Why Did Trump Make a Catastrophic War Decision?

Bibi Netanhayu and the Zionist lobby influenced President Donald Trump’s catastrophic war decision but other factors were involved. The world will not be the same now owing to the consequences of the Trump’s folly. Trump accelerated the relative decline of the United States and widened the way for the emergence of a new post Iran war world order.

Trump’s inner circle

It is well-known that Trump only consults family members and a small circle which includes billionaire Jewish “Big Donors” and close political associates. Trump gave the chief of White House staff job to the big business lobbyist, Susie Wiles. She was a campaign advisor to Bibi Netanyahu. The chief of staff is the most important position in the White House.

Trump put his Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his Jewish real estate business associate, Steve Witkoff, in charge of negotiations with Iran. Neither holds an official diplomatic position confirmed by the United States Senate. Both are ardent Zionists and Kushner is associated with the politically influential Jewish Chabad religious organization which has a reported 5,000 offices world-wide. Kushner and his family have been close personal friends and strong supporters of Netanyahu for decades.

Trump’s Secretary of Commerce, businessman Howard Lutnick is also aligned with the pro-Zionist Chabad organization and was a close friend and neighbor of Jeffrey Epstein.

The problem of groupthink

The theory of “groupthink” was developed by the psychologist Irving Janis in his classic 1972 book, Victims of Groupthink: A Pyschological Study of Foreign Policy Decisions and Fiascoes. The book used the Vietnam War and the Bay of Pigs invasion as case studies. Janis explained bad decisions being based on small group behaviors, biases, and pressures.

During the run up to both wars against Iraq, I remembered Janis’ pioneering work from my graduate school days in International Relations back in the 1970s. Today, Trump’s decision for war against Iran fits Janis’ theory as yet another case study.

Secretary of Defense/War, Pete Hegseth, a Fox News personality, is another close Trump advisor and sycophant. Hegseth is an avowed Christian Zionist who often displays his anti-Muslim Crusader tattoos on his chest and arms. Hegseth supports the Jerusalem based Third Temple Institute. This organization plans for the removal of a key Islamic holy site and mosque from its location in Israel in order to build the Jewish Third Temple.

It is important to understand this symbolism. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., as Jesus Christ foretold. This meant, for Christian believers, that the Old Covenant of the Jews, which fell with the Temple, was superseded by the New Covenant of the Christians. Today’s heretical Christian Zionist sect aligns with the Jewish Zionists in the United States and in Israel. It seeks the physical destruction of the Muslim holy site clearing the way for its replacement with a new Jewish Third Temple.

This may indeed sound strange to most people but several tens of millions of Americans believe in Christian Zionism including many of Trump’s personal staff and many officers and soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines in the United States military. Christian Zionists are a key part of Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) base and they welcome war in the Middle East. They believe it will hasten the return of Jesus to the world. It is not difficult to understand the pro-war advice Hegseth gives to Trump.

Geopolitical factors

Aside from the psychological pro-Israel and anti-Iran influence of Bibi Netanyahu and this small group on Trump, there are geopolitical factors. Geographically, Iran is located in a strategic position in the Middle East which is a cross-road for air, ground and sea transportation routes. Economically, of course, oil is the key commodity. Politically, Iran is a member of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a supporter of BRICS and a key player in the Belt and Road initiative.

So, from Washington’s standpoint of hegemonism and imperialism, disrupting Iran thereby undermines Russian and Chinese security and undermines BRICS+. However, this is a deeply flawed strategy as Washington is now finding out with this war.

Unintended military and economic consequences torpedoed Washington’s fantasies and magical thinking about this war. Severe global economic consequences are just beginning to be felt. Some 20 percent of global hydrocarbons move through the straits of Hormuz. But the matter of petrochemicals has yet to receive world attention.

Huge amounts of urea and sulfur, for example, also move through these straits. These are used to make fertilizer and other essential chemical products. They both are used to make fertilizers which are essential to many countries. Now the spring planting season is here in the Northern Hemisphere and reduction in fertilizer supply means less agricultural production. In turn, this means higher prices and inflation.

Trump was warned against war

It has been reported that the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff warned Trump against undertaking the war because they could not guarantee that the war objectives could be accomplished. It has also been reported that the Intelligence Community warned Trump against undertaking the war. This warning came from the National Intelligence Council (NIC) itself which is part of the Office of Director of National Intelligence (DNI), with Tulsi Gabbard as Director.

Did Trump have to make the decision to go to war? No, not at all. This war is not necessary nor is it in the national interest of the American people. Trump took the country to war primarily for Bibi Netanyahu and Israel, as he himself said. Trump betrayed his MAGA base, and betrayed the American people generally, whom he had promised no more unnecessary wars. He violated the Constitution by executing war without Congressional approval.

The international community must now do all in its power to end this human catastrophe and ecological disaster. The United Nations General Assembly must take action and International Law must be respected.