Dear Editor,
Continuing my letter in KN on Sunday, April 5, “The road to war is often paved with good intentions, but the first casualty is truth,” I am still hoping for the best outcome in a war that has the potential for WWIII and its impact on the world.
Some wars can have limited or isolated impacts, but a war that significantly affects oil production and supply to many nations is not in the world’s best interest. Yes, besides the security component of global peace, there is the worry about the economic component of rising fuel prices at the gas stations and the concommitant impact on cost-of-living and job security.
No one following this conflict can take comfort in its shifting contours that highlight extraordinary military tactics on one hand, but no crafted war plan that points to end game, on the other hand. And the lack of a war plan with and end game is why I strongly believed this war was avoidable.
But besides the lack of a game plan or end game is the trust factor in the words of the principal powerhouse warrior: America. Back in January, while Iranians were out on the streets protesting Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime, over 30,000 were reportedly killed, and the Trump administration sent a powerful message to the protesters, “HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Reuters, January 13, 2026. After Israel and the United States launched their joint, targeted military attacks that killed Khamenei and some of his top political and military lieutenants, the White House put out a call for Iranians to rise up, take to the streets and take back their government.
That did not happen, for reasons best known to Iranians, but when we contrast the ‘help is on its way’ promise with the ‘all hell will rain down’ on Iran threat (“Trump threatens hell for Iran over Hormuz Strait as deadline approaches,” KN, April 6, 2026) that specifically targets bridges and energy infrastructures, this would not only negatively impact Iranian people more than their government; it would also constitute war crimes. Trump truly appears at this point that he’s angry the war is not going his way, and which may well be confirmed in his expletive-laden Truth Social message on Eastern Sunday morning.
If there’s a ray of hope left for Trump, he has to be advised to stop talking. Heed the advice of France President Emmanuel Macron. He just cannot go from promising Iranians in January that help is on the way to threatening in April to rain hell on Iranians because that shift in message could be a huge humanitarian sign he is conceding the war is lost.
It also didn’t help that on Thursday, April 2, he said America produces its own oil and was not relying on the Strait of Hormuz, but since other nations relied on the Strait of Hormuz for oil they should come together and provide military help to defend the Strait. And then on Easter Sunday morning he threatened all hell will rain down on Iranians.
Clearly, the war has no plan and this explains the mixture of promises and threats based on shifting narratives. If other countries have to end this war America has lost it, but is this a political hill on which America wants to die?