Atlanta, GA
July 22, 2026
Turbulence increased, cabin service stopped, and stewardesses were told to take their seats. Beneath us, clouds thickened and storms roiled.
As we approached Atlanta, the pilot announced we’d be unable to land. Winds had increased from the west, so we needed to circle until they subsided.
After the long flight from Paris, we had enough fuel to do so for an hour. With any luck, we’d only need about half the supply. As we orbited somewhere over east Georgia, I made the mistake of checking the news.
Intermission Ended
While we’ve been gone, the Iran war has gotten worse. Apparently, the latest intermission came to an end. The Memorandum of Understanding few thought would hold completely collapsed, and attacks on Iran officially resumed.
Having spent two weeks traversing fields of white crosses planted by worthless wars, it’s astounding this idiotic conflict continues to escalate.
There was no good reason for this boneheaded war, and only foreign influence, unhinged hubris, and the sunk cost fallacy are keeping us in it.
Aside from glorifying himself, Donald Trump has no core principles or coherent philosophy. As with anything he does, the president appears to have gone into this mess without preparing ways out. He seems to have assumed it would end quickly, like Venezuela… another misadventure that did nothing for Americans, but that we’re assured was a “win”.
But when Iran inevitably went awry, Trump was trapped. For someone incapable of admitting defeat, the only response is to lash out, demean the opposition, and pretend whatever happens is what he always wanted.
It isn’t working.
From the outset, this has been the most unpopular conflict in U.S. history. Even Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan had majority support at the start. Aside from munitions makers and the usual Israel shills, few wanted war with Iran. Why would they?
After the military cataclysms that have marred this century, Americans are exhausted, indebted, impoverished by inflation, and torn by cultural animosity within the U.S. They have enough on their domestic plate. The last thing they needed was another foreign food fight.
Torched Credibility
Candidate Trump recognized this aversion, and was elected by promising to accommodate it. He boasted he’d started no new wars in his first term, and warned that his opponent would almost certainly start one with Iran.
He never mentioned that we were in the midst of a “47-year war” that no one noticed but that we needed to finish. Iran came up only when Trump promised not to wage war on them. Six months later, he went back on his word, and again proved to be another swamp stooge.
He now does so every day. Everything this president says (“they’re begging for a deal”, “we’ve decimated them”, “we control the strait”, “the strait is irrelevant”, “we’ve won”) is an obvious lie, or should be treated as such.
Accordingly, even The Wall Street Journal… a proponent of the war and hardly a peacenik rag… is skeptical. If anything, it informs us, Iran seems to be getting stronger:
“Iranian missiles are becoming faster and more sophisticated, despite attacks by the US and Israel…. After nearly five months of war, Iran’s missile capabilities remain lethal. At least two U.S. servicemembers were killed in Jordan on Saturday following an Iranian attack of ballistic missiles and drones.”
The president’s torched credibility is beyond (or, rather, beneath) comic; it’s imbecilically cartoonish… and inexcusably deadly. In recent days, as the Journal noted, more Americans have been killed by retaliatory strikes in Donald Trump’s war.
To be clear, everything Iran has done in this war is retaliatory. This administration is the aggressor. It picked a fight against a country that hadn’t attacked the United States and wasn’t threatening to.
And it did so in the most dishonorable manner possible: by twice launching Pearl Harbor-style sneak-attacks during negotiations (even the Japanese had the decency cancel talks before bombing Hawaii)… without deigning to consult Congress, much less receive a declaration of war.
But our “representatives” are as feckless as the president is brazen. Rather than immediately issue articles of impeachment, they became complicit by their silence. Vocal opponents like Thomas Massie were targeted by AIPAC and ousted from office.
The Real Reason
Iran may have been a problem for Israel, but it was no business of the United States. The stated “rationale” for this war was always absurd, which is why it kept (and keeps) shifting.
It was originally to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. They’d repeatedly pledged not to do so (the assassinated ayatollah issued a fatwah prohibiting it), and permitted international inspections that proved they were complying.
The real reason for this catastrophe was obvious beforehand and undeniable now. This war was for Israel, which begrudged Iran resisting its efforts to consume Lebanon.
The Iranians did so by supporting Hezbollah, which is supposed to be self-evident justification for Americans to intervene. But why?
Hezbollah is no threat to the United States. Does anyone honestly think they’ll attack Iowa? If anything, they’re Shia enemies of the al-Qaeda Sunnis who killed Americans on 9/11.
But “our greatest ally” supersedes America’s actual interests. Marco Rubio admitted this war was launched on behalf of Israel. That’s reason enough to remove this president from office.
Iran’s Nuclear Weapon
This war hasn’t alleviated whatever threats Iran supposedly posed. If anything, it’s unleashed them. They’ve shown they can withstand political assassination, absorb relentless air strikes, and destroy American assets in the area.
The Iranians didn’t need to develop a nuclear weapon. They’ve always had one. Yet they launch it not by releasing it, but by withholding it.
The Strait of Hormuz was free and open before Donald Trump attacked Iran. Unsealing the valve has become the main objective for this war.
Even the most ardent hawks no longer blather about “nuclear weapons”, “regime change”, or “unconditional surrender”. Their goal is now the status-quo ante and saving face, which is a sure sign their side has lost.
Their war is what broke what they’re trying to fix. But opening the strait is easy. The U.S. government simply needs to “declare victory” by cutting losses, end the war, and come home.
Iran would open Hormuz immediately. They’d charge a toll for ships to pass. So what? So do Panamanians at the Canal. Whatever fee Iran imposes is less costly than this reckless war which, lest we forget, they didn’t start.
Staying Aloft
This disaster can’t be undone, but it can be made worse. Sadly, that seems to be what’s happening. In lives, money, and global goodwill, this war has likely cost Americans far more than this administration admits.
And the tab is still open.
In Jordan, more bodies are being sought under the most recent rubble. The $38B monetary expense is almost certainly understated, yet the administration is asking for more. It wants to fry another $1.5T in the Pentagon furnace next year.
Around the world, fuel supplies are dangerously low, with strategic reserves starting to expose floors of tanks. Fertilizer supply remains precarious, and global supply chains continue to rust.
Those who predicted food and fuel shortages were ridiculed this spring when their fears didn’t immediately manifest. Yet few suggested they’d arrive that fast. Consequences were always more likely later, and will worsen as this debacle continues.
One way or another, like our flight from Paris, the Iran war will eventually end. Above Atlanta, we circled about as long as expected. Between bouts of wind and bursts of storms, we slid thru, and managed to land.
The crew piloting this war keeps seeking runways that don’t exist. For months, they’ve circled… from “total victory”, to supposed “deal”, to concentric blockades, to threats of “civilizational destruction”, to precarious “ceasefire”, back to blockades, to “we’ve already won”, to resumption of hostilities.
But they can only stay aloft so long. At some point, flying in circles becomes a spiral.
JD
That vicious circle just seems to be getting bigger and bigger by the day. Hope that soon it would disappear. But I doubt it.