Trump Cabinet (minus Hegseth) and GOP Congresspersons (minus Graham) must deliver Trump his ‘Goldwater moment’

 Trump Cabinet (minus Hegseth) and GOP Congresspersons (minus Graham) must deliver Trump his ‘Goldwater moment’

Some are calling for the Trump cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump for office for committing war crimes in Iran and lurching the world economy to ruin. Alas, the section of the 25th allowing the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to declare the president incapacitated to involuntarily remove him under the Constitution, does not apply when that Cabinet and Republican Congress enabled his criminal war that now requires his removal.

What to do? Simple, channel Senator Barry Goldwater. On August 7, 1974 Sen. Goldwater, joined by Senate Minority Leader Hugh Scott and House Minority Leader John Rhodes, requested and got a meeting with Watergate beleaguered President Richard Nixon. They told him he was going to be impeached, only had support of 10 to 15 Republican senators and would surely be removed from office. To whit…fall on your sword and resign. Next day Nixon resigned.

It took an esteemed conservative Republican and two GOP leaders to persuade Nixon to resign, something he publically said was against every fiber of his being.

Goldwater’s successful gambit removing Nixon from office had no importance beyond the simple political need of Republicans to end the Watergate scandal and continue in power under squeaky clean Gerald Ford.

The stakes 52 years later are monumentally more critical. A clearly degraded President Trump unilaterally launched a criminal war of aggression on Iran. Within three days the war was lost for two reasons. First, Instead of heeding Trump’s edict for Iranians to depose their government on behalf of the US and Israel, the Iranian people rallied to their government’s existential defense. Second, knowing the US and Israel would attack, Iran prepared a missile defense that is destroying US military assets in the region and destroying Israel itself.

Even worse for Trump and the world, Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off a fifth of the world’s oil supply. The unfolding economic decline worldwide will be enormous and unstoppable unless Trump ends his failed, criminal war and settles on Iran’s sensible terms.

Since Trump will never admit defeat to save thousands of lives and a worldwide economic meltdown, a select group from his Cabinet and GOP Congress must remove him from office. Since the 25th Amendment is technically unavailable, hey must invoke the Goldwater option. Pay him a visit and request his voluntary resignation. When Trump as expected refuses, they tell him they will go public with their demand. If he refuses again, they must employ the nuclear option, shut down the Cabinet and shut down Congress till he resigns.

Should Trump refuse a third time, the Cabinet will likely have enough deranged behavior to constitutionally invoke the 25 Amendment based on Trump’s mental incapacity representing a clear and present danger to America, indeed the world.

The Cabinet and GOP Congress must not waste a single day invoking the Goldwater option to prevent further war crimes and worldwide economic calamity.

And if Goldwater were around today to observe the proceedings, he’d smile and say ‘Nice work boys, glad I could show you the way.

Chicago Tribune should replace Daniel DePetris as its foreign affairs correspondent

 Chicago Tribune should replace Daniel DePetris as its foreign affairs correspondent

 

His commentary Friday, “Militarily, the Iran war is a success. But what are the US goals?” disgraces responsible, honest analysis. No reputable political scientist, military observer or historian would concur with a title that opens with Trump’s war being a military success. It is a military disaster getting worse every day for 15 days now.

 

The title ends with the misleading question, “But what are the US goals?” Like anyone studying the war, DePetris knows full well the US singular goal is to remove Iran as a hegemonic rival of Israel in the Middle East to certify US, Israeli domination over the entire region.

 

His first sentence “From a pure military-centric perspective, the ongoing U.S. and Israeli war against Iran has been a smashing success” is smashing all right, but not a success for anyone: not Iran, not Israel, not America; indeed, not the world. The cutoff of oil production and transit in the Middle East may plunge the world into global recession and chaos predictable from the instant Trump launched his senseless, murderous war two weeks ago.

 

DePetris mentions none of this murder and economic mayhem with no end in sight. He nibbles around the edges of its international criminality with this ingenuous statement. However, all the military successes in the world don’t add up to much if the campaign itself is untethered to a clear set of realistic goals. And therein lies the big problem with the Trump administration’s war of choice against Iran (minus the questionable legality of it). Saying the war is of questionable legality is akin to saying Hitler’s 1939 invasion of Poland was of questionable legality. Trump is tethered to removing Iran as a powerful Middle East hegemon, a goal that does not justify preemptive attack. And the thousands it murders, and billions, possibly trillions in damage it spreads across the Middle East, including US bases, Israel and Gulf States besides Iran, represent the supreme international crime…criminal war.

 

It’s not Trump who’s untethered, it’s DePetris, who is untethered from honest analysis of the unfolding catastrophe launched by the nation whose foreign policy he shamelessly supports.

