Why it makes sense for Trump to back off on Iran, for now
Iran’s capacity for absorbing and inflicting pain means that everyone could lose if the conflict drags on or escalates.
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Iran – and particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that now seems to run much of the show – seems anything but cowed by the US aggression.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The death count of American servicemen in the war on Iran is climbing into the high teens. The number of Americans wounded in the latest fighting, now approaching a fortnight, is about 100. The Pentagon has already incurred some US$38 billion (S$49 billion) in direct costs, and the American economy has suffered some 20 times that – factoring in higher inflation, borrowing costs and veterans’ benefits. Magazine depth of everything from interceptors to attack missiles is significantly depleted. Oil is trading at over US$90 a barrel.
It may be time for the US to cut its losses and put the conflict on a long pause. Brute force is not working and its options are narrowing. The cost of the hostilities – for both parties and the world at large – is mounting by the day. Tehran has shown it can absorb and inflict pain for a long time, if necessary. And if Donald Trump’s Department of War has plans for Cuba, it would make sense to shut down one front and focus on the other.
