While our armed forces have achieved an unbroken series of tactical victories in the Iranian "excursion," there is little evidence of a strategic purpose being served.
Rather, the war began with the Iranian mullahs firmly in charge in Tehran, as remains the case today. Any threat of these religious fanatics eventually acquiring nuclear weapons is as before.
But the Strait of Hormuz now is blocked to most seagoing traffic, catalyzing economic havoc across the globe. Iran has reacted to the bombing of its territory by attacking such disparate nations as Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar, never mind that these countries have remained solidly neutral.
Despite the outstanding performance of our military, then, all we have reaped is a big, expensive mess.
Tactical success in the absence of a coherent strategy is success not worth having.
It will be remembered that we won every battle in both Vietnam and Afghanistan, but lost both wars. This was at enormous cost to our resources, our reputation and our pride.
Not only that, the White House is now proposing a 40% increase in the defense budget for next year. This unnecessary, gargantuan upsurge would destroy fiscal restraint, and simultaneously boost both inflation and interest rates.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of the better Republican presidents, was also one of the most experienced and successful army generals in history. His understanding of military expenditure is worth examining.
Said Eisenhower: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This is not a way of life at all. It is humanity hanging from the cross of iron."
We are all familiar with the acronym TACO, meaning Trump Always Chickens Out. I would now suggest TAMALE, or Trump Always Makes A Ludicrous Error. We are spending a billion dollars a day to be made fools of.
Joseph Tipler
Centralia
