There are now emerging several accounts of how Donald Trump took the United States into war with Iran that is now causing a global economic disaster. Fuel protests have become global, from the jeepney strikes in the Philippines to Ireland where farmers are using their tractors to block city streets and refineries.
One account of how Trump arrived at the fatal decision is in the book “Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump.” It uses several interviews conducted on the condition of anonymity that recounts internal discussions and sensitive issues. It reports how closely Trump’s thinking is aligned with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel.
It shows that the only Cabinet member that was closely in favor of the Iran War was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The author of the book, David Rothkopf, wrote that the Trump presidency, in dealing with the escalating tensions in the Middle East or any confrontation with adversarial states, the administration’s approach often lacked consistency. The author writes: “War was not always a deliberate aim, but it became an ever present risk in a system that privileged instinct over institution.” This lack of consistency underscores how the potential for military conflict was heightened not necessarily by intent but by the absence of a process.
The book reveals how critical decisions were discussed behind closed doors. Rothkopf wrote: “… those in the room were frequently left to translate impulses into policy, unsure whether the guidance they had received would hold from one day to the next.”
From several sources, it seems that the critical dates for the decision-making on the Iran War were Feb. 11 and 12 of this year. This was during the visit of Netanyahu and his team to the White House, including Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. According to Netanyahu and Mossad, an intense bombing campaign could foster the conditions for the Iranian opposition to overthrow the regime.
This elicited a positive response from Donald Trump. On the following day, Feb. 12, the US intelligence agencies presented an opposing view. According to a report, the CIA director described Netanyahu’s conclusion of a regime change in Iran as “farcical.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also been quoted as saying: “In other words, it’s bulls**t.”
There are also reports that Trump’s military adviser, General Dan Caine, was asked about Netanyahu’s proposal. He answered, “Sir, this is, in my experience, standard operating procedure for the Israelis. They oversell and their plans are not always well-developed. They know they need us and that is why they are hardselling.”
However, from different reports, it is clear that Trump wanted to be the first president to pull off regime change in Iran. Trump was also emboldened by the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, which succeeded without a single American life being lost.
In his book, Rothkopf wrote that President Trump’s instincts often served as the starting point for policy. Rather than being filtered through a rigorous decision-making framework, ideas were frequently acted upon in their raw form. This is particularly evident in the book’s treatment of foreign policy crisis, where the stakes were highest. Rothkopf suggests that the absence of a stable process only increased the risk of miscalculation but also made it more difficult for advisors to provide effective counsel.
During the discussions on the possibility of bombing Iran, it was clear that despite the hesitancy of most of the presidential advisers, everyone was prepared to defer to the President’s instincts. The President finally said that he thinks it needed to be done. He justified and said that to make sure Iran could not have a nuclear weapon and ensure that Iran could not just shoot missiles at Israel or throughout the region.
According to a report by Jonathan Swan of The New York Times, President Trump was aboard Air Force One the next day when he sent the following order: “Operation Epic Fury is approved. No aborts. Good luck.”
This was how the US-Iran War started that brought economic disaster to the whole world, including the Philippines.
Since then until now, there have been worldwide opposition to this US-Iran war. One sad feature to this whole affair is that the world is blaming Israel and Israel has become a global pariah. Anti-Semitism is now on the rise. This is so unfair because this whole disastrous war was started by Netanyahu and not Israel. If at all, the blame should rest solely on the shoulders of Netanyahu and not the people of Israel. Among those that are publicly opposing the war is Pope Leo XIV, who called it “an unjust war.”
Even more condemnable is US presidential adviser Elbridge Colby, who had the audacity to threaten the pope.
Hopefully, the world will learn that wars lead to the breakdown of civilization. Peace is the foundation for building lasting civilizations.