Despite their days of infamy attacks that resulted in many deaths, including the cowardly assassinations of Iranian leaders, America and Israel cannot translate their bandit raids into a political win.
War criminals within US President Donald Trump’s administration have claimed victory more than once, as has the president himself.
Likewise the toxic Israelis.
Even the UAE, which was in a defensive position but did not conduct offensive operations, has also claimed victory.
Yet Iran continues to resist, and a significant portion of the international community wants nothing to do with this unjust war.
The irony is not lost on those who know history; in the post-World World Two order, founded on an American-led discourse about “human rights” and “international law”, the criteria for victory and defeat were blurred. This ambiguity led to the emergence of the “winning hearts and minds” concept, first during the Vietnam War, and more clearly in the post-9/11 Iraq and Afghanistan wars. What did the Americans "win" then?
Indigenous people of smaller nations have always made easy prey for desperate American politicians anxious to shore up their political reputations (or distract their own voters from their hideous scandals).
Many wars have been "justified" by falsehood and mass manipulation in the bloody history of the supposed "liberators" by dint of deception and dishonest dealing. "Remember the Maine". "The domino effect". "Saddam has WMD". "Iran has no right to nuclear weapons". All lies.
This latest undeclared wars' political goals, forcing “regime change” in Iran, fuelling a popular uprising against the Iranian people's chosen government, encouraging armed Kurdish forces to join the attack, and "finishing off Iran’s nuclear and missile programs" (again), have all failed.
None of the political goals that drove the US and Israel to launch this criminal war were achieved. Instead, Iran successfully shifted the conflict’s focus to the Strait of Hormuz, where 20 percent of the world's petroleum products normally flow from producers to consumers.
In the meantime, the global reputations of Israel and the US which were already threadbare, have further deteriorated; even close allies have refused to participate in the attacks, viewing it as illegal under international law.
With no clear war aims, no definition of victory, and a battlefield that keeps expanding, the US-Israel onslaught is doomed.
Iran only needs to survive to prevail.
Asymmetrical warfare gives Iran the opportunity to gain victory despite the hardware arrayed against us.
We are willing to sacrifice more than the pampered Americans and their Israeli partners in crime because the bulk of our people view this war as an existential threat.
At some point, the price of gasoline is going to cause Americans to demand an end to the insanity.