 

Come on Chicago Tribune. Give Chicagoland a foreign affairs correspondent tethered to reality, common sense and truth.

 

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn

Iran just checked Trump into their ‘Hotel California’

Iran just checked Trump into their ‘Hotel California’

On February 28th Trump made the most self destructive presidential military decision in America’s 250 years. He sucker punched Iran with a massive bombing campaign while falsely negotiating a peace deal.

It has backfired spectacularly.

Iran’s been preparing for Trump’s sabotage of US peace with Iran for 10 years. Back in 2016, candidate Trump campaigned to withdraw from Obama’s signature foreign policy accomplishment, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA) which certified Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and set the stage for détente with Iran.

Bankrolled by the Israel Lobby which wanted Iran destroyed as a hegemonic Middle East rival, Trump followed orders and withdrew from JCPOA in 2018. He didn’t get around to attacking Iran in first term, but began stowing the seeds of war on day one of term two.

February 28 was his third try at destroying the Iranian regime to rid Israel of its last remaining regional rival. The 12 day war Israel initiated last June 13 failed to crush the regime; indeed, Iran’s missiles so damaged Israel they called on Trump to affect a ceasefire. Trump declared victory, claiming his one off bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites “obliterated them.”

Undaunted by failure, the US and Israel tried again in late December. They had their spy networks infiltrate the peaceful antigovernment protests, turning them violent. The plan was to create so much violence Trump could unleash a second bombing campaign to save the Iranians being slaughtered by their government. But Iran quickly quashed the protests bringing peace to the streets and upending Trump’s depraved plan to bomb again.

January brought the third crack at ousting the Islamic regime. Trump set up new false peace deal negotiations to sucker punch Iran again. No one off attack this time. The massive strike of February 28 was designed to inspire the Iranian people to rise up, oust the Ayatollah, then bow down to their new US, Israeli masters. Three days was all that Trump planned to topple the regime, and neuter Iran as an Israeli rival.

Two things upended Trump’s masterstroke. The Iranian population rose up all right, not to oust their government but to oust the US, Israeli invaders. Second, this time Iran was prepared with a brilliant missile defense that is demolishing US military resources in the region and causing the most massive damage to Israel in its 78 years.

So what has Trump wrought? He lost the war by day 3. Iran stands strong, proud and determined to outlast the US, Israeli military goliaths. He’s seeing his Middle East military bases bombed and degraded. He’s seeing Israel bombed night and day with little means of defending themselves. He’s seeing America’s weapons stores evaporate. Trump is seeing the US inexorably being pushed out of the Middle East.

America’s credibility as a fair negotiator on matters of war and peace is gone. No nation aside from Israel can trust a thing Trump’s advisors negotiate. Trump has astoundingly and stupidly put the world economy in crisis, headed down as 20% of its oil supply is gone from Iran’s closing of the Strait of Hormuz. Gas hit 8 bucks a gallon in LA today. Every product using petroleum will soon cost more.

Trump is trapped. He cannot win but cannot withdraw from the war costing a billion dollars a day. His plan to prevail in 3 days has turned into a nightmare that will dog his remaining three years if he manages to survive in office that long.

Trump may physically reside in the plush quarters of the White House and the opulence of Mara logo. But his degraded brain and heartless soul reside in Iran’s version of Hotel California where Trump hears this refrain based the iconic 1976 rock song playing on an endless loop.

Last thing Trump remembered
He was running for the door
Trump had to find the passage back to the place he was before
"Relax," said the Ayatollah
"We are programmed to receive
You can check-out any time you like
But you can never leave!"

Walt Zlotow West Suburban Peace Coalition

 

Second Chicago Tribune Iran war editorial more tone deaf, detached from reality than first

The Trib’s editorial ‘The human cost of the war in Iran’ on Day 11 of Trump’s illegal, immoral war on Iran was astonishing in its detachment from the reality of Trump’s criminality blowing up the Middle East and possibly the world economy while killing untold thousands .

The editorial laments the suffering of the Iranians being blasted by the ghoulish US, Israeli bombardment without a hint of its criminality as a war of aggression, the most heinous of international crimes. Regarding he school bombing that killed 170 Iranian kids and their teachers, the Trib quotes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, an architect of this ghastly war, that “The United States would not deliberately target a school.” Rubio was a tad less deceitful than Trump who claimed Iran bombed their own school because “their missiles are wildly inaccurate. Rubio didn’t deny the US was liable because he knows, like everyone in the Trump administration from Trump on down, that the 170 school kids and their teachers were murdered by US bombs. The Trib disgraces itself floating Rubio and Trump’s deflection of their clear responsibility.

