THE longer the war against Iran continues, the messier it is going to get for United States President Mr. Donald Trump. That America has been dragged into the war, that was most-desired by Israel, is becoming amply clear by now and Mr. Trump is finding it hard to justify the US attack on a country that was marked as “no imminent threat” by its own anti-terror unit head. Yet, America is emptying its coffers on the war that has now stretched into the 23rd day making mockery of the assessment by the US-Israel combine.

 

The wrangling over the war has also started to unsettle Mr. Trump as cracks are slowly opening up between him and Israeli Prime Minister Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu. Adding to that, the snub by American allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) force has further made the ground slippery for the maverick US President. A visible split over the goals of the war came out in the open a couple of days ago when Israel attacked a critical Iranian gas field in South Pars. Mr. Trump did not approve of the attack and made it pretty clear during his meeting with the visiting Japanese Prime Minister Ms. Sanae Takaichi. He looked livid with Mr. Netanyahu as the Americans realised that their President was finding it hard to rein in the Israeli PM. The divergent views by both the leaders sum up the incoherent strategy with which the US-Israel combine entered the conflict. More such differences are set to pop up in the coming days as Iran puts up a sterling fight against the US-Israel might. The ill-advised war has clearly put Mr. Trump on the backfoot. His advisors were downright stupid in making him believe that Iran was a sitting duck. On the contrary, despite losing its Supreme Leader right at the start of the fight, Iran has stood up to the attacks with a fierce resolve. Not only has it put up a fight against the barrage of missiles and hi-tech drones but also surprised the US with a unique strategy of attacking its bases in the Gulf Arab nations.

 

It has come as a bolt from the blue for the US even as the war is forcing the Trump administration to seek Congressional clearance for billions of dollars. This development has gone totally off the script for the US which is now caught in the bind due to the unrelenting approach of Israel on the future of the war. Frustration of the series of setbacks is palpable in the outburst of the US President against the NATO allies. The NATO countries simply shot down Mr. Trump’s demand of employing warships to clear the Strait of Hormuz. Not a single ally has warmed up to Mr. Trump’s request bringing the nasty side of the POTUS out in the open, yet again. By terming the NATO countries as “cowards”, Mr. Trump has further risked isolation for America as the world will move on from this war as and when it ends. It was really foolish for Mr. Trump to think that his word would be the final command for all nations in the world. Fighting a war is a different ball-game and if Mr. Trump was in the delusion of the American superpower holding total influence on the world, then his dream must have shattered by now. Not only the NATO countries, even far-off Sri Lanka refused to toe the American line when it denied permission to two US warplanes to land on its southeast airport at Mattala. It was a prudent decision by the Island Nation which seeks neutrality in this war. Such snubs are rising as the world finds its voice against Mr. Trump’s utter nonsense.