Crude pretexts and ...
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He has since shared several posts saying that he has ordered the Department of Defense — rebranded by his administration as the Department of War — to “prepare for possible action.”
What goes unmentioned here is that terror groups such as Boko Haram and a local ISIS affiliate have killed far more Muslims than Christians in Nigeria over the past decade.
Iraq, home to resistance groups including the Popular Mobilization Forces, has likewise faced fresh warnings. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently threatened that if these groups respond to upcoming US operations in areas near Iraq, they would be targeted.
Among the states threatened by Washington, Iraq stands fourth in the world for proven oil reserves.
Iran, which holds the world’s third-largest oil reserves, has faced even harsher treatment. In June, the US and its regional proxy, Israel, carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, military sites and a number of civilian targets.
One of the civilian targets was a session of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council attended by the heads of the three branches of power, though none of the officials present were harmed.
It is evident that the Israeli strike in Tehran was aimed at toppling the Islamic Republic; had it succeeded, Iran could have been plunged into a chaotic disintegration.
What precisely is driving senior figures in the Trump administration and the president himself remains unclear. But in recent weeks, Trump has exerted heavy pressure on buyers of Iranian and Russian oil – China and India – to force them into halting purchases.
Removing both countries’ barrels from the global market would certainly push up prices and unsettle financial systems and economies around the world — a scenario Washington ostensibly wishes to avoid.
From this perspective, US leverage over states with major petroleum reserves may appear to offer a swift, if unstable, remedy.
Throughout both his first and second presidential campaigns, Trump pledged to end America’s “endless wars.” Yet he now appears increasingly inclined toward military methods, almost with a sense of obsession.
A president with Trump’s disposition, going through a second term free from the pressure of re-election, could prove particularly dangerous.
Just on Thursday, his Republican allies in the Senate blocked a resolution that would have barred the administration from attacking Venezuela without congressional approval. This raises the question of whether the next flight path of US warplanes will lie somewhere further south.