Chronic War
Trump Abandons Ukraine but Escalates Military Campaigns and Regime Change
As the Trump administration suppresses the Epstein files, DJT has caused another international debacle, this one with Iran— again. Since Trump took office in 2025, he has directed the US military to carry out over 625 military strikes in seven foreign countries.* Some military operations are in the United States’s endless ‘war against terrorism’ and other, bigger military operations have been in pursuit of ‘regime change’. Why?
The US historically defends democracies, particularly ones in Europe, and the USA initially came to Ukraine’s aid— until recently. While every expert on global security sees the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a threat to world peace and stability, and average Americans understand the immorality of the Russian attempt to overthrow Ukraine and its democracy, DJT has betrayed Ukraine along with American values.
Trump seems to relish military initiatives, yet he has abandoned Ukraine. It doesn’t make any sense— unless of course he’s on the side of Russia, the aggressor. Russia is led by one of the world’s most brutal, corrupt, and cynical dictators, Vladimir Putin. Putin has delusions of grandeur, and grandiose aspirations to build a Russian empire. He made a crass, calculated offer to Trump to share the spoils of Ukraine in exchange for blocking US military aid to Ukraine for its defense.
Ludicrous as it may be, Donald has been posing as a leader of world peace, publicly campaigning to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. And he had the gall to ‘establish’ his very own Board of Peace (which I wrote about here: Bored of Peace). Next, he had the audacity to seize the headquarters of the U.S. Institute of Peace, an independent nongovernmental organization established by Congress. (A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Institute of Peace is not subject to executive branch control and that the takeover was illegal. The Trump administration has predictably appealed.)
Lest anyone be under the illusion that Trump is a peacenik, let’s look at his appetite for war.
ANTI-TERRORISM - Most of the Trump administration’s military operations in Africa and the Middle East are rationalized as ‘counter-terrorism’ operations. These include
IRAQ - The Trump administration has conducted several counter-terrorism operations targeting ISIS in Iraq. On March 13, 2025, U.S. Central Command carried out a “precision air strike” in Iraq, killing Abu Khadijah, the second-in-command of ISIS. Abu Khadijah was considered one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, responsible for ISIS’s global operations and financing. This operation exacerbated volatile conditions in Iraq. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, “Iraq has a long history of internal displacement rooted in inter-communal tensions and fed by almost two decades of conflict, including the recent conflict with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The country is also prone to hazards including floods, drought and earthquakes that force people from their homes.”
NIGERIA - On December 25, 2025, the US bombed several ISIS targets in Nigeria. In coordination with the Nigerian government, the U.S. Africa Command struck a total of 16 terrorist targets with guided missiles.
SOMALIA - Starting in February 2025, the Trump administration scaled up attacks agains terrorist targets in Somalia, with operations that targeted al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate that controls large areas of the country, and ISIS-Somalia, a smaller group. The Trump administration launched 126 operations in Somalia in 2025, which is more than the Bush, Obama, and Biden administrations combined. So far in 2026, two military operations are known to have been carried out.
SYRIA - During a 6-month period in 2025 (from July to December) the US carried out over 80 strikes against ISIS targets in Syria. After an ISIS terroist attack on December 13 killed three US military personnel, the US Central Command retaliated with intensive airstrikes on December 19, 2025. According to Reuters, a U.S. official said the strikes were carried out by U.S. F-15 and A-10 jets, along with Apache helicopters and HIMARS rocket systems. The Pentagon has not disclosed the costs of the operation, but experts estimate that one missile strike costs approximately $4 million.
Darayya, Syria after US bombing campaign - Adobe Stock Image YEMEN - US military operations in Yemen have been focused on the Houthis, a terrorist group actively supported by Iran. The Council of Foreign Relations describes how the Houthis, once dismissed as an inconsequential militia, have in the past few years acquired and deployed “… advanced military technologies to target ships… Their arsenal, which is smuggled into the country piece by piece from Iran and Iranian-aligned suppliers… now includes… anti-ship ballistic missiles, anti-ship cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, and unmanned surface vessels.” Linda Bilmes of Harvard University estimated that last year’s bombing campaign against the Houthis in Yemen cost between $2.76 billion and $4.95 billion.
Yemeni house destroyed because of the Yemen war, Taiz by akram.alrasny - Adobe Stock Images
REGIME CHANGE - With hubris, ignorance, and no regard for international law, the Trump administration has threatened America’s allies with invasion and militarily attacked perceived enemies of the US.
VENEZUELA - After months of military buildup in the Caribbean plus attacks on alleged drug boats,** on January 3, 2026 the US bombed Venezuela and kidnapped the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife.
IRAN - Attack #1 - Last summer, on June 22, 2025, U.S. B-2 stealth bombers dropped “bunker-buster bombs” striking two of Iran’s subterranean nuclear facilities, while a submarine launched cruise missiles at another. Trump boasted that the operation had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities. An assessment by the US intelligence community contradicted Trump; the nuclear sites were not entirely destroyed, and the program was only set back by a few months. This one-day strike against suspected Iranian nuclear facilities cost between $2.04 billion and $2.26 billion, according to Linda Bilmes of Harvard University.
IRAN - Attack #2 - Recently, on Saturday, February 28, 2026, the US and Israel launched another, larger military assault on Iran— with Israeli special forces targeting senior Iranian officials and the US attacking military targets. The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top Iranian officials were assassinated. So far, the cost includes:
Three US F-15 fighter jets that were shot down by ‘friendly fire’ from Kuwait. Cost: $315 Million
Killed in Action - 7 US Soldiers; 140 Wounded as of March 10, 2026
Between 500,000 and 1 million American citizens are in the Middle East. They had no warning, and are now stranded in the war zone; the air space and airports are closed. The US military is belatedly trying to figure out how to get them to safety.
