/
www.ynetnews.com: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/h111jtnopkg
www.ynetnews.com: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1enwhrur
Thank you for reading my blog. Peace and health to everyone.
May kindness and compassion prevail in my country.