The editorial offers not a hint of the devastation being visited upon US military bases in the Gulf States. Not a hint of the devastation visited upon Israel. Not a hint of the fact that the US, Israel and Gulf States are running out of defensive interceptors to stop Iran’s seemingly endless supply of offensive missiles. Trump found out just yesterday how wildly he underestimated Iran’s missile stockpile.

Instead of calling for an end to this monstrous, criminal war, the Trib simply sighs, “we have to remember that our country is at war.” That’s a coy war of lending support to a criminal war that cannot be won because there is no measure of victory short of obliterating Iran

Stating “War is often debated in terms of strategy, deterrence and geopolitics” is a meaningless word salad when there is urgency to calling out Trump’s war as a monumental crime that must be ended forthwith.

Two Chicago Tribune editorials on the Iran war and two tone deaf takes detached from its grotesque, senseless reality. Either the Trib knows nothing about the war, or simply ignores the truth to curry favor with the Trump administrations descent into madness while claiming to lament its innocent victims.

Walt Zlotow West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL

Iran to Trump: ‘No unconditional surrender, no ceasefire, no negotiations for you’

 

Iran to Trump: ‘No unconditional surrender, no ceasefire, no negotiations for you’

 

Trump is seeking an exit from his lost war against Iran. US bases are being systematically damaged in 6 neighboring nations. Israel is suffering the most serious damage in its 78 year existence with no end in sight. Both the Gulf States and Israel are running out of defensive weapons. So is the US. But Iran is not running out of missiles used to pummel nearby US facilities and especially Israel. The more urgent quagmire facing Trump is the impending economic collapse from the cutoff of Middle East oil due to his criminal as well as senseless war to destroy Iran.   

 

Rejecting calls from several countries, likely encouraged by Trump, for a negotiated ceasefire, Iranian Defense Minister Abbas Araghchi said there will be no negotiations with America until the root causes of the war are addressed. They include an absolute guarantee that the US will never attack Iran again, will take responsibility for the war, end draconian sanctions and leave the Middle East in peace.

 

Araghchi argued the current attack, like the first one last June 13, was conducted during fake negotiations to keep Iran unprepared for a dastardly sneak attack. That worked last June but not last month. Now the US has been caught flatfooted by Iran’s devastating counter offensive and desperately seeks an off ramp. Araghchi made clear there is no off ramp short of capitulation to its reasonable demands. .

 

With the US and world economy headed into economic freefall, Trump called an emergency news conference to shore up the collapsing stock market. He blathered endlessly how he’s winning bigly and will soon prevail against a demonic Iran seeking to take over the entire Middle East. No one believed a word he said because not one word made sense or was believable.

 

Trump’s attack on Iran may be the most self-destructive attack on a country since Hitler invaded Russia nearly 85 years ago. Forty-six years ago the US bankrolled the Iraq invasion of Iran. During 8 long years Iran suffered over half million casualties but ultimately fought Iraq to a draw. Araghchi alluded to that stamina and determination to prevail against the Yankee invader when he told Trump ‘no unconditional surrender, no ceasefire, no negotiations for you.’

 

Will Trump listen…or will he continue down the road to perdition?

Trump, Netanyahu down to last card in criminal Iran war: mass murder destroying Iran

Trump, Netanyahu down to last card in criminal Iran  war: mass murder destroying Iran

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister began their second war on Iran in 7 months with just 2 war crime cards to play.

 

The first card was the US, Israeli version of Blitzkrieg from the air. Kill Iran’s beloved leader the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, demand surrender, then wait for the 90 million Iranians to capitulate to new masters Trump and Netanyahu. That was projected to take just about 72 hours.

 

As expected, millions of Iranians came into the streets following Khamenei’s assassination. But not to welcome the grisly invaders bombing them. It was to show near total support to the Islamic government, cheering them on to inflict as much retaliation possible to repel the Trump Netanyahu criminal tag team.

 

And they are succeeding, causing massive damage to US military facilities in Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait. Saudi Arabia and UAE. All 6 are running out of defensive interceptors provided by Uncle Sam. Why? Trump is giving them all to himself and his war partner Netanyahu. When this is all over, the Gulf States will never again trust America for their defense. They may even tell the US to vamoose the region PDQ.   

 

Iran is also bombing Israel night and day, giving Netanyahu, flying around the region 24/7 to avoid Khamenei’s fate, a taste of what he visited on Palestinians in Gaza for 2 years.

 

That leaves Trump and Netanyahu with their last war crime card to play. Bomb Iran to smithereens till there is no more Iranian weapons or personnel left with which to retaliate.

 

Big problem facing America and Israel is size. Both Israel and US military facilities nearby are compact in size making them easy targets, while Iran, the 17 largest country by area, has their tens of thousands of missiles scattered and largely unreachable.