This war is estimated to cost $1 billion dollars each day. As of March 12, that adds up to $13 BILLION dollars and counting.
According to the Kiev Independent, “In just three days of fighting in the Middle East, more than 800 Patriot missiles were used — more than Ukraine has received throughout the entire Russian full-scale invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a press briefing on March 5.”
Over 17 US sites in the Gulf region have been struck by Iran, according to the New York Times. These include four US embassies and consulates (in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia) and 11 military bases and critical air defense infrastructure— such as strategic radar facilities in Jordan that “… track and intercept incoming aerial threats throughout the region.”
Military sites in the Middle East operated by US allies (including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar) have also suffered carefully-targeted retaliatory strikes by Iranian missiles and drones
Does ‘regime change’ work? No. If we examine the aftermath of the US war in Iraq, there are hard lessons to be learned. According to the Council on Foreign Relations,
Six years after the war against the Islamic State, Iraq still faces significant challenges to its recovery. Over one million people remain internally displaced while three million people need humanitarian assistance as Iraq continues its reconstruction. In addition to reintegrating liberated Sunni communities into the political system, the government has struggled to achieve the demobilization and integration of powerful Shiite militias.
Can terrorism be defeated by sophisticated military hardware? No. Let’s examine the results of US attacks against the Houthis in Yemen. According to the Council of Foreign Relations,
The Department of Defense also revealed recently that the U.S. military has expended upwards of $1 billion dollars as part of its efforts to protect vessels in the Red Sea—an exponentially higher sum than the cost of the Houthis’ offensive kit—laying bare the U.S. military’s vulnerability to asymmetric warfare and stretching an already strained U.S. defense industrial base to produce more air defense missiles.
The Houthis operated with relative impunity when they resumed attacks on Red Sea shipping lanes during the recent Israeli war against Gaza. The Houthis control about 75% of Yemen’s population, which is 35 million people. They aspire to control Yemen’s oil and gas resources, and thus are a wild card; nobody knows how they will respond to the US attack on Iran. According to the Atlantic Council, one scenario “… would be for the Houthis to resume attacks on Saudi Arabia and/or the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This could potentially unfold in combination with attacks in the Red Sea and ground offensives inside of Yemen aimed at seizing control of Yemen’s oil and gas resources and weakening the official Yemen government. In doing so, the Houthis would effectively reignite the Yemen war.”
What will be the outcome of the War in Iran? Nobody knows. Iran has a population of 90 million people. The US/Israeli attacks quickly decapitated the top leadership of the regime. Carl Bildt, the co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said that the collapse of the Iranian regime would have “profound implications for the stability of the entire region… [and] “… it is a watershed event in the history of the region, with a highly uncertain outcome.” The conflict has effectively spread beyond Iran and is impacting the entire Middle East.
What are the costs for Iranians so far?
Two schools for girls have been bombed in Iran, killing 85 innocents and injuring 93, according to The New York Times. These are likely war crimes.
The U.S. military has hit more than 3,000 targets, a barrage that appears to have severely degraded Iran’s ability to fight back.
Iranian Casualties - Over 1,300 Iranians have died as of March 10, 2026
Why did the US and Israel start a war with Iran? DJT and other administration spokespeople have tossed out varied excuses reasons. According to Holly Ellyatt, writing for CNBC, “Carl Bildt called the U.S. decision to strike Iran a ‘war of choice’ rather than necessity, and one which was borne out of pressure from Israel and sensing a weakened Iranian regime amid ongoing protests. He said Iran’s decision to strike back at targets across the Middle East, and beyond U.S. bases, was “surprising, but also highly disturbing.”
Note that DJT and his made-for-TV Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, love to pit the high-tech US military arsenal against small countries with little to no military assets. Their assumption that the conflict they’ve instigated in Iran will be asymmetrical theater shows their vast ignorance. Iran is an energy superpower, holding 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 15% of its gas reserves. It is a wealthy country strongly allied with China, with deep economic and security ties which translates into sharing defense intelligence.
All eyes are on the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil and natural gas supplies are shipped. Traffic through this 21-mile waterway between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman has been reduced by 70% as Iran has vowed to mine the channel and target all US and Israeli ships.
There is NO exit strategy for the US; the Trump administration has made various contradictory claims, including
The US will scale up operations for an indefinite period of time;
The US has not ruled out deploying ground troops;
The conflict will be over soon.
Don’t hold your breath. And brace yourself for terrorist attacks within the US carried out by Iranian sympathizers. Iran has a long track record of sponsoring terrorist attacks against Americans, and the FBI is already investigating two: a mass shooting in Austin, Texas and an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City, both of which happened this month. According to the Council on Foreign Relations,
The longer this war goes on, the greater the incentive for Iran to apply all forms of asymmetric warfare in hopes of coercing Trump to abandon his war aims. Sleeper agents, lone actors inspired and motivated by Iran, cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure, and physical attacks on critical infrastructure are all possible.
NOTES
*That figure does NOT include the strikes on Iran currently taking place; the number of strikes in Iran is estimated to be well over 3,000.
**International Piracy in the Caribbean - The US Navy has attacked and seized more than 10 oil tanker ships in the international waters of the Caribbean during the past year, according to PBS News. As of this writing, at least 150 people on those ships have been killed. The legality of these seizures by the US Navy is in dispute.
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