So much bluster signifying nothing
Presiddent Trump’s threat on Truth Social this morning to destroy 25 centuries of Persian civilization in a single night echoes a joke by the comedian Eddie Izzard about Darth Vader ordering food in the canteen of the Death Star.
Darth Vader: I will have the penne all’arrabiata.
Canteen worker: You’ll need a tray.
…
Darth Vader: I am Vader, Darth Vader, Lord Vader. I can kill you with a single thought.
Canteen worker: Well, you’ll still need a tray.
Trump, in six lines, similarly moves from the grimness of mass annihilation to a cheery invitation to stay tuned for the next episode of his newest reality show. “God bless the Great people of Iran,” he concludes, after vowing to blast the entire country to pre-civilizational smithereens.
Trump’s Iran war has entered its seventh week, with no resolution in sight. The United States and Israel have gained control over Iran’s skies, striking wherever and whatever they wish. But Trump seems never to have seriously considered Iran’s obvious countermoves—despite the decades the intelligence community has spent war-gaming such scenarios. He’s now contending with an Iran-imposed global energy crisis to which he can offer no solution except blood-curdling threats.
On March 6, soon after launching the war, Trump demanded an “unconditional surrender” from Iran. But as the economic pain from the energy crisis has worsened, Trump has signaled an openness to conditions and a desire for a negotiated settlement.
