Trump’s panicked White House seeks end to costly war
It was meant to last four weeks, a swift campaign to cripple Iran’s nuclear ambitions and force regime change. Five weeks on, the White House is struggling to find a way out of a conflict that has inflicted much greater economic pain than it bargained for. In the days before the bombing of Tehran began, Donald Trump was buoyant. Fresh from what aides cast as extraordinary military success – a daring raid to capture Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan leader – the president and his generals were convinced Tehran would buckle in a similar fashion. The plan was simple: hit hard, hit fast, and Tehran would have no choice but to submit to Washington’s demands. But the opposite has happened. Bolstered by the success of its missile strikes and intimidation of Gulf neighbours, Iran turned its missiles on the Strait of Hormuz, bringing the global shipping lane to a standstill. Iran’s stockpile of uranium, the fuel needed to build a nuclear weapon, remains in the regime’s hands. At the same time, oil prices have soared, major …