 

Now that Iran has chosen to fight to the death rather than capitulate as expected, the advantage may be tiltng in their favor. Rumors surfacing Trump is pondering an off ramp to stop the bleeding he has no way of controlling.

 

Worst case scenario remains that Netanyahu may get so desperate facing unfathomable defeat, he escalates to war crime card 3...nuke Theran.   

Walt Zlotow   West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL 

Chicago Tribune editorial ‘Israel’s rationale for change in Iran is clear. But the American rationale is murky indeed’ is a masterclass in deflection from the unfolding catastrophe in the Middle East

Chicago Tribune editorial ‘Israel’s rationale for change in Iran is clear. But the American rationale is murky indeed’ is a masterclass in deflection from the unfolding catastrophe in the Middle East

 

It starts with the title. Calling a horrific war that is killing thousands, destabilizing the Middle East, possibly crashing the US economy, even risking nuclear war, “change”. is astonishing in its denial of reality.

 

The Trib defends Israel’s rationale for launching all out war on Iran as “self-evident” national security concerns. What is self-evident is that for decades Israel has been calling for destruction of the Iranian regime, if not the entire country, to remove Israel’s last hegemonic rival for Middle East supremacy.

 

What is also self evident is that Israel has been plotting this war with President Trump thruout his second term. They sucker punched Iran last June by attacking while conducting fake negotiations. Iran’s tout defense forced Israel to demand Trump affect a ceasefire.

 

They both tried again by infiltrating the Iranian protests over the economy last December. Provoking a violent government response was to be the fuse to justify a second attack to achieve regime change. But the government quickly quashed the protests and regime change 2.0.

 

Three months later the US and Israel once again used the cover of negotiations to launch all out war that has backfired spectacularly.

 

The Trib errs in quoting local Israeli official Elad Strohmayer that ”the military bombing of Iran by Israel and the United States enjoyed very wide support among Israeli citizens” Nonsense. The Israeli populous is fractured by Iran’s devastating response causing widespread destruction. Military morale, already degraded from endless deployments to in Gaza and Lebanon, will only get worse due to all out war in Iran. The outlook for a stable Israeli citizenry and government is bleak.

 

The most outlandish statement in the long editorial is “only a fool cannot see that the vast majority of Iranians wanted this regime to be removed from their lives.” But only those not fools can see a near totally united 90 million Iranians who are successfully punishing the US and Israeli war mongers determined to destroy them. 

Nether the US nor Israel has an exit strategy for their impending failure in Iran short of totally destroying it, possibly even with Israeli nukes. That, and not narrative devoid of reality on the ground should be addressed in the next Trib editorial on this unfolding catastrophe 

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL

Back on its heels, will Israel nuke Iran?

 

Back on its heels, will Israel nuke Iran?

 

Trump’s deranged war on Iran is spiraling out of control. US bases are being pounded, neutralizing their ability to monitor, much less shoot down Iranian drones and missiles. But Iranian firepower is no threat to the US homeland 6,000 miles from Iran.

 

Not so for Israel which is being devastated by Iran’s enormous stockpile of drones and missiles. Having been dastardly attacked by Israel and the US last June while negotiating in good faith, unlike Israel and US, Iran was ready for dastardly attack 2.0.

 

Assassinating Iranian leader Ali Khamenei, the leader who issued a Fatwa prohibiting nuclear weapons, was astonishingly stupid. It had the opposite effect of encouraging the Iranian people to rise against the Islamic government to allow delusional Trump to pick a US puppet successor.

 

Iran’s response has been ferocious, creating both physical chaos and now societal unrest thruout Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu, hoping to avoid Khamenei’s fate, is spending most of his time flying around the region while communicating with his beleaguered government and military. He doesn’t plan to go down with the Israeli ship of state.  

 

Netanyahu is seeing the existential threat he unleashed upon Iran boomeranging back on Israel itself. That conjures up the worst nightmare scenario of this nightmare war. Will Netanyahu dip into his stock of 300 nukes and drop one on Tehran to stop further Israeli disintegration they brought upon themselves?

 

This possibility should have the hair on fire of everyone in the Trump administration promoting this senseless, self-destructive war. Then again, some of them are so deranged they view their folly as a holy war which will create Armageddon, bring Jesus back to earth to lift up to heaven those who believe, while us sane folks fall into hell. This madness is being fed to bewildered soldiers in dozens of military stations in every service branch.

 

2,473 nukes have been exploded in tests since the 2 nukes America fired in anger destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki 80 years ago. There are many reasons for this insane, unprovoked, criminal war to be ended. Topping the list is keeping Netanyahu from making nuclear explosion number 2,477 the first to obliterate a city since number 3 obliterated Nagasaki.

 

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL