A Defense of the Iran War (yes, really)

Whenever I offer a piece of criticism on President Trump on the internet, either for a wrongheaded policy decision, a funny (yet non-advantageous) remark, or a poorly-maneuvered tactic his Administration is employing, I’ll usually have someone in the comment section rush to President Trump’s aid, claiming something along the lines of “Trump is secretly baiting his adversaries, and you just don’t realize it. Trump is really playing 4D-Chess!”

Now, clearly, he isn’t, but I do think the President has made some rather strategically sound plays in the past. Underestimating President Trump is a mistake that many people far more influential and seasoned than I have made, usually leading to hilarity and embarrassment, so I won’t repeat the Democrat talking point that “Trump is just dumb.” He’s not.

But, since assuming office, Trump has made a few moves that have absolutely perplexed me- chief among them is the decision to embroil America in a protracted state of military action against Iran. Since beginning our attacks against Iran, two things have continually happened: Trump has announced an end (or a “win”) to the war that ends up being not so, and the Administration fails to make a solid, compelling case for why we’re even over there in the first place.

Historically, the United States hasn’t entered conflict without a readily apparent reason. We entered the Revolutionary War because it was necessary to fully gain independence from the Crown. We entered the Civil War because the Confederacy was attempting to secede from the Union, mainly to protect their pro-slavery interests. We entered World War II because of an unprovoked act of aggression by Imperial Japan. We entered Vietnam to contain the violent, genocidal spread of Communism. Sometimes, the reasons for entering war were ridiculous- we entered Iraq due to claims that notorious dictator Saddam Hussein had gained weapons of mass destruction.

Likewise, with President Trump’s own previous military actions against Venezuela (which lasted for a very, very brief time) there were two very clear strategic goals communicated to the American people. The first? Depose dictator Nicolas Maduro and replace him with a U.S.-friendly leader, thus protecting United States interests abroad. The second? Get the oil. Neither is going to make the Democrat opposition very happy, who have been beating the “no regime change” drum for the better part of half a century, and generally are okay with monolithic left-wing governments. (See: the Obama Administration’s reaction to Edward Snowden’s revelation of NSA spying on citizens without warrants, or just the Obama Administration in general.)

Now, let us be very clear; Trump has made many claims about why US forces are anywhere near Iran right now. From “Iran proliferating nuclear weapons” to “Iran is funding terror groups” to “destroying Iran’s strategic capabilities” it would seem, to the average Joe Q. Public anyway, that there’s not a consistent, nor a coherent reason that we’re attacking.

But, if you examine the geopolitical situation, one can’t help but think that there may be a reason we’re attacking Iran; one that that Trump isn’t allowed to disclose to the public due to the implications being too dire.

So, allow me to play a bit of “devil’s advocate” here and posit the following:

What if this war isn’t just about Iran?

Over the last two decades, a bunch of countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, (hence their acronym) have joined forces to form “BRICS,” a sort of counter-UN organization of large, anti-Western nations seeking financial dominance over world economic affairs. This means controlling the world’s trade routes, pursuing military alliances to keep smaller states in line, and forming a common currency to usurp the US petrodollar as the world’s reserve currency.

This isn’t a conspiracy theory from the desk of George Noory or Alex Jones, either- the summits (held once a year) between the member states of BRICS are widely covered by the international press, and if BRICS is to succeed, the American way of life may come to an abrupt end, as nation after nation drops the USD in favor of BRICS currency.

It would stand to reason, then, that the reason we’ve attacked Iran isn’t to attack Iran, but to complicate life for BRICS, something we’ve already been doing throughout Trump’s second term. Two large chokepoints for the world’s trade are the Panama Canal and the Strait of Hormuz. Since the 1970’s, when President Carter relinquished American control of the Panama Canal and the Iranian Revolution created a virulently anti-Western government that polices Hormuz.

Currently, China moves roughly 45% of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz. A blockade, like the one the United States has instituted, drives China’s crude oil prices through the roof and makes it impossible for the BRICS member state to effectively trade nearly half of its total oil.

China now has to seek other ways to move its oil. Unfortunately for them, Trump previously worked to secure American dominance in Central America- namely re-asserting an American presence (and removing China’s presence) in the Panama Canal.

Finally, it's worth noting that Venezuela, Donald Trump's previous conquest, is no stranger to the BRICS agenda. President Maduro had taken great pains to align himself with BRICS, securing funding from many BRICS-allied states according to a June 18, 2024 article by VenezuelaAnalysis.com. Venezuela already had plans to deal with BRICS-allied states, plans rendered dead in the water thanks to the United States' quick military takeover of the Central American nation.

My question for anyone who believes this war is “purposeless” is this: what if we’re not attacking Iran, but crippling China and its BRICS cohorts to preserve the American way of life and ensure the further supremacy of the American petrodollar?

My hope is that this is indeed the case, because if we’re not there for the reason I’ve theorized, this is a purposeless blunder that is costing Republicans dearly at the polls and could definitely make taking action against the BRICS plot to undermine America much more difficult in the future.